SAN ANTONIO – Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales was ordered Tuesday to hand over all communications between his staff and the Wren Collective about the high-profile 2022 shooting of a teenager by a San Antonio police officer, court records obtained by KSAT Investigates show.
The subpoena in the aggravated assault by a public servant case against ex-SAPD officer James Brennand was filed by his defense team on Monday, days after KSAT revealed Gonzales’ staff had extensive discussions about the case with Jessica Brand, founder of the Austin-based criminal justice reform group the Wren Collective.
On-duty San Antonio Police officer James Brennand shot then-17-year-old Erik Cantu in a McDonald’s parking lot in October 2022, after identifying Cantu’s vehicle from an evading arrest case the previous night.
Three days after the shooting, SAPD released portions of body-worn camera footage that showed Brennand firing multiple rounds into the vehicle where Cantu and his then-17-year-old female friend Emily Proulx were eating, as Cantu attempted to back up and drive away.
The DA’s office rejected charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and evading arrest against Cantu on October 7, 2022.
Gonzales held a 3:30 p.m. press conference outside the Bexar County Justice Center to make the formal announcement.
Records obtained by KSAT show that on that same day, just before 9 a.m., Brand texted First Assistant District Attorney Christian Henricksen recommending that Gonzales hold a press conference with Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar announcing the dropping of charges and to state that the incident had harmed public trust.
Henricksen replied that he was trying to get Gonzales on the phone and would be advising him to dismiss the charges “immediately.”
Henricksen later texted Brand that he was rejecting the cases against Cantu and that Gonzales wanted to move forward with a press conference.
Brand replied that a member of her team was working on talking points for the press event.
Salazar, whose agency was not involved in the Cantu shooting investigation, continued to distance himself from the Wren Collective Monday.
“This organization, whomever they are, seemed very intent on having me weigh in on things that I have nothing to do with,” said Salazar.
Late last week, an attorney representing Salazar sent a cease and desist letter to the Wren Collective, requesting that the group stop using Salazar and the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office to further its agenda.
In a separate letter sent by Salazar to Gonzales last week, the sheriff asked his fellow elected official to “respect attorney-client privilege” moving forward.
Salazar wrote that he was not pleased with how often his name was utilized in the back-and-forth messaging between Gonzales, Henricksen and Brand.
Brennand, who was indicted in the case in December 2022, is scheduled to make an appearance in the 437th District Court on Wednesday.
His defense team requested a change of venue for the trial in a motion filed in October.
A hearing for the change of venue was rest late last month, court records show.
The subpoena commands the DA’s office to produce by Wednesday morning text messages, emails, social media service messages, messaging applications, recorded conversations and tangible correspondence from both office-issued and personally owned devices.
The DA’s office did not respond to an email from KSAT Tuesday seeking comment on the subpoena.
Read more reporting on the KSAT Investigates page.
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