The Heart of Bexar County

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Nursing Home and five of its executives with the murder of an eighty-seven-year-old woman. The six-month-long jury trial, one of the longest in Texas history, resulted from charges that the nursing home had mistreated and abused its patients. The book focuses on sixty-four patients and how they died while in the care of the facility. In a review of the book, the Houston Post wrote, “The reader is left to decide if this was a prosecution or—as the defense insisted— a persecution. The Autumn Hills Nursing Home case ended in a mistrial. Roy also defended Woodrow Collums, an elderly client, who entered his brother’s nursing home where he lay in a vegetative state from Alzheimer’s’ disease and put five bullets in his head. The 1981 case drew national attention as a “mercy killing” and focused attention on the moral dilemma faced by the relatives of terminally ill people. Cullums received ten years’ probation. In another notable case in which Roy was lead counsel and his youngest son, Bobby, sat as second chair—the so-called “Craig’s List Escort” murder trial—the defendant was found “not guilty” based on “a long-ago written statute that provides for the justified ‘use of force’ to prevent a theft of property in the night.” Roy and Bobby debated for months prior to trial the avenue most judicious and expeditious for the defense of the murder charge—it was papa’s defense theory that hit the nail on the head. Roy Barrera, Sr. and his son, Roy Barrera, Jr., are on opposite sides of the political spectrum, but live and work together in complete harmony. Roy, Sr. is a lifetime Democrat while Roy, Jr. was appointed to a State District Court bench by then Governor Bill Clements, a Republican. Another son, Gilbert E. Barrera, also attended law school but followed his passion for art and became a noted sculptor, instead. He was selected by the Hidalgo Foundation to restore a centuryold fountain and create a new “Lady Justice” for the crown of the fountain now installed in front of the Bexar County Courthouse, the state’s largest and oldest courthouse. Currently, Nicholas & Barrera includes nine attorneys who are individual practitioners—sons Roy R. Barrera, Jr., and Robert J. “Bobby” Barrera, and grandsons Roy R. Barrera III and Mark Joseph Barrera, along with Roy Barrera, Sr., make up the backbone of the office. Roy, Sr., now ninety-two years old, likes to joke that he could found a bar association all by himself. Two sons, 5 grandchildren, 3 nephews, a great nephew, and 2 grandsons-in-law all became attorneys. Also following family work traditions, Roy Sr.’s youngest daughter, Carmen Alice, a former Administrative Assistant for then U.S. District Judge H. F. “Hippo” Garcia, has for the past nineteen years, worked for her father as a legal secretary and maintained the family Law Offices. Nicholas & Barrera is definitely one dedicated “family affair.” U n d e r w r i t e r s F 8 1
DAVIS, CEDILLO & MENDOZA, INC. G Top: J. Russell Davis. Middle: Ricardo Cedillo. Bottom: Ron Mendoza. The lunch meeting Russell Davis and Ricardo Cedillo had at El Mirador Restaurant in San Antonio back in 1986 changed their lives and was the genesis of a new law firm, Davis & Cedillo, Inc. The firm has deep roots in San Antonio. Russell Davis, a Jefferson High School and University of Texas (UT) undergrad and Law School graduate; Cedillo, a product of Holy Cross High School, St. Mary’s and Harvard Law School; and Norman Davis, also from the UT Law School, and a wellrespected business lawyer in San Antonio for over fifty years, were the founding partners. They left larger firms and knew they wanted their new law firm to meet their client’s needs with uncompromising quality and integrity. Even more, they wanted their clients to have unquestioned value in the work they received. Also vital was an environment where they would enjoy coming to work and be proud of the services the firm provides to its clients. Today, Davis, Cedillo & Mendoza, Inc. concentrates its areas of practice around the strengths of its three name partners, Cedillo in commercial litigation; Davis in business transactional matters with an emphasis on real estate; and Ron Mendoza, in insurance defense. Mendoza, like Cedillo, is a Holy Cross High School alumnus, and is a UT undergrad and Law School graduate as well. He joined the firm in 1991, after years as a felony prosecutor in the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office, bringing substantial trial experience to insurance defense. Additional shareholders of the firm are Les J. Strieber III, Derick J. Rodgers, Brian L. Lewis and Brandy C. Peery. The firm’s top-quality real estate clients have been involved in a number of major developments in San Antonio. These clients see DC&MDavis, Cedillo and Medoza as trusted advisors with a deep understanding of business issues. The firm’s insurance defense practice is thriving as well, handling complex cases for some of the top names in the industry. DC&MDavis, Cedillo & Mendoza enjoys great success in commercial litigation. Because of the way its commercial litigation teams are organized, with lead counsel supported by a detail-driven team of lawyers and staff, DC&MDavis, Cedillo & Mendoza can be devastatingly effective, yet far more economical 8 2 F T H E H E A R T O F B E X A R C O U N T Y
Page 1 and 2:
THE HEART OF BEXAR COUNTY RESTORATI
Page 3 and 4:
First Edition Copyright © 2020 HPN
Page 5 and 6:
CONTENTS FOREWORD .................
