Prosecutor Served Search Warrant on Defense Lawyer During Trial to Get His Documents
In a San Antonio courtroom packed with lawyers attending as spectators, a Texas prosecutor testified today that she had a search warrant served on opposing counsel and his client during a trial in an embezzlement case early this year. The reason why was because she feared he was withholding stolen documents from the government.
Defense lawyer Tony Reyes was representing Kathleen Kavooras Pierce, a hair salon worker who was accused of embezzling from her former employers. Pierce was convicted and is now, represented by another attorney, seeking a new trial due to the mid-trial execution of the search warrant, reports the San Antonio Express-News.
A trial transcript reportedly shows that Reyes told the prosecution at the time he would introduce the documents the government sought in evidence. But assistant district attorney Nicole Thornbro said in her testimony today that “I had to come to terms with the fact he could be a suspect,” referring to Reyes..
The search warrant called both Reyes and his client suspects in an alleged felony scheme involving misapplication of fiduciary property.
Reported details of what actually happened concerning the search warrant are sketchy. An earlier Express-News article says Reyes and his client were served with the search warrant as jurors were taking a break during the trial.
Reyes described the warrant at the time as a “fruitless fishing expedition.”
Related coverage:
Express-News: “Jurors return guilty verdict in hair salon embezzlement case”
