UVALDE, Texas – The Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District voted to continue to use legal services from a law firm that also represented a former officer facing charges in connection with the Robb Elementary shooting, despite concerns of a conflict of interest.
On Monday night, the UCISD board voted to continue to use Thompson & Horton legal services, as assigned by the district. The board also authorized the superintendent to obtain an independent ethics attorney to review “any actual or potential conflict of interest” related to the Robb Elementary litigation.
In addition, the board passed a motion to waive attorney-client privilege to the independent attorney to produce Thompson & Horton’s conflict of interest ethics analyst.
“We’ve been trying to do what’s right, but you’re only as good as your legal team,” trustee Jesse Rizo said. “We’ve been failed…time and time again.”
At last week’s UCISD board meeting, the board voted unanimously to hire Thompson & Horton to represent the district. The board still has Walsh Gallegos on retainer.
Walsh Gallegos represented the district during a lawsuit from KSAT and other media organizations to make the records public, as the district had sought to withhold documents and information connected to the massacre. Two teachers and 19 students died in the shooting on May 24, 2022.
Court records show that Thompson & Horton attorneys represented former UCISD officer Adrian Gonzales and current UCISD board Vice President JJ Suarez in a separate federal lawsuit related to the shooting filed by several families of the victims.
Gonzales was indicted on 29 counts of endangering a child for his response to the shooting. Each charge against Gonzales carries up to two years in jail if convicted.
Former UCISD police Chief Pete Arredondo was also indicted on multiple counts of child endangerment. Arredondo has been described as the on-scene commander of the law enforcement response.
Both Gonzales and Arredondo have pleaded not guilty. They are the only two responding officers to have been charged in connection with the response.
The school board voted to release all records in July and end the lawsuit after a Texas appeals court ruled in favor of KSAT and the other news outlets.
Family members of the victims were among those who pushed for the records to be released.
While UCISD released thousands of records in batches last month, Walsh Gallegos admitted they “made an error” by not releasing all the records initially.
Uvalde County was also named in the lawsuit. County officials have released nearly seven hours of footage and 1,576 pages of emails, text messages and other documents in August.
Other discussion items on Monday included a ransomware attack on the district and communication conduct from Superintendent Ashley Chohlis.
UCISD did not take any action on Chohlis’ conduct.
As for the ransomware attack, trustees said the system was back up and was working with several law enforcement officials, including the FBI.
Forensic investigators were looking to see how much of the system was affected, but it would take some time to see the full extent of the issue.