Testimony: Michelle Barrientes Vela’s office got fees and fines from accused with no judge around

The office of then-Constable Michelle Barrientes Vela collected fines and fees from defendants who had outstanding warrants without arresting them or bringing them before a judge, witnesses said Wednesday in a sentencing hearing in her evidence tampering trial. The violation of criminal justice procedures was routine and continued even after Vela was warned by then-District Attorney Nicholas “Nico” LaHood that she needed to stop it, said one of the witnesses, Justice of the Peace Roberto Vazquez, whose Bexar County Precinct. 2 court the constable was elected to serve. The jarring allegations also were detailed by Renee Garza, a longtime clerk and court manager in Precinct 2, who testified that Vela’s deputies collected fines and fees while executing 93 warrants but that much of the money had to be refunded, “because they didn’t have a chance to go before a judge.”

A jury convicted Vela in September of two counts of tampering with evidence related to her office’s handling of cash. Vela will be sentenced by state District Judge Velia Meza, and Wednesday’s allegations, which had never been made public, came from prosecution witnesses in the sentencing phase of the trial. Vela faces up to 10 years in prison. With no prior criminal record, she has applied for probation. Vela, a Democrat, served as constable for 33 months before she was forced to resign after publicly announcing a campaign for sheriff while under investigation by Texas Rangers and the FBI stemming from complaints that she shook down a patron at Rodriguez Park in 2019 for security fees on a pavilion he had already paid for. Vazquez testified Wednesday that he met with Vela to “diplomatically” explain the warrant procedure, “what law enforcement can and can’t do,” because executing those documents is the bulk of what the constable’s office does for his court. “The meeting did not go very well,” he said, because when he tried to show her the statute in a copy of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, she took it away from him.