Public safety takes center stage in Democratic primary fight for Travis County District Attorney

As early voting in the 2024 March primary begins, Travis County has its eyes on the race for its next top prosecutor.

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- As early voting in the 2024 March primary begins, Travis County has its eyes on the race for its next top prosecutor.

Incumbent District Attorney José Garza faces a Democratic challenger, Jeremy Sylestine -- an Austin defense attorney who filed to run against Garza on the last day of filing in December. Sylestine spent 15 years as a prosecutor in the Travis County DA's office, before leaving shortly after Garza took office in 2021.

In the three years since his election, Garza said he was most proud of creating programs aimed at stopping gun violence and increasing the number of sexual assault convictions, compared to the previous administration.

"We have held people accountable who commit acts of violence, but at the same time, we've begun to reduce our reliance on incarceration and address the root causes of crime in our community," Garza said. "And as a result, this is one of the safest communities in the country."

He cited data showing homicide rates and violent crime rates on the decline, over the last three years.

Meanwhile, his opponent has been critical of Garza's approach to the office, claiming his administration has not been aggressive in prosecuting violent crime and even accused Garza of relying too heavily on plea deals, instead of taking cases before a jury.

"I saw victims being ignored. I saw lenient plea deals on serious cases," Sylestine said. "People getting out on low bonds when they didn't need to, and people getting hurt as a consequence."

Last year, KXAN investigators dug into criminal case data to find an increase in the amount of felony cases dropped during Garza's term, as well as questions about the conviction rate being publicized by his campaign.

Sylestine said he hopes to balance the progressive efforts and diversion programs Travis County voters support, with the prosecution of violent crime.

"Crime is not democratic; crime is not republican. Safety is not democratic; Safety is not republican. Those two things are of concern for everybody," he said.

Garza, on the other hand, told KXAN he is proud of his office's record in cases involving violent crime.

"Since we started trying cases again, we've tried 16 murder trials," he said, referencing the year jury trials began again after the coronavirus pandemic shut down most court operations. "By comparison, the last administration lost five murder trials during their term."

'Hotly contested'

On Tuesday, as Garza spent the afternoon speaking to students and potential voters at the University of Texas, his team began jury selection in another high profile trial: manslaughter cases against two former Williamson County deputies, accused in the 2019 death of Javier Ambler.

Garza said he spent the weekend preparing with his team to bring the case before a jury.

"They are ready to continue to fight for justice for Javier Ambler and for his family. And we are ready for our community to see those facts and to weigh in on on what happened on that fateful night," he said.

It is a promise from his initial campaign in 2020, where he vowed to hold law enforcement accountable in cases of potential excessive force and to bring all cases of police misconduct to a grand jury.

This stance earned intense disapproval from police unions and some conservative critics, but Garza forged ahead. His office indicted nearly 20 officers over actions during the racial justice protests in 2020, from the wake of George Floyd's death, and took the case of Christopher Taylor, the Austin police officer who fatally shot Mike Ramos in 2020, to trial.

Jurors in the Taylor case failed to reach a decision, resulting in a hung jury, and just weeks later, Garza's office dropped 17 of the officer's indictments related to the protests.

"These are among the most difficult cases in our office. They are more hotly contested than capital murder cases; they have more resources behind them in capital murder cases," he said. "These are not easy cases, but we are committed to putting them in front of our community to allow them to weigh in and exercise their oversight, responsibility and their oversight rights."

He told KXAN he will continue to push for accountability in policing, presenting misconduct cases to the grand jury and, when they believe the law was broken, prosecuting them. He also noted that his office recently sent a letter to the Department of Justice requesting a pattern and practice investigation into use of force at the Austin Police Department.

Still, he said the goal is to "work with our law enforcement partners to make sure they have the tools and resources they need to do their job safely."

Sylestine argues the relationship with APD is "fractured," so he'd need to work with the department to rebuild its relationship with the office.

Hear more from KXAN's interviews with both candidates, tonight on KXAN News at 10 p.m..