Category: San Antonio News

This story is part of a KSAT 12 Defenders investigation into the use of confidential informants by law enforcement. The one-hour special report airs on KSAT 12 on Feb. 1 at 9 p.m. Find more here.

Though confidential informants are often utilized by law enforcement agencies to produce more arrests, the lack of transparency around the process has long had experts concerned.

In most cases, confidential informants are suspects that have been arrested or convicted for crimes of their own, but cut a deal with police and prosecutors to reduce their sentence in exchange for information that leads to a more valuable arrest.

But there are holes in the system that can lead to wrongful convictions and other disastrous consequences.

One high-profile incident played out in 2019.

Houston police obtained a no-knock warrant for a home based on what they claimed was the testimony of a registered and reliable confidential informant, who they said had purchased heroin at the house. The raid ended with two people dead — Navy veteran Dennis Tuttle and his wife, Rhogena Nicholas — and four officers wounded by gunfire. No heroin was found in the home.

Prosecutors later alleged that the lead officer who applied for the raid routinely used false information and attributed it to informants to secure search warrants and that he had done so in this case.

“Criminal law is highly tolerant of the secrecy and the confidentiality, and therefore the lack of transparency and accountability that goes with that in the use of informants,” said Harvard law professor and criminal justice expert Alexandra Natapoff.

In some ways, Natapoff said, Texas has set an example on the issue.

Because of a series of wrongful convictions in the small Panhandle town of Tulia at the turn of the millennium, the legislature passed a law in 2001 that required corroboration of informant testimony in order to secure a conviction.

But more recent attempts to enact further reforms have faced political hurdles.

During last year’s regular legislative session, House Rep. Senfronia Thompson, a Houston Democrat, submitted HB 834 to expand the 2001 law further, requiring corroboration of undercover officer testimony before a conviction. Proponents argued the current loophole can still lead to wrongful arrests.

State Rep. Matt Krause, a Fort Worth Republican, also introduced House Bill 2631, which would have required a reliability hearing for jailhouse informants when they give information on serious felony crimes, like capital murder.

“It was the first time I’ve seen that idea really get traction,” said Scott Henson, the executive director of Just Liberty, a Texas-based criminal justice reform organization.

Both bills passed in the House with bipartisan support, but languished in the Senate.

“(Law enforcement agencies) don’t want that oversight,” Henson said. “They don’t want anyone looking into their business before (obtaining) the search warrant.”

Despite the challenges, Natapoff said she remains hopeful those kinds of reforms will eventually become enshrined into law as the secretive process behind confidential informants comes under greater scrutiny.

“Snitching will never recover from the realization that it is the single largest cause of wrongful capital conviction in this country,” Natapoff said. “Time and time again, we have seen the costs, we have seen the dysfunction, and I think that in state after state, we are seeing the result of that skepticism.”

WATCH KSAT 12 on Feb. 1 at 9 p.m.

Hear more from these experts, as well as local law enforcement leaders, about how to fix the problems associated with confidential informants in “‘A Necessary Evil’: The Cost of Confidential Informants,” a KSAT 12 Defenders special investigation that airs on KSAT 12 on Tuesday, February 1 at 9 p.m.

Read more from this series:

What is a confidential informant?What is actual innocence?Planted drugs, secret deals, lies: How one bad informant ruined the lives of at least 4 San AntoniansTimeline: The cost of confidential informants in Bexar County‘A Necessary Evil’: The Cost of Confidential Informants, a KSAT 12 Defenders Investigation

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday morning will hold a news briefing ahead of winter weather that’s expected to impact the state this week.

His briefing at 10:30 a.m. at the Alternate State Operations Center in Austin will be livestreamed in this article. Delays are possible; if there is not a livestream available, check back at a later time.

Representatives from the Texas Division of Emergency Management, ERCOT, Public Utility Commission of Texas, Texas Department of Public Safety, Texas Department of Transportation and Texas Department of State Health Services will be among those in attendance.

The strong cold front will arrive in San Antonio on Wednesday night and bring another chance of rain. Temperatures will decrease into the 30s on Thursday morning. There could be a transition to a light wintry mix of freezing rain and sleet Thursday morning, especially in the Hill Country and north of Loop 1604.

