MEDINA COUNTY, Texas – Prosecutors in Medina County dismissed a felony charge against a car theft suspect last year amid accusations that a sheriff’s lieutenant searched the man’s home without a warrant, records obtained by KSAT Investigates show.
The March 2023 incident on Forest Creek Road in Devine led to a criminal investigation of Medina County Sheriff’s Lt. Cathy Gonzalez.
Gonzalez was cleared of criminal wrongdoing in November, after an area district attorney rejected the case, records viewed by KSAT show.
What happened on Forest Creek Road?
Gonzalez contacted a sergeant with the sheriff’s office on March 10, 2023, and asked him to run a license plate for a Dodge vehicle parked in the driveway of a home in the 300 block of Forest Creek Road, records show.
After the license plate came back for a vehicle stolen from Leon Valley, the sergeant joined Gonzalez near the residence, according to records.
A man then exited the home, got in the vehicle and attempted to leave, at which point the sergeant pulled in front of the vehicle, records show.
The driver, identified in arrest records as Diego Fuentes, was taken into custody and booked on a felony charge of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, according to records.
He told investigators his friend had dropped off the vehicle, but Fuentes declined to provide his name, Fuentes’ arrest report states.
While the MCSO arrest report details Fuentes’ capture, notably absent from the report was what took place inside Fuentes’ residence that day.
Prosecution records viewed by KSAT show that Gonzalez and the sergeant, identified as Kerry Simmons, entered and searched Fuentes’ residence without a search warrant.
Medina County prosecutors in February dismissed the felony charge against Fuentes.
Gonzalez, who had first called in the stolen vehicle, would have likely been called to testify at Fuentes’ trial, opening her up to questions about the unlawful search of the home, a source familiar with the investigation told KSAT.
Reached for comment, Fuentes’ attorney Anthony D. Welch told KSAT, “The Medina County District Attorney’s Office did the right thing, considering the circumstances.”
Unreasonable searches and seizures violate the Fourth Amendment
It is a violation of the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution to search a home without a legal warrant signed by a judge or magistrate or exigent circumstances.
“I mean, you can’t just enter somebody’s home without you having probable cause,” said Willie Ng, a 30-year law enforcement professional.
“Sit on the house, surround it and go get someone to type up a warrant,” said Ng, who added that exigent circumstances, such as preventing the destruction of evidence or stopping someone from being harmed, must be present in order to go inside a home without a warrant.
The Gonzalez incident was reported to the Medina County District Attorney’s Office, which requested the assistance of the Texas Rangers to look into possible violations of the law, records obtained by KSAT Investigates show.
Medina County DA Mark Haby later recused himself from the case and it was assigned to the offices of Audrey Gossett Louis, district attorney for the 81st Judicial District.
Gossett Louis rejected the case on Nov. 14, according to records viewed by KSAT.
On the rejection form, Gossett Louis wrote there was insufficient evidence to support a criminal conviction.
“While both Lt. Cathy Gonzalez and Kerry Simmons SHOULD have known their search inside the residence was unlawful, there is insufficient evidence to support criminal intent by either officer. It is recommended that both officers attend Warrantless Searches and Search Warrants classes,” wrote Gossett Louis.
Gonzalez completed an 18-hour course on Arrest, Search and Seizure Dec. 10, less than a month after the criminal case was rejected, Texas Commission on Law Enforcement records show.
Her personnel file, however, provides no indication that she was suspended for the incident.
Simmons’ TCOLE records indicate he last received training on complying with the Fourth Amendment in February 2021, more than two years before the incident.
Medina County Sheriff’s officials last month asked the Texas Attorney General to block the release of body-worn camera footage related to the incident, claiming the case did not result in Fuentes being convicted or given deferred adjudication.
Gonzalez’s prior relationship with convicted sex offender called into question
The search of the home was not the first time Gonzalez’s actions have been called into question.
Sheriff’s deputies responded to her residence in late May 2021 for a “personal issue” between her and Julian Mark Mares.
While on the phone with an MCSO sergeant, Gonzalez said “in a scared and frantic voice” that Mares had shown up, records show.
Mares had previously been barred from Gonzalez’s residence after a criminal trespass warning was issued against him in February 2021, records show.
Mares was eventually taken into custody and booked into jail on a misdemeanor charge of criminal trespass.
He is a convicted felon whose prior criminal history includes a 1999 conviction in Bexar County for sexual assault and a 2013 conviction in Bexar County for aggravated sexual assault, records show.
Mares was also charged with a sex offender registry violation in 2009, the same year he faced sexual assault allegations in Collin County, a background check of Mares reveals.
Members of law enforcement are typically barred from consorting with known criminals.
MCSO’s policies and procedures include a law enforcement code of ethics that states: “I WILL keep my private life unsullied as an example to all and will conduct myself in a manner that does not bring discredit to me or to my agency,” records show.
Gonzalez’s personnel file provides no indication that she was suspended for having a personal relationship with Mares.
The records do confirm Gonzalez had been assigned as a sex crimes investigator for the sheriff’s office prior to the 2021 incident.
Medina County Sheriff Randy Brown did not respond to multiple requests seeking an interview for this story.
Read more reporting on the KSAT Investigates page.