Morning district-court docket: guilty pleas, a travel order and multiple treatment referrals

The court handled a packed calendar during a morning session that included pleas, revocation hearings, a travel order and several orders sending defendants toward treatment programs instead of immediate incarceration.

In the most consequential disposition, the court found a violation true in the matter of Devin Roy Grisham and revoked his deferred adjudication, imposing a one-year term in a state-jail facility with credit for time served and asking for consideration of therapeutic-community placement. The judge told Grisham he had two explicit choices — a prison term or structured supervision and treatment — and after hearing Grisham testify about homelessness and contact with probation the court announced the revocation and sentence.

The judge also granted a limited travel request for Roberto Monreal, allowing him to travel to Phoenix for five days in March to visit his father, subject to providing pretrial services the exact travel dates and address and to a return urine analysis. Defense counsel argued prior travel and the defendant’s return history; the prosecutor objected on flight-risk grounds tied to the underlying felony allegations. The court said it would accept the limited travel request conditioned on details going to pretrial services.

Several other matters were resolved by plea or agreement. Lily Herrera entered a plea consistent with deferred adjudication and was ordered transferred to Nueces County with three years’ deferred supervision, 120 hours of community service, parenting classes (with 20 hours to satisfy part of community-service requirements), random UAs and no unsupervised contact with minors. Christian Garza waived a jury and entered a plea to aggravated robbery; the court imposed an eight-year prison sentence and made an affirmative deadly-weapon finding. Angela Bold’s plea was accepted per the parties’ agreement and the court followed the recommended disposition, including applicable fines and admonishments.

The court repeatedly emphasized treatment options for defendants with substance issues. For example, Rick Contreras — who admitted a probation violation — was denied immediate revocation to prison and instead was ordered to remain in custody for transfer to a safety/therapeutic program and his supervision was extended; the judge explained the court’s aim was to offer structured treatment when appropriate while retaining the option to revoke if programs are not successful. Multiple defendants were referred to felony drug court or inpatient treatment where recommended.

Several administrative and scheduling orders rounded out the docket: Carl Robinson’s matter was reset for a jury-trial setting on March 4 after he refused transport from jail; the court recalled a discovery matter to March 12 where records were outstanding; and multiple deferred-adjudication matters were set for follow-up with pretrial services or probation.

Courtroom speakers included defense counsel and prosecutors who routinely stipulated exhibits and described proposed agreements; the judge repeatedly framed choices for defendants between programs and incarceration and required specific reporting or residence information before permitting activity such as travel or school attendance. The court also directed pretrial services to provide input by Zoom when needed and to confirm addresses or program start dates before giving final permission for outside activity.

The session closed with scheduling directives and reminders to counsel and clients about reporting and procedures for follow-up appearances: several matters were continued to specific March dates for further proceedings or to allow time for records, program acceptance or pretrial follow-up.