The cold snap in Texas this week is not expected to be as extreme as February 2021′s freeze, but people still need to prepare. Pets and plants should be taken inside, people who do not have access to central heating should be checked on, and pipes should be covered.

Read more: This week will bring a STRONG cold front to San Antonio

A 55-year-old man is in critical condition after being found shot in a neighborhood just south of downtown early Tuesday morning, San Antonio police said.

Officers were called around 4 a.m. to the 200 block of Leopold Street, not far from South Presa and Carolina Street after receiving word of shots fired.

According to police, the man was shot multiple times in the chest outside a home on a dead end street. The shooter fled the scene before officers arrived.

Police said neighbors heard the shots and went out to find the man. They don’t know who the man is, or why he was on the street.

The victim was taken by EMS to Brooke Army Medical Center, where he is listed in critical condition. His name has not been released.

SAPD said officers did find several shell casings. They are now going door to door, looking for anyone with any information or possible surveillance video, but so far they have not found any clues.

A motive for the shooting is not currently known. The investigation is ongoing, police said.

Lingering challenges have opened the door for new ideas.

Three people avoided serious injury following a rollover crash on the city’s Northwest Side early Tuesday morning, San Antonio police said.

The crash occurred around 2:15 a.m. in the 11900 block of Babcock Road, not far from Hausman Road and De Zavala Road.

According to police, the driver of a Camaro lost control due to speed and road conditions and hit a rock, flipping the vehicle into some nearby trees.

Police said there were a total of three people inside the car. One person was taken by EMS to University Hospital, with only minor injuries.

The San Antonio Police Department, the San Antonio Fire Department and EMS all answered the call.

Alcohol did not play a factor in the crash, police said.

State support for public colleges reached $105.5 billion for the current fiscal year, an 8.5% increase over 2021. But the question remains whether states will continue raising higher education appropriations once federal stimulus funding ends.

San Antonio fire investigators are working to determine the cause of a fire at a vacant restaurant on the city’s West Side late Monday night.

The fire was called in just after 11 p.m. in the 1220 block of South Brazos Street, not far from Guadalupe Street and South Laredo Street.

Firefighters said they arrived to find the former restaurant fully engulfed in flames. Fire officials said they had to fight the fire defensively, and that they couldn’t stop the building from being totally destroyed.

The cause of the fire is not currently known. A fire investigation team has since been called to determine the exact cause.

The San Antonio Fire Department, the San Antonio Police Department, EMS and CPS Energy all answered the call.

No injuries were reported.

We solemnly swear this haute couture dress is just too good.

Leia, an eighth-grade student at Jackson Middle School in NEISD, spent weeks creating a gold, sleeveless dress out of 200 pages of a “Harry Potter” book.

She used wire and hot glue to tie it all together, and she accentuated the flow with golden butterflies on rods.

Leia’s dress received praise when NEISD posted images of the creation on Facebook over the weekend — praise that a veteran artist or designer would normally see.

But Leia’s Advanced Art 1 teacher, Ymelda Salas, told KSAT that the “Harry Potter” dress was actually her first-ever design.

Salas explained that Leia wanted to expand her portfolio for her application to NEISD’s North East School of the Arts, and her goal was to experiment with a variety of media.

With two life-sized manikins sitting in the corner of her classroom, Salas knew the answer.

“I suggested she design and create something out of recycled materials,” Salas said. “Now, because she loves to attempt to create at any opportunity, she was all for it.”

In the Facebook post, Leia stated she created the dress because she enjoys books and wanted to make something unique.

“I love reading, and I use it as a way to escape reality and live in my own magical world,” Leia said. “So, I think that by creating a project in real life, something that can be seen and touched, I think that, in a way, it was like I was bringing the book to life. It was also like nothing I’d ever done before, so I think that I really didn’t want to pass up an opportunity to create something like this.”

Since the “Harry Potter” dress, Leia has created two other pieces and is currently working on a disco ball painting, Salas said. A portion of her portfolio includes a self-portrait, a drawing of a horse and a 3D piece called “Not so Happy Meal.”

