GALVESTON — Misdemeanor charges against five people, including a former Houston Astros pitcher, remain in limbo more than 13 months after 30 police officers stormed an upscale bar.
On Oct. 5, 2008, Galveston police entered H2O, a bar in the San Luis Resort Hotel on Galveston’s seawall.
The incident at H2O followed a post-Hurricane Ike wedding and reception after guests left the Galveston Island Convention Center for the hotel and bar, where Houston resident Gil O’Balle and others were staying while the island was under a hurricane curfew.
One officer called the incident a riot.
In all, 13 people were arrested, including former Astros pitcher Brandon Backe and a Federal Emergency Management Agency representative.
A Galveston County grand jury no billed all of the misdemeanor charges brought by the District Attorney’s office in county court.
Five felony charges were brought against, Cole O’Balle, but the assault on a peace officer and retaliation charges were no billed in favor of a misdemeanor resisting arrest charge.
O’Balle, 20, has appeared in county court twice with his father, Gil O’Balle, whose misdemeanor charge was among those dismissed.
The O’Balle family declined to allow their son to be interviewed, pending the outcome of a possible trial. Cole O’Balle denies any wrongdoing. He is scheduled for another court appearance next month, Gil O’Balle said.
“Christmas will be light at my house,” Gil O’Balle said of the mounting legal and medical bills associated with the incident. “Lawyers are not cheap.”
Gil O’Balle said he doesn’t know whether 13 months is a long time to wait to go to trial, having never been involved in the legal system.
“It doesn’t seem like there is any way this could be normal,” he said.
Meanwhile, Backe, Christopher Cornwell and Calvin Silva await adjudication in Galveston Municipal Court on misdemeanor chargers of interfering with a police officer and failure to appear, Alicia Cahill, a city spokeswoman, said.
Aaron Trevino also awaits a public intoxication charge, stemming from the bar incident. The Municipal Court cases initially set for September have been reset again for February jury trials, Cahill said.
The FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice still are investigating whether there were or civil rights other violation, which many bar guests have alleged against Galveston police.
Galveston Police Chief Charles Wiley disciplined 13 officers for paperwork issues. None was disciplined for violating the department’s use-of-force policies.
