McALLEN, Texas 鈥� A federal judge in McAllen on Wednesday denied a motion to dismiss a lawsuit against Starr County officials brought by Lizelle Gonzalez, a South Texas woman who was unlawfully charged with murder after a self-induced abortion.
Gonzalez spent two days in Starr County jail, garnering national attention for the charges from behind bars 鈥攁n experience that her attorney Cecilia Garza says changed her life forever.
鈥淪he does suffer from anxiety. A lot of it related to the arrest and the incarceration,鈥� Garza said. 鈥淪he wasn鈥檛 able to be here today because she was just concerned about how it might affect her. But she鈥檚 very happy with today鈥檚 rulings.鈥�
The arrest happened just before the Supreme court overturned Roe V Wade.
Even though abortions after six weeks were illegal at the time in Texas, state law doesn鈥檛 allow people to be prosecuted for their own abortions.
Starr County District Attorney Gocha A. Ramirez and Assistant District Attorney Alexandria Lynn Barrera filed motions to dismiss the lawsuit in May, citing a legal principle known as the immunity doctrine.
The immunity doctrine provides protections to public officials from legal repercussions, but with some exceptions for violations of civil rights.
In the case of Ramirez and Barrera, attorneys for Gonzales say they intend to show that 鈥減rosecutorial immunity鈥� can not be granted in this case, since the allegations fall outside of the county officials鈥� work as prosecutors.
On Wednesday, a federal judge agreed that discovery was necessary in any case that alleged wrongdoing that wasn鈥檛 protected by immunity.
Gonzalez鈥檚 attorney鈥檚 still must provide proof for their allegations and show intent on the part of Starr County officials.
Lauren Johnson is Director of the Abortion Criminal Defense Initiative at the American Civil Liberties Union, and is representing Gonzalez.
She said the ACLU is ready to address the legal claims to immunity raised by Starr County officials in order to continue with the case.
鈥淲e鈥檒l be doing some discovery on the question of the immunity claims that the defendants have raised as to the DA鈥檚 and prosecutor鈥檚 claim that they are not liable,鈥� Johnson said. 鈥淥ur goal is to continue this fight to the point of trial.鈥�
The lawsuit, which seeks $1 million in damages, claims that officials misrepresented facts to a grand jury and conspired to maliciously prosecute without probable cause.
Garza said outside of federal court that the legal team has information they intend to make admissible in court to prove intent.
鈥淲e do have a good faith basis for every allegation that we鈥檝e made and we anticipate that this limited discovery will get us there,鈥� Garza said.
Legal counsel for Starr County told TPR he had no comment on the case and does not take media interviews.
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