By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Jurors in state district court Tuesday morning heard opening statements in the trial of a Val Verde County man charged with indecency with a child.
Before the jurors returned to the second-floor courtroom in the Val Verde County Judicial Center downtown, 83rd Judicial District Judge Robert E. Cadena ruled on several motions filed by San Antonio attorneys Don Flanary and Amanda Hernandez, who are defending Gilberto Barrera, 56.
Barrera is on trial for the offense of indecency with a child for allegedly fondling and kissing a 15-year-old girl in late November 2020.
Cadena ruled on motions by the defense regarding a videotaped interview with the 15-year-old girl who accused Barrera and another defense motion requesting a continuance of the trial until an expert witness becomes available to testify.
After ruling on the motions, Cadena asked that the jury be returned to the courtroom at 9 a.m. for opening statements.
Assistant District Attorney Jessica Shawver-Savino gave the opening statement for the state.
She began by thanking the jurors for their service to the community and reminded them that the statements made by attorneys are not evidence in the case and should only be considered a guide to the process and what each attorney believes the evidence shows.
Shawver-Savino then gave a summary of the state’s case, saying that Barrera is charged with the offense of indecency with a child by sexual contact regarding an alleged incident that occurred just before Thanksgiving 2020.
Shawver-Savino detailed the alleged incident and told the jury the girl “felt guilty and ashamed,” but after several days, told her biological father about the incident. The girl’s biological father called the Val Verde County Sheriff’s Office, and a criminal investigation was launched.
“The child will have to get on the stand and tell you this story,” Shawver-Savino said.
Hernandez made the opening statement for the defense.
“We are all here because a 15-year-old girl said something to get her biological father’s attention back,” Hernandez told the jury.
She said Barrera, who sat at the defense table with his attorneys, had lived in his Val Verde County home for decades.
“The two things he is most proud of in his life are his family and his career as a federal agent for the United States Border Patrol,” she said.
Hernandez urged jurors to listen for the circumstances and situations surrounding the girl’s 2020 statement about the alleged incident to her biological father.
Hernandez said the girl’s biological father had moved in with a girlfriend “and she (the 15-year-old) was getting a little bit jealous.”
Hernandez said the 15-year-old moved in with her biological father the same day she made the claim about Barrera and has been living with her biological father ever since.
Hernandez also brought into question the subsequent investigation by the sheriff’s office, urging jurors to listen “for evidence that could have been preserved” and asking themselves, “Could the investigator have done more?”
The investigator did not, Hernandez said, get a search warrant for the house where the 15-year-old claims the incident occurred, and the investigator never spoke to Barrera.
Hernandez told the jury that the 15-year-old’s biological father is a well-known local businessman who is “very familiar” with the sheriff and the district attorney.
“The only evidence is the word of this girl. There are two sides to every story, and I am asking you to keep an open mind and listen . . . and we’ll ask you to do the right thing,” Hernandez said.
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