Mario Del Prado in the News: Trials as Prosecutor and Defense Lawyer

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I have tried cases in Bexar County courtrooms since 1986: first as a prosecutor, then as a defense lawyer, then back at the District Attorney’s Office as a division chief, and now on the defense side for good. Some of those trials drew press coverage. I’ve collected the main stories here with links to the originals, so you can read what reporters wrote rather than take my word for it. Where a case was tried by a team, I’ve named the team.

Defense: the Melissa Perez trial (2025)

With co-counsel Ben Sifuentes, I represented former San Antonio police officer Eleazar Alejandro from shortly after the June 2023 shooting through trial. It was the first time San Antonio officers stood trial for an on-duty killing. The two other officers, Alfred Flores and Nathaniel Villalobos, had their own lawyers. Over twenty days of testimony the State called no expert witnesses and the defense called six. On November 10, 2025, after about ninety minutes of deliberation, the jury acquitted all three on every charge. I wrote about the case in more detail here.

Prosecution: State v. Otis McKane (2021)

As Chief of the Major Crimes Division, I tried the capital murder case against Otis McKane for the 2016 killing of San Antonio Police Detective Benjamin Marconi, together with prosecutors Tamara Strauch and Jessica Schulze. KSAT later described me as the lead prosecutor. The jury convicted McKane on July 26, 2021, and sentenced him to death on August 6, 2021, the first death sentence in Bexar County in five years. I gave closing arguments in both the guilt and punishment phases. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence in October 2025.

Prosecution: State v. Manuel Michael Garcia (2019)

With prosecutor Gretchen Flader, I tried Manuel Michael Garcia for capital murder over a 2015 rampage in a stolen car that killed two people and injured four. The jury convicted him, and he was sentenced to life without parole.

My early years as a prosecutor (1986 to 1991)

State v. Thomas James Fisher (1989): a murder conviction without an identified body

With prosecutor Mary Roman, I tried Thomas Fisher before Judge James E. Barlow for the 1988 murder of Barbara Baughman. Her body was never identified. The evidence included charred finger-bone fragments recovered from an alley behind Fisher’s home, which could not be matched to her. The jury convicted Fisher in November 1989 after about ninety minutes. In his final argument, as the Express-News reported, I told the jury, “But this is not fiction.” Judge Barlow said at the time that the appeal could make legal history, because the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals had never issued an opinion in a murder case where the body was not found. Fisher was sentenced to 30 years, and the Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction in Fisher v. State, 851 S.W.2d 298 (Tex. Crim. App. 1993). The Fifth Circuit later upheld the dismissal of his federal habeas petition as time-barred in Fisher v. Johnson, 174 F.3d 710 (5th Cir. 1999).

Judge Barlow later wrote about the case in his memoir, Tales From The Southwest Courtroom (Xlibris, 2004), which has a chapter titled “Thomas Fisher.” Copies are in the San Antonio Public Library’s Texana collection.

1989 San Antonio Express-News headline on the Fisher murder prosecution
Headline from the San Antonio Express-News coverage of the Fisher trial, by John Moulder (1989). Headline only.
1989 newspaper headline: Man guilty in murder of his ex-girlfriend
Headline from coverage of the Fisher verdict, by Michele Salcedo (1989). Headline only.

Bexar County’s first conviction under the new wife-rape law

With prosecutor Margaret Embry, I tried what the Express-News described as Bexar County’s first conviction under a then-new law that made it a first-degree felony for a man to rape his wife while committing violence. The defendant had broken into his estranged wife’s apartment, struck her with a baseball bat and raped her.

  • John Moulder, San Antonio Express-News: “Bexar County has first conviction for wife rape” (print clipping)
San Antonio Express-News headline on Bexar County's first wife-rape conviction
Headline from the San Antonio Express-News, by John Moulder. Headline only.

State v. Alejandro Martinez (1990)

With prosecutor Catherine Babbitt, I tried Alejandro Martinez for the 1988 murder of his wife, Petra Martinez, a Gates Elementary School teacher. The jury convicted him and assessed the maximum: life in prison and a $10,000 fine. I told the jury the killing was “the most cold-blooded I have ever seen.”

  • John Moulder, San Antonio Express-News: “Wife’s killer gets life term” (December 15, 1990, page 8-B; print clipping)

(Alejandro Martinez is not related to Eleazar Alejandro, my 2025 client.)

December 15, 1990 San Antonio Express-News headline: wife's killer gets life term
Headline from the San Antonio Express-News, December 15, 1990. Headline only.

Legal commentary

Reporters sometimes ask me to explain a criminal case I’m not involved in. The San Antonio Express-News asked me and other experienced lawyers to assess the Uvalde prosecutions:

Leaving the District Attorney’s Office

When I returned to private practice at the end of 2022, KSAT reported that I had been the lead prosecutor in the McKane case and was expected to lead the prosecution in the Andre McDonald case.

Why I keep this page

When your freedom is on the line, you should be able to check a lawyer’s record for yourself. Press coverage isn’t the measure of a good result. Most of my best results are dismissals that never made the news, and I work hard to keep it that way for my clients. But these stories show the kind of cases I have tried, from both sides of the courtroom, in front of Bexar County juries.

Recognition

Questions people ask me

Have you tried high-profile cases in San Antonio?

Yes, on both sides. As a prosecutor I was part of the team that tried the Otis McKane capital murder case in 2021, and in 1989 I tried Thomas Fisher for a murder in which the victim’s body was never identified. As a defense lawyer I represented former SAPD Officer Eleazar Alejandro in the 2025 Melissa Perez trial.

Were you really a prosecutor?

Yes. I started as an Assistant District Attorney in Bexar County right out of law school in 1986 and tried murder and sexual assault cases. From 2019 to 2022 I came back as Chief of the Criminal Trial Division and then Chief of the Major Crimes Division.

How did the Melissa Perez trial end?

In November 2025 the jury found Eleazar Alejandro not guilty on every charge after about ninety minutes of deliberation. The two other officers, who had their own lawyers, were acquitted too.

Do reporters ask you to explain criminal cases?

Sometimes. The San Antonio Express-News asked me, as an outside lawyer with no role in the case, to assess the Uvalde prosecutions in December 2024 and February 2026.

If I hire you, will my case end up in the news?

Not if I can help it. Most cases never draw a reporter, and when they do, I decide carefully whether saying anything helps my client.

How do I reach you?

Call 210-663-3750. The office is at 342 W. Woodlawn Ave., Suite 302, San Antonio, Texas 78212.

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