CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — CORRECTION: We have a correction to make to a story we ran yesterday on the hearing involving Derek Parra. The mugshot we showed you during our 6 p.m. Wednesday coverage showed a person that had no connection to that case. We apologize for the error and remain committed to providing our viewers with accurate and fair coverage and updating our stories when errors are made.
ORIGINAL:
A Corpus Christi man will spend five years in prison after reaching a plea deal Tuesday in a case recently mired in accusations of misconduct.
"We thought it was in his best interest, my client's best interest to move forward with the plea agreement,” said defense attorney Victoria Muniz.
Derek Parra was arrested and charged in the shooting death of 27-year-old Joe Anthony Trevino in March 2019 after police said Trevino was shot after having an argument with a man.
Police said Trevino was driving away from the scene of the argument, a parking lot of a convenience store on Ayers Street, when he was shot in the head. He later died.
A jury found Parra not guilty of murdering Trevino, and not guilty of aggravated assault in the case in early November 2020.
While Parra still faced one more lesser charge, Muniz filed for a mistrial after accusing the original judge presiding over the case, 214th District Court Judge Inna Klein and others of prosecutorial misconduct. Her claim was that they watched muted jury deliberations via closed-circuit camera. Jury deliberations are confidential, and even judges aren’t allowed to witness the process.
Muniz also claimed the cases prosecutor, Assistant District Attorney Angelica Hernandez, made comments to the media that could’ve swayed a jury verdict.
The 41-year-old defendant also was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm, the charge to which he pled guilty Tuesday.
"We didn't want to risk the possibility of a mistrial -- delaying this any further for him because he's been waiting over two years for his day in court," Muniz said.
He will serve five years in prison.
"He wanted to move forward, serve his sentence and be done with it,” Muniz said.
Klein, along with Hernandez, recused themselves from the punishment phase of the trial.
KRIS 6 News reached out to the Nueces County District Attorney's Office about the misconduct allegations against Klein and Hernandez but were told no one was available to speak to us.