Salas said Leia wants to pursue a career in art “to continue working on her passion.” Whatever her path, Salas said Leia is “phenomenal,” humble and set up for success.

Leia said thanks to Salas, she has been able to flex her creativity.

“Being in this class has allowed me to grow and challenge myself, and I will be forever grateful that I had the chance to take it.”

Does a higher education degree lead to better pay?

A recent study by the University of Texas at San Antonio’s Urban Education Institute, led by director Mike Villarreal, says, yes, an education still helps people get paid more.

“What we discovered is — sure enough, as a student’s educational attainment increases, so do their earnings,” Villarreal said.

Your area of study matters when it comes to how much you’ll end up earning in the long run.

“STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) fields and also majors that are career-oriented, specifically legal studies, business construction, science — these fields pay exceedingly well,” Villarreal said the study showed.

He said the study is important for the community as families help guide their children to a field that will help them achieve maximum earning potential and possibly reduce debt. It also matters for educators to evaluate how they direct students into fields or certificates as they continue their education.

“We need to make sure that STEM-based skills are integrated into all fields of study,” Villarreal explained.

Jocelin Boedeker, a STEM educator at Kallison Elementary School, guides kinder through 5th-grade students on the basics of STEM exploring, creating and failing.

“It’s all constructive play, and it’s purposeful play,” Boedeker said.

The pilot program was launched 3-years ago. Boedeker said she’s already seeing improvements in how children problem-solve and collaborate.

“Their mindset has changed. When it doesn’t work, it’s, ‘I haven’t gotten it yet.’ So it’s a big growth mindset,” Boedeker said.

When children share ideas in her class, Boedeker said they’re building on foundations and improving ideas to create something better. She said parents could help build on the STEM growth at home by simply playing with their kids.

“Instead of using your device as a babysitter — but really just have it be more geared towards apps that are educational, that are coding things that are gearing them for the future,” Boedeker said.

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The number of people dealing with COVID is still high unfortunately, the people caring for the ill are outnumbered.

“We’re doing it one more time,” Connie Thigpen, the administrative director of the ICU and emergency department at Baptist Medical Center said. “Staff is tired.”

The pandemic has cause widespread staffing shortages, healthcare systems aren’t immune. Tonight on the #NightBeat we’ll show you how some are trying to combat that with incentives and outside help. pic.twitter.com/ISho6IiD1U

— Leigh Waldman (@LeighWaldman) February 1, 2022

Exhaustion, emotional and physical, is setting in for healthcare workers—an effect of the pandemic that is often times hidden from the patients they serve.

“They’ll never realize the amount of emotion that a caregiver and nurse an RT puts into their patient,” Thigpen said.

The virus is also forcing staff to stay home if they’re infected.

In a statement, a Methodist Healthcare spokesperson said: “Like the rest of the nation, we have seen an increased number of employees testing positive for COVID; however, due to the CDC’s updated guidance which decreased isolation protocols, employees have been able to return to work more quickly and patient care has not been affected.”

Thigpen says Baptist Medical Center is short-staffed when it comes to their permanent staff so, they’re relying on outside help.

“We have supplemental staff in the way of travelers. We also have some state nurses that are helping us out as well,” Thigpen explained.

Currently, Baptist Health System has more than 60 state staff nurses and more than 100 travel nurses.

The story is the same at University Health System. There are 41 nurses and respiratory therapists helping from the state.

At Methodist Healthcare System, they have 125 nurses and 15 respiratory therapists from the state assisting this month.

“It’s just essential that we continue to try to bring new people on board because honestly, no one really knows when all this is truly going to end,” Thigpen said.

It’s why University Hospital budgeted increases for base salaries this year and is allowing for more flexible time-off policies.

Baptist Health is offering a $15,000 sign-on bonus for qualified respiratory therapists and $20,000 for registered nurses.

“Both have skills and have knowledge that are keenly necessary during the continued battle with this pandemic,” Thigpen said.

On Tuesday, Baptist Health is holding a virtual hiring event for a variety of positions but particularly for RNs and PTs. The event is happening from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m.

In order to participate, job seekers will need to RSVP to sherwin.guevarra@tenethealth.com.

For more details about the hiring event, click here.