A new report released on Tuesday shows the collaboration between an Austin-based criminal justice reform group and district attorneys nationwide, including Bexar County DA Joe Gonzales.<\/p>\n
The Wren Collective has been linked to Gonzales and nearly 40 other district attorneys throughout the country. <\/p>\n
The Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund in Virginia, an organization that helps defend police officers who say they have been wrongfully accused, has been investigating the Wren Collective\u2019s work with prosecutors across the country for more than a year.<\/p>\n
The Wren Collective<\/a> came to the group\u2019s attention because of KSAT\u2019s reporting that exposed its role in the San Antonio district attorney\u2019s office.<\/p>\n \u201cIf not for Bexar County District Attorney involvement with the Wren Collective, we wouldn\u2019t have even known about their existence,\u201d said Sean Kennedy, policy director for the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund.<\/p>\n KSAT was first tipped off to the relationship in November 2023.<\/p>\n >> <\/b>Emails reveal Wren Collective had hands in more than just \u2018messaging\u2019 in Bexar Co. DA\u2019s Office<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n KSAT received more than 200 pages of documents<\/a> showing emails and texts between Gonzales, his then-First Assistant DA Christian Henricksen and Jessica Brand, the head of the Wren Collective. The documents revealed conversations about policies like bail reform<\/a> on specific cases like the shooting of Erik Cantu<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Wren Collective was on our radar because of KSAT, because of the reporting at your station that brought to light their role in San Antonio\u2019s district attorney\u2019s office,\u201d Kennedy said. \u201cWe started digging deeper and started investigating how many offices that we could find the Wren Collective involved in.\u201d<\/p>\n >> <\/b>Bexar County DA\u2019s Office to recuse itself from pending Erik Cantu cases<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n