Our Response To KFOX14 And The Honorable Yvonne Rosales
Television station KFOX14 and District Attorney Yvonne Rosales issued statements about our recent news conference that were incorrect and incomplete, respectively. Attorneys Chloe Corbett and Augustus Corbett offer the following response.
EL PASO, TEXAS. Following our press conference, KFOX14 incorrectly reported the family of Jesse Carranza is suing DPS and the DPS officer who shot and killed Jesse Carranza. To be clear, the family of Jesse Carranza has not sued DPS or the officer. Not once during the press conference did we say or imply that we would sue DPS or the officer. Nor did we opine on whether the shooting was justified or not. We have not made those determinations. The purpose of the news conference, as we stated multiple times, was to demand a transparent investigation.
Also, District Attorney (“DA”) Rosales issued an incomplete statement after our press conference. It reads:
“The District Attorney’s Office takes law enforcement involved shooting very seriously and wants to ensure that these cases are thoroughly investigated. This case is still pending further investigation and no comments can be made on an open investigation. The DA’s office had agreed to schedule a meeting with Ms. Corbett so it is unclear why she says the office has been uncooperative.”
In her incomplete statement, DA Rosales expressed befuddlement in Attorney Chloe Corbett, saying the DA’s office had been “uncooperative.” Consequently, DA Rosales canceled the scheduled zoom meeting for Tuesday, July 26, 2022, that she referenced in her statement. We had sought the meeting for over a year. Now, she insists all meetings occur in person and refuses to meet via telephone.
Despite DA Rosale canceling our scheduled zoom meeting, we continue to believe uncooperative is the best description of DA Rosales’ office towards Jesse Carranza’s family. Here’s why. The DPS officer killed Jesse Carranza over a year ago. We have spent the past year relentlessly pursuing any information from DA Rosales’s office. Her office has refused to give this grieving family any information, including the name of the officer who killed Jesse. Also, DA Rosales knew this past week Attorney Chloe Corbett traveled from Dallas to spend three days in El Paso. And while Attorney Corbett was in El Paso, she spent two hours at the DA’s office unsuccessfully pleading for an in-person meeting with DA Rosales or one of her assistants. DA Rosales’ office said no one was unavailable to meet with Attorney Corbett.
DA Rosales’ cancellation of the zoom meeting means Mrs. Vargas and her family must wait even longer to receive basic information about their loved one’s death. That’s because Attorney Corbett cannot return to El Paso for several weeks due to upcoming trials and hearings in Dallas. Further, the family wonders why DA Rosales’ office has not presented this case to a grand jury more than a year after Jesse’s death.
As we said during the press conference, in no way do we or the family want to impede or interfere with the DA’s investigation or potential prosecution of this matter. Of course not. We want justice and accountability. Nor are we trying to disparage DA Rosales or her office. We appreciate their work and simply desire a transparent investigation. At a minimum, transparency should include respectfully providing the decedent’s family with basic and updated information about a case involving their loved one’s death.
