Alex Gonzales Jr. shooting: Family attorneys want confidential files released
AUSTIN, Texas - It’s been more than three years since a man was killed by Austin police after an apparent road rage incident with an off-duty officer. Now, the attorneys representing his family want the city to release the internal affairs investigative files to the public.
The attorneys for the family said the release of the files will allow the public to judge for themselves what led to the death of Alex Gonzales Jr.
Austin Kaplan, an attorney unrelated to the case, describe the G-file as, "a secret part of the officers' personnel file, which has internal affairs reports and complaints against the officers."
Those files haven’t been released to the public yet in the case of Gonzales.
MORE: Alex Gonzales Jr.’s family files formal complaint against APD officer
The incident was first described as road rage with off-duty officer Gabriel Gutierrez claiming Gonzales cut him off and flashed a gun.
The attorneys for the Gonzales family said that’s not what happened and said Officer Gutierrez was driving recklessly, then drew his gun and shot Gonzales and his girlfriend with their baby in the backseat. The attorneys said two on-duty APD officers arrived, and Officer Luis Serrato shot Gonzales multiple times.
The City of Austin states those officer’s G-files are confidential. Kaplan said maybe not.
"Having reviewed the standard on confidentiality in Texas, I think the city has an uphill climb to keep this information confidential in litigation. It's not a trade secret. It's not the secret formula to Coke or the 11 herbs and spices. It's, you know, allegations made against public officials, in a public proceeding," Kaplan said.
MORE: APD releases body camera footage from shooting of Alex Gonzales Jr.
The attorneys representing the family of Gonzales want the internal affairs investigative files made public.
"So that the public can assess the quality of the internal affairs investigation that took place, so we can begin to think about whether there have been adequate accountability steps taken in respect to this case and what lessons can be learned about the way those issues are handled more broadly by APD," Attorney Don Puckett said on January 20, 2024.
A Travis County Grand Jury declined to indict the APD officers in 2022, but Kaplan said the release of the files could change things.
"Are there internal affairs investigations that cleared police officers when, really, they shouldn't have been cleared? I think that that might be what we find in these files and that could be a reason why folks are fighting so hard to keep these under wraps. I hope not, but it could be."
The City of Austin has until Monday to file a motion to preserve the confidentiality of these documents. The attorneys for the family said if they don’t, the file will be released to the public.
