CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Now that the Texas Attorney General's Office has agreed to prosecute the crimes related to Breanna Wood's death, a hearing was held Wednesday in order to establish a time frame in which to hear the cases.
Joseph Tejeda has been in the Nueces County Jail longer than any other inmate. Charged with capital murder in the 2016 murder of Breanna Wood, he is one of three defendants facing charges connected with the killing.
During Wednesday's hearing, asst. AG Aurora Perez asked for more time to review the evidence in Tejeda's case.
She said because the attorney general's office had just received the files, it would need anywhere between two weeks to a month to determine if more investigation was needed.
Problems in the case began to surface in December, when the Nueces County District Attorney's Office and District Court Judge Jack Pulcher sought to recuse themselves from the cases.
During Wednesday's hearing, Banales said for more than three months following the recusal he had contacted several district attorneys offices trying to find a prosecutor to try the case, but no one would accept.
The attorney general's office agreed to step in two days after KRIS 6 News published a story in which Breanna Wood's mother, Fallon, said Nueces County District Attorney Angelica Hernandez had asked her to sort pre-trial evidence for the Tejeda trial.
"These cases have been pending a long time," Banales told the assembled attorneys.
Banales set the next hearing for June 17, this time in person, and requested that all defendants appear via Zoom for the hearing.
He also suggested the state consider a trial date of Oct. 31 for Tejeda's capital-murder trial.
