SAN ANTONIO – 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) was accused of driving with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.169, according to a Department of Public Safety toxicology report obtained by KSAT 12, more than twice the legal limit of 0.08.
Driving with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of at least 0.15 is a Class A misdemeanor, 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 would result in her case being dismissed if she completes it successfully, allowing her to avoid a conviction.
Bexar County Court-at-Law 4 Judge Alfredo Ximenez approved the plea agreement, which also includes a $1,000 fine, an alcohol and drug evaluation, and 24 hours of community service. She has already completed DWI education and a victim impact panel.
She also has to cover $270 in court costs.
Meza Gonzalez spoke briefly to reporters after the hearing.
“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,” she said.
Meza Gonzalez and one of her attorneys, David Christian, refused to answer further questions, including whether she had been drinking or if she felt the downgraded charge was fair considering how much over the limit she had been accused of being.
Joe Hoelscher, a DWI defense attorney not involved in the case, called Meza Gonzalez’s plea agreement a “sweetheart deal” and a “lenient offer.”
"Like, you just don’t see these obstruction pleas very often,” he told KSAT. “And when I do, most of the time they want a conviction for ‘em to make sure it can’t be sealed."
Though court records in Meza Gonzalez’s case note the charge as “obstruct highway-intoxication,” Hoelscher said it’s still not the same as a DWI charge.
"In Texas, if you get deferred adjudication for a DWI, as opposed to obstruction of a highway, that can still be used to increase penalties for future DWIs, even if it’s sealed,” he said.
In a December 2022 commentary for the San Antonio Express News, Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales said his policy going forward would be that an “obstruction” charge “will not be available to anyone with a prior DWI-related offense on their record, anyone with a blood alcohol concentration over 0.15, or anyone who was involved in an accident related to the charge. We will ensure our new policy is followed without exception.”
However, the DA asked to be recused from Meza Gonzalez’s case, citing a potential conflict of interest. Instead, her case was handled by an Atascosa County assistant county attorney, Jonathan Fischer.
Fischer left the courtroom before KSAT was able to ask him for comment after the hearing. He did not return a pair of calls to his office.
KSAT emailed the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office with questions about its policies for using obstruction of a highway charges for plea deals and its reaction to the result of Meza Gonzalez’s case.
In an unsigned response, the office said “The Bexar County District Attorney’s Office was recused from Ivalis Meza Gonzalez’s case, so we had no involvement or oversight of its court proceedings or decisions. Therefore, we have no comment to provide.”
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 I-10.
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, a blood draw 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 0.15, 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.
He was arrested on a DWI charge but later pleaded no contest to obstruction of a highway. His case was dismissed after successfully completing six months of deferred adjudication.
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 deferred adjudication, which he also successfully completed.
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated with the results from a toxicology report obtained by KSAT 12.
Read more of this story on KSAT 12: