Man arrested during former Fort Worth cop Aaron Dean’s trial expected to released today
Manuel Mata, 42, was taken into custody by sheriff’s deputies after defense lawyers tried to have him sworn in as a witness. Mata refused to take the oath. State District Judge George Gallagher said Mata was out on bond and declared his bonds insufficient. Gallagher said Mata’s bonds will be reinstated Monday.
“Under what authority, sir?” Mata asked Friday before stating he wanted his lawyer as deputies took him into custody. the sentence for Aaron Dean, the former Fort Worth officer convicted of manslaughter for the 2019 killing of Atatiana Jefferson. The jury rejected a murder charge, which could have led to a life sentence.. Dean had been free on bond but was jailed after his manslaughter conviction.On Monday morning, defense attorney Miles Brissette said outside the presence of the jury that a group threatened Dean’s family as they left the courthouse after the verdict was announced.
Brissette said Mata was identified by plain-clothed police officers as one of the people in the group. Brissette said defense lawyers tried to have Mata and others sworn as witnesses so they could put on the record their objections to the trial not being moved out of Tarrant County. Dean’s lawyers repeatedly tried to get the case moved to another county.“When I saw him come into the courtroom and sit within the immediate reach of the Dean family it caused me some concern,” Gallagher said.
Gallagher admonished Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker and City Council member Chris Nettles on Friday after they made public comments about the verdict. Gallagher ordered Parker and Nettles to appear in court again Jan. 4 for a hearing to determine whether they can be held in contempt of court. The judge previously admonished the lawyer for Jefferson’s family, Lee Merritt, for his public comments about the case.
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