SAN ANTONIO – A North Side councilwoman accused of driving with an elevated blood alcohol content appeared in court for the first time Monday since she was arrested 16 weeks ago.
Dressed in a black suit, District 8 Councilwoman Ivalis Meza Gonzalez took a back way into the Bexar County Court 4 courtroom to avoid KSAT’s camera. She sat silently through the brief appearance, during which the pre-trial conference was reset for another 30 days so her attorneys could collect and review evidence.
Judge Alfredo Ximenez said it would likely be the final pre-trial reset.
Meza Gonzalez spoke briefly to reporters as she left with David Christian, one of her attorneys.
“This is a normal reset that my attorneys assured me occurs. So we’re just moving forward in this process and hoping to find some resolution,” the councilwoman said.
Watch the interaction in the video below:
Neither Meza Gonzalez nor Christian said whether they planned to fight the charge or seek a plea deal.
“The judge said it’s 30 days to reset, so we’re just following that process along,” Meza Gonzalez said.
“We’re just working, trying to get it resolved for her best way we can,“ Christian said. ”And, you know, she’s put out some statements, and y’all have them. And so, you know, we’re just working through it. As soon as we have something, we’ll get it to you.”
Other recent high-profile DWI cases with San Antonio City Council members have ended with plea agreements.
Former District 10 Councilman Clayton Perry pleaded no contest in April 2023 to driving while intoxicated and failure to stop and provide information charges in exchange for one year of deferred adjudication.
His successor, Councilman Marc Whyte pleaded “no contest” to a non-DWI charge, “obstruction of a highway,” last November, also in exchange for six months of deferred adjudication.
The prosecution in Meza Gonzalez’s case is being handled by an Atascosa County assistant county attorney, Jonathan Fischer, after Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales recused himself.
In paperwork obtained by KSAT, the district attorney cited the councilwoman’s father, Daniel Meza, being a “longtime acquaintance” and Meza Gonzalez herself being a “political supporter.”
Meza Gonzalez was already censured by her fellow city council members in September. Though the measure did not carry any tangible consequences, it served as a public rebuke.
Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones has also suspended the councilwoman’s committee assignments “until further notice or until more details of the incident are known.”
Meza Gonzalez, who was elected to the seat in the June 7 runoff, was pulled over around 11 p.m. on July 24 on Interstate 10 after leaving a downtown club, her arrest warrant states.
According to the warrant, a San Antonio police officer initiated a traffic stop on Meza Gonzalez’s vehicle after she was seen driving at a slower speed than other vehicles and failed to remain in a single lane along I-10 near Hildebrand Avenue.
The officer asked Meza Gonzalez if she had been drinking, and she denied it, according to the warrant. Meza Gonzalez said that she was coming from the Centre Club downtown.
During a sobriety test, the warrant said that Meza Gonzalez had “watery, glossy eyes” and had a “moderate odor of intoxicants.” SAPD-issued documents state that she also slurred words.
After Meza Gonzalez was placed into custody, the warrant said that the officer requested a sample of her breath or blood, and she refused.
Court records indicate that Meza Gonzalez was booked on July 25 into the Bexar County jail on a DWI charge. She was later released on a $1,000 bond.
Her case was refiled in September as driving while intoxicated with a blood alcohol content of at least .15, a Class A Misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a $4,000 fine.
Police got a warrant for a blood draw, but the results have not been publicly released. The Texas Attorney General’s Office agreed the Texas Department of Public Safety did not have to release them in response to a KSAT records request.
Records obtained by KSAT show that Meza Gonzalez was charged with misdemeanor DWI-open container in June 2010. The charge does not appear in a criminal background check of the councilwoman, meaning it is likely she had the charge expunged.
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