Change of venue denied

GONZALES — County Judge David Bird announced Friday he has denied a change of venue request for Mike Hanson, the man charged with resisting arrest and disrupting a meeting.

During a hearing on Monday, July 11, Austin defense attorney Millie Thompson called nine witnesses over four hours of testimony on Monday, including former Gonzales Mayor Bobby Logan, city council members Gary Schroeder and Lorenzo Hernandez, Gonzales Cannon News Editor Kathryn Penrose, former Cannon reporter Chris Johnson and Hanson’s wife, Melissa. Several others were subpoenaed but not called to testify.

Thompson argued that Hanson’s trial should be moved because of derogatory Facebook comments made by several local citizens.

Bird said he denied the request because he “didn’t feel the defense has met the burden of proving a combination of influential persons will prevent [Hanson] from receiving a fair trial.”

Hanson was arrested Oct. 6, 2015, at a Gonzales City Council meeting when he allegedly refused to stop speaking during public comments. He was charged with resisting arrest, a Class A misdemeanor punishable with up to a year in county jail and a $4,000 fine; and with disrupting a meeting, a Class B misdemeanor punishable with up to 180 days in jail and a $2,000 fine.