SAN ANTONIO – This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
A North Side councilwoman accused of driving while intoxicated less than two months into her term has agreed to a plea deal for probation on a lower, non-DWI charge.
Councilwoman Ivalis Meza Gonzalez (District 8) had been accused of driving with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of at least 0.15 — nearly twice the legal limit of 0.08. The Class A misdemeanor is punishable by up to a year in jail and a $4,000 fine.
However, at a Tuesday hearing, she pleaded “no contest” to obstruction of a highway, a non-DWI Class B misdemeanor punishable by up to 180 days in jail and a $2,000 fine.
In exchange for her plea, Meza Gonzalez received nine months of deferred adjudication, a type of probation that will allow her to avoid a conviction on her record if she completes it successfully.
Other conditions included a $1,000 fine and 24 hours of community service. She has already completed DWI education and a victim impact panel.
Meza Gonzalez spoke briefly to reporters after the hearing.
“Thank you all for being here. This has been a difficult chapter, but I am committed to learning from this. I am glad that this case has been resolved, and I am going to remain focused on work and family. Thank you so much,” she said.
Meza Gonzalez and her attorney, David Christian, refused to answer further questions, including whether she had been drinking or if she thought the downgraded charge was fair considering how much over the limit she had been accused of being.
The prosecution in Meza Gonzalez’s case was handled by an Atascosa County assistant county attorney, Jonathan Fischer, after Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales recused himself.
Fischer left the courtroom before KSAT was able to ask him for comment after the hearing. A voicemail at his office was not immediately returned.
KSAT has also emailed the Bexar County District Attorney’s office asking for comment.
More about Meza Gonzalez‘s case
Meza Gonzalez, who was elected to her seat in the June 7 runoff, was pulled over around 11 p.m. July 24 on Interstate 10 after leaving a downtown club, according to her arrest warrant.
An officer initiated a traffic stop on her vehicle after she was seen driving at a slower speed than others and failed to remain in a single lane along I-10 near Hildebrand Avenue.
Meza Gonzalez told the officer she just left the Centre Club, a downtown establishment located in the 100 block of East Pecan Street.
In a video of her arrest released by San Antonio Police Department, which is nearly 19 minutes long, Gonzalez denied that she had been drinking at least eight times.
During a sobriety test, the warrant said Meza Gonzalez had “watery, glossy eyes” and had a “moderate odor of intoxicants.” San Antonio Police Department-issued documents said she also slurred words.
After Meza Gonzalez was placed into custody, the warrant said the officer requested a sample of her breath or blood, and she refused.
Court records indicate Meza Gonzalez was booked on July 25 into the Bexar County jail on a DWI charge. She was later released on a $1,000 bond.
Her case was refiled in September as driving while intoxicated with a blood alcohol content of at least .15, a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a $4,000 fine.
Police got a warrant for a blood draw, but the results have not been publicly released. The Texas Attorney General’s Office agreed the Texas Department of Public Safety did not have to release them in response to a KSAT records request.
Meza Gonzalez was censured by her fellow city council members in September.
Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones suspended Meza Gonzalez from her committee assignments in August but reinstated her on Jan. 12.
Meza Gonzalez also avoided having her license suspended.
The councilwoman has previously confirmed a prior DWI case in 2010, though she said she “was acquitted by a jury of my peers. Subsequently, I had the record expunged, as is the right of anyone who is actually innocent.”
Council DWI Cases
Meza Gonzalez’s attorneys, David Christian and Thom Nisbet, had also helped secure similar plea deals for Councilman Marc Whyte (D10) and his predecessor, former Councilman Clayton Perry (D10).
Whyte was pulled over on Dec. 29, 2023, after San Antonio police said he was speeding on Northeast Loop 410 and didn’t properly signal a lane change.
Whyte admitted to having three drinks over the course of the evening and was arrested after undergoing a battery of field sobriety tests.
He was arrested on a DWI charge but later pleaded no contest to a non-DWI charge, obstruction of a highway. His case was dismissed after successfully completing six months of probation.
Perry was accused of a drunken hit-and-run in November 2022 and arrested for DWI and failure to stop and give information charges to which he ultimately pleaded “no contest.” He got 12 months of probation and avoided a conviction on his record.