CORPUS CHRISTI, Tx — A Texas appeals court has ruled that a secret audio recording can be used as evidence against a former Corpus Christi Independent School District police officer accused of planting drugs at Hamlin Middle School.
The Thirteenth Court of Appeals reversed a lower court decision and said the recording of Andrew Abel Gonzalez must be allowed in his criminal trial.
Gonzalez's attorney tried to get the recording thrown out of court. They argued it was illegal because he didn't know he was being recorded and didn't give permission.
But the appeals court disagreed. The judges said Gonzalez was working as a school resource officer for CCