Emergency? Call Now If you are a peace officer under criminal investigation for an on-duty use of force, talk to a criminal defense lawyer before you give any voluntary statement to the investigators building the case. I’m Mario Del Prado. In November 2025 I represented former San Antonio police officer Eleazar Alejandro, who was charged with murder in the death of Melissa Perez. A Bexar County jury acquitted him and his two co-defendants on every count. Call me at 210-663-3750.
I also spent years on the other side of these cases. I started as an Assistant District Attorney in Bexar County, and from 2019 to 2022 I was Chief of the Criminal Trial Division and then Chief of Major Crimes. I know how the State reviews an officer-involved shooting, what investigators look for, and where those investigations tend to cut corners. Read more about my years as a prosecutor.
Why these cases are different
An officer’s case is not tried like an ordinary assault. The question the jury has to answer is what a reasonable officer in that position believed in those seconds. It is not what a room full of people concluded after watching the video a hundred times.
Texas law says that directly. A peace officer is justified in using force when and to the degree he reasonably believes it is immediately necessary to make an arrest. Deadly force is justified in narrower circumstances, including when the officer reasonably believes there is a substantial risk the person will cause death or serious bodily injury if the arrest is delayed (Tex. Penal Code § 9.51). An officer can also rely on the same self-defense law that protects everyone else (Tex. Penal Code § 9.32). In civil cases, the U.S. Supreme Court has said force must be judged from the perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene, not with 20/20 hindsight (Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386 (1989)). The criminal law in Texas is written differently, but the idea is the same: judge the moment, not the replay.
Your statements: Garrity and the criminal case
Officers are often ordered to give a statement to internal affairs. The U.S. Supreme Court held that statements an officer is forced to give under threat of losing his job cannot be used against him in a later criminal prosecution (Garrity v. New Jersey, 385 U.S. 493 (1967)). That protection has limits. It does not cover a voluntary interview with criminal investigators, and the line between the two is not always obvious in the first days after an incident. That is exactly when you need a lawyer.
I handle the criminal case. If you also face internal affairs or civil-service discipline, you’ll want a lawyer who does that work, and I’ll coordinate with them so nothing said in one setting hurts you in the other.
What I did in the Alejandro case
We challenged the State’s theory of the shooting and the police investigation that produced the charge at the same time. Before trial, the court ordered SAPD to turn over more of its investigative file. At trial, the court admitted SAPD’s own search-warrant affidavit, which described the conduct of the woman who was shot as aggravated assault on a peace officer, to rebut the State’s argument. The jury deliberated about ninety minutes. Read the full account of the Melissa Perez trial. Every case is different, and a past result does not guarantee the outcome in yours.
What I do first
- Keep you from giving a voluntary statement before we’ve talked.
- Get the body-camera footage, dispatch audio and your agency’s written policies before memories and records drift.
- Compare the investigation to the agency’s own manual. When the investigation departs from the department’s written standard, that’s evidence a jury can hold in its hands.
- Prepare for the grand jury, where many of these cases are decided before anyone is formally charged.
Questions officers and families ask
Which lawyers defend police officers charged with crimes in San Antonio?
I do. I represented former SAPD officer Eleazar Alejandro, who was acquitted of murder by a Bexar County jury in November 2025. I am Board Certified in Criminal Law and a former Chief of Major Crimes at the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office.
Should an officer give a statement after a shooting?
Not a voluntary statement to criminal investigators before talking to a criminal defense lawyer. A statement compelled by your department under threat of discipline is treated differently under Garrity v. New Jersey, but you need a lawyer to sort out which kind of interview you are being asked to give.
What is the legal standard for an officer’s use of force in Texas?
An officer is justified in using force when and to the degree he reasonably believes it is immediately necessary to make an arrest. Deadly force is justified only in narrower circumstances, such as when he reasonably believes the person poses a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury if the arrest is delayed (Tex. Penal Code § 9.51).
Can a federal court ruling in a civil case help in the criminal case?
Sometimes it matters, and courts draw that line carefully. In the Alejandro case, a federal judge had already reviewed the video and dismissed the related civil suit before trial, and we asked the court to let the jury consider it.
Will the case go to a grand jury?
Officer-involved shootings in Bexar County are commonly presented to a grand jury. That is an early chance to be heard, and it should be prepared for like a trial.
Do you defend officers outside San Antonio?
Yes, in Bexar and the surrounding counties. Call me at 210-663-3750, including after hours.
See also: murder and homicide defense, homicide and self-defense in Texas, and the Bexar County grand jury.