Page 7 and 8:
q Architectural drawing of the Cour
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I E V O L U T I O N O F C I T Y H A
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q Above: Bottom, right: The Masonic
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q Architect’s Drawing of the Bexa
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II R E S T O R A T I O N O F C I T
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q San Antonio City Council Chamber.
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III T H E D E C L I N E O F T H E C
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2 0 F T H E H E A R T O F B E X A R
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Both designs were ill conceived, mi
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Page 27 and 28:
Page 29 and 30:
q Bexar County Courthouse. submitte
Page 31 and 32: VI T H E C H I L D R E N ’ S C O
Page 33 and 34: q Above: Children’s court Judge R
Page 35 and 36: VII T H E F I R S T R E S T O R E D
Page 37 and 38: q Before and after restoration of t
Page 39 and 40: In 1996 Father David Garcia, belove
Page 41 and 42: IX L A D Y J U S T I C E by Tracy W
Page 43 and 44: q Top, left: The Lady Justice fount
Page 45 and 46: q Right: Lady Justice during the un
Page 47 and 48: q Above and below: Construction of
Page 49 and 50: With that picture of the original c
Page 51 and 52: q Above: June 17, 2018, King Felipe
Page 53 and 54: q Above: Removal of the Gondeck add
Page 55 and 56: q Bexar County Courthouse after the
Page 57 and 58: XII T H E B E X A R C O U N T Y A R
Page 59 and 60: q Above: Texas A&M-San Antonio Arch
Page 61 and 62: XIII T H E B E X A R H E R I T A G
Page 63 and 64: q Exhibits from the Bexar County He
Page 65 and 66: q Right: Northside view of the Bexa
Page 67 and 68: ABOUT THE AUTHORS C O U N T Y N E L
Page 69 and 70: APPENDIX A A R C H I T E C T S & C
Page 71 and 72: APPENDIX C A R C H I T E C T S & C
Page 73 and 74: APPENDIX D B E X A R C O U N T Y O
Page 75 and 76: 7 4 F T H E H E A R T O F B E X A R
Page 77 and 78: JTM CONSULTING, LLC Drawing on a lo
Page 79 and 80: G BRACEWELL, LLP From top to bottom
Page 81: NICHOLAS & BARRERA, P.C. For nearly
Page 85 and 86: LINEBARGER GOGGAN BLAIR & SAMPSON,
Page 87 and 88: LAW OFFICES OF SERNA & SERNA Growin
Page 89 and 90: G ESCAMILLA & PONECK, LLP Above: Pa
Page 91 and 92: WATTS GUERRA, LLP G Left: Mikal C.
Page 93 and 94: GUNN, LEE & CAVE, P.C. G Left: Ted
Page 95 and 96: THOMAS J. HENRY LAW Thomas J. Henry
Page 97: $34.95 978-1-944891-70-1 Ë|xHSLJOE
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The Heart of Bexar County

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