Austin police officer indicted on second charge relating to May 2020 protests in Texas

An Austin, Texas, police officer indicted in 2022 in connection to the May 2020 racial injustice protests was indicted on a deadly conduct charge last week.

Justin Teng was one of 19 officers indicted last year for aggravated assault. He now faces a charge of deadly conduct discharge of a firearm.

An assistant district attorney notified Teng’s attorneys, Ken Ervin and Doug O’Connell, on Memorial Day that he would be presenting a deadly conduct charge to the grand jury on the following Tuesday, giving them less than a day to respond.

O’Connell turned to Twitter on Memorial Day to share the email from Travis County District Attorney Raman Gill regarding the presentation.

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“I am writing to advise that we will be presenting a deadly conduct charge concerning your client…to the 299th Special Grand Jury,” Gill said in the letter. “That presentation is scheduled for tomorrow, Tuesday May 30, 2023, at 9 a.m. The presentation involves the less lethal impact-related injuries to <name redacted> sustained on May 31, 2020, around 11 p.m., during the Austin protests arising out of the deaths of George Floyd and Mike Ramos.”

Gill later goes on to tell O’Connell that if he has any materials he wants the assistant district attorney to consider sharing with the grand jury regarding the incident, he had until 8 p.m. local time on Monday to submit the material.

O’Connell blasted Travis County District Attorney Jose P. Garza and his office for the short notice.

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“Need another example of how @JosePGarza and his anti LEOs extremist @DATravisCounty manipulate the grand jury process,” he asked. “Check out email below rec today MEMORIAL DAY from ADA Raman Gill. They’ve had 2 years +363 days to do this, but they wait till today.”

O’Connell also tweeted that the Austin Police Department client he represents, who is involved in the charge, is a combat veteran.

“Rather than spending the day focusing lost comrades who made the ultimate sacrifice, he’s having to deal with this,” the attorney said. “Most of the county is honoring the fallen. To the DA’s office, it’s just another day to crap on the Constitution.”

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O’Connell told Fox News Digital the statute of limitations for deadly conduct is three years.

Gill did not respond to questions from Fox News Digital regarding the matter.

On Monday, Ervin and O’Connell issued a statement regarding the Garza’s last-minute additional indictment against Teng, saying they are “deeply disturbed” but the DA’s decision to notify them of the grand jury presentation with less than 24 hours to respond.

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“We were given only eight hours to submit any materials we wanted the grand jury to consider and decide whether Officer Teng would testify,” the statement reads. “We believe this grand jury presentation was scheduled far in advance of the notice we received and that this last-minute notice was intentional. Despite the short timeline, we still managed to secure a second court order forcing the D.A.’s Office, over its objection, to record the entirety of the grand jury proceedings against Officer Teng.”

The attorneys said they still do not understand a legitimate reason for the second indictment against their client on a lesser charge, a year after his first indictment, and three years after the event.

Garza previously claimed unspecified “new evidence” that forced the dismissal of one officer’s indictment and predict the DA will again claim “new evidence” while also claiming it is the reason many existing indictments must be dismissed.

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“When those dismissals occur, it will support what we have said from the beginning — these indictments were political theater and illegitimate from the outset. What happened in the 2020 Austin riots has not suddenly changed and there is no new evidence three years later,” the statement read.

Democratic candidate Garza ran for Travis County District Attorney in 2020 on a platform of prosecuting police officers, which he is following through with.

Garza instituted policies that lean in favor of releasing accused versus prosecuting them, according to critics.

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In February 2022, the DA announced indictments against 19 Austin police officers on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for their actions during the racial injustice protests over the killing of George Floyd in 2020.