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Jury hears video and witness testimony in alleged El Volcan assault case
Summary
Prosecutors presented officer, victim and detective testimony and video evidence in the jury trial alleging Mariano Rendon assaulted a patron at El Volcan on Aug. 20, 2023; detective said the force used was not reasonable, defense questioned witness identification and police follow-up.
A Bexar County jury heard witness testimony and video in the trial of Mariano Rendon on allegations he assaulted a patron at El Volcan on Aug. 20, 2023, during proceedings before Judge Stephanie Boyd of the 187th District Court.
The state called San Antonio Police Department patrol officer Sammy Salas and witness Esperanza Garza and published cellphone and surveillance video evidence. Garza told the jury, “He just end up on the floor with an a security guard on top of him.” Detective Daniel Gross, who led the follow-up investigation, testified, “The result of my investigation was that the use of force that was utilized in this case was not reasonable given the circumstances that I observed.”
The prosecution introduced several exhibits, including witness video and copies of surveillance footage provided to police; the court admitted State’s Exhibits 16, 17, 18 and 20 without objection. Detective Gross described the footage he received from the defense as phone recordings of surveillance screens and said image quality and lighting limited what could be identified, but that the material corroborated the complainants’ accounts and supported the investigation’s finding about excessive force.
Defense counsel cross-examined the state’s witnesses on witness identification, the sequence of events and the completeness of the initial police response. Defense lawyers pressed that officers at the scene did not collect contact information for multiple potential witnesses and that some witnesses used names that later differed when interviewed; the defense argued those gaps hampered follow-up. The detective acknowledged some contact information was incomplete and that written statements, not follow-up interviews, existed for some bar staff.
Judge Boyd instructed both sides about scheduling; the court recessed and directed the jury to return at 10:30 a.m. the next court day to continue testimony. The trial record will include admitted video exhibits and the testimony cited by the court and parties as the case proceeds.
Background: The state has charged conduct stemming from an incident at El Volcan, a bar on Ingram Road in San Antonio, on Aug. 20, 2023. The case centers on whether the force used by bar staff or the owner against a patron constituted an unlawful aggravated assault resulting in serious bodily injury.
