SAN ANTONIO – Former staff members who worked in Bexar County’s Reflejo Court have come forward, accusing County Court at Law No. 13 Judge Rosie Speedlin Gonzalez of displaying increasingly erratic and aggressive behavior toward defendants — and retaliating against those who raised concerns.
Reflejo Court is a trauma-informed treatment program designed to help first-time domestic violence offenders address the root causes of their behavior in lieu of jail time.
However, multiple former workers who partnered with the court said the environment shifted dramatically last year, undermining the program’s mission and exposing defendants to volatile outbursts from the judge.
‘It was ugly. It was ugly.’
Cynthia Garcia, a former group facilitator who provided therapy to Reflejo (Reflection) Court participants through the nonprofit American Indians in Texas at the Spanish Colonial Missions (AITSCM), said she had known Speedlin Gonzalez for more than a decade and considered her a friend…