Three days of testimony. Eleven witnesses. And a prosecution that keeps handing victories to Nico LaHood.
State Rangers confirmed unlocked doors, broken locks, defeated security measures, and no dedicated officer at Robb Elementary.
Zero shell casings found south of the building where Gonzales was positioned. No bullet defects supporting prosecution claims.
Judge struck entire witness testimony after discovering the prosecution failed to disclose changed statements.
Teacher testified Gonzales "did a good thing" evacuating children during an active threat.
Something remarkable is happening in Corpus Christi.
The state of Texas called its witnesses to prove Adrian Gonzales criminally failed to protect children during the Uvalde massacre. But three days in, the prosecution's own witnesses keep helping the defense.
From a civilian eyewitness confirming Gonzales couldn't see the shooter, to Texas Rangers admitting there's no physical evidence supporting key prosecution claims, to a teacher crediting Gonzales with saving lives, the pattern is unmistakable.
The state is building Nico LaHood's case for him.
"The person responsible for these defects... is dead. It's not Adrian."
— Texas Ranger Kevin White, testifying for the prosecutionI've watched a lot of trials. I've seen prosecutors lose control of witnesses before. But I've rarely seen a case where nearly every state witness walks off the stand having done more damage to the prosecution than the defense.
This is witness-by-witness breakdown of what actually happened in that courtroom. The key testimony, the critical concessions, and what it all means for 29 counts of child endangerment.
Establish the chaos and urgency through 911 calls. Show Gonzales arrived during active shooting. Set emotional baseline for jury.
Gonzales couldn't see the shooter. Lemones confirmed from surveillance footage that when Gonzales's white car arrived, the shooter was hiding between parked cars. Whoever was in that car could NOT have seen the gunman.
Document the shooter's overwhelming firepower. Establish the threat level officers faced.
Gonzales was outgunned and the school was already compromised. Ranger Shay confirmed a standard Kevlar vest — what Gonzales wore — would not stop rounds from the shooter's AR-15. He also confirmed staff had a "pattern and practice" of defeating door locks with magnets, the exterior door was unlocked, and a broken interior classroom lock had been reported but never fixed.
Teacher Stephanie Hail took the stand to place the shooter near Gonzales's location. But under cross-examination, her testimony completely contradicted her original statement to Texas Rangers. The defense claimed a Brady violation. The prosecutor was called to the stand and admitted she was "surprised" by the changed testimony. The judge struck Hail's entire testimony from the record — a major procedural victory and a devastating blow to prosecution credibility.
Provide emotional testimony of the terror. Show what was happening while officers allegedly failed to act.
The school's own security failed, not just police. Ms. Marin confirmed teachers commonly used a "rock system" to prop open locked doors because they weren't issued key fobs. Even more damning: she testified she only learned a year later that the west door she propped open was already unlocked. The defense attorney's response: "That's not your fault." Blame lands squarely on the school's faulty security infrastructure.
Present physical evidence of the shooter's path of fire outside the school. Establish the threat officers faced.
No shell casings where Gonzales was. Agent Nguyen stated definitively that his team found no shell casings south of the building — where Gonzales was positioned. He also admitted that determining a shooter's location from casings is "not an exact science" and is "kind of like an educated guess." With 374 officers on scene, the evidence could have easily been disturbed.
Show the terror inside classrooms. Humanize the 77-minute wait for police action.
When asked directly if Adrian Gonzales "would have been doing a good thing trying to evacuate the kids," Ms. Deming replied without hesitation: "Yes, sir." A prosecution witness — a teacher who protected her students during the massacre — just validated Gonzales's actions as life-saving, not negligent. The prosecution did not redirect. The testimony stands.
Document the ballistic damage. Show the deadly force officers were facing.
No physical evidence supports claims officers were shot at on the south side. Despite officers claiming they were fired upon while on the south side of the building, Ranger White confirmed investigators found no bullet defects on that side to support those claims. The defense introduced the "gunfire echo" theory: gunfire from the west side could have created echoes, causing officers to believe they were being shot at when they were not.
Use trajectory analysis to show the shooter fired in Gonzales's direction. Prove he faced an identifiable threat.
The physical evidence contradicts the prosecution's narrative. Lt. Bina's investigation found only ONE single bullet defect high on an adjacent building — not the multiple impacts you'd expect if a gunman was intentionally targeting an officer. The defense presented an alternative theory: this single, high-impact shot is more consistent with an accidental discharge than aimed fire. The Ranger could not rule it out.
The tragedy was enabled by broken protocols and ignored warnings long before Adrian Gonzales arrived. Unlocked doors, defeated locks, broken classroom locks reported but never fixed, no dedicated school officer, no working radios inside. The school district failed first.
The chaos rendered perceptions unreliable. Eyewitness memory altered by stress. Gunfire echoes causing officers to believe they were under fire when they weren't. Reasonable but incorrect perception of threat — a critical distinction from criminal negligence.
No shell casings where Gonzales was positioned. No bullet defects supporting prosecution claims about shooter's direction of fire. Only one stray impact, possibly accidental. The physical evidence doesn't match the state's story.
After three days of testimony, the prosecution hasn't just failed to build its case. It's actively built the defense's case.
Every state witness has been used to establish one of three things: that the school's security failed before Gonzales arrived, that perceptions under stress are unreliable, or that the physical evidence doesn't support the prosecution's claims.
The struck testimony of Stephanie Hail hangs over everything. A Brady violation in the first week. A witness whose story changed so dramatically that a prosecutor had to admit, under oath, that she was "surprised." That's not a minor procedural hiccup. That's the kind of thing juries remember when they're deliberating about reasonable doubt.
"Would he have been doing a good thing trying to evacuate the kids?"
"Yes, sir."
— Exchange between Nico LaHood and teacher Lynn DemingTwenty-nine counts of child endangerment. That's what the state has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt. And their own witnesses have now established that:
The state has more witnesses. The case isn't over. But three days in, the prosecution needs to change something. Because right now, every witness they call seems to walk off that stand having helped Adrian Gonzales more than they helped the families of 21 victims.
That's not justice. That's a case in trouble.
The state is expected to continue calling witnesses through next week. We'll be watching for:
This trial matters. Not just for Adrian Gonzales, but for how we understand police accountability in America. Can an officer be criminally liable for failing to act? Should every officer who didn't breach that day be on trial?
Those questions don't have easy answers. But the jury in Corpus Christi will have to find them.
We'll be here. Watching the system. Questioning everything. Making sure it operates the way it's supposed to.
Watch the system. Question everything.
— Justice
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