On Wednesday, June 19, 2019 an Atascosa County jury found Brian Matew guilty of the offenses of Unlawful Possession of a Firearm by a Felon and Unlawful Possession of Body Armor by a Felon. The case was tried in the 81st/218th District Court of Atascosa County with Judge Russell Wilson presiding.
The jury heard evidence that on September 15, 2017, Chief Henry Dominguez with Atascosa County Animal Control was passed by a vehicle traveling speeds of around 100mph on Highway 16 north of Poteet. He could not safely catch up to the vehicle, so he asked for assistance from Atascosa County Sheriff’s Office and along with Deputy Caleb Bunch, they were able to stop the vehicle.
A search of the vehicle was done for officer safety and a 9mm handgun was recovered from the front seat of the vehicle. After the recovery of the handgun, the defendant admitted to being a convicted felon. It was later found that he was currently on probation in Bexar County for the felony offense of Impersonating a Public Servant for dressing as a police officer and claiming to be a police officer on an application that allowed him to work as a courtesy officer for an apartment complex in Castle Hills.
After finding a handgun, a bullet proof vest with a badge resembling those worn by law enforcement was recovered from the trunk of the vehicle. Body armor is also illegal to be possessed by felons. Along with the vest, Chief Dominguez found handcuffs, radios similar to those used by police, another bullet proof vest cover, a black polo shirt with “Police” written on the back, as well as tools and equipment designed or adapted to enter locked vehicles.
After his arrest and indictment for these offenses, a motion to revoke his probation was filed for his Impersonating a Public Servant conviction in Bexar County. Instead of revoking his probation, a judge in Bexar County granted the defendant an early discharge from probation and a rare order granting judicial clemency, which operates similar to a Governor’s pardon.
Using this order of clemency, the defendant argued he was no longer a convicted felon and should not be held responsible for this crime, even though he was a felon at the time of the offense. The jury did not buy this backdoor effort to avoid responsibility and returned a swift verdict of guilty.
Bradlee Thornton and Adrianna Biggs prosecuted the case for the District Attorney’s Office. We are especially thankful to Chief Henry Dominguez and ACSO Deputy Caleb Bunch for their efforts on this case. We are also thankful to Texas Ranger Shane Staley who testified as our firearms expert about the firearm in this case and for the efforts of all others involved in the arrest and prosecution.
The defendant is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Russell Wilson on September 5, 2019.
ATASCOSA COUNTY JURY FINDS MAN ON PROBATION FOR IMPERSONATING A PUBLIC SERVANT GUILTY OF UNLAWFUL POSSESSION OF A FIREARM AND BODY ARMOR BY A FELON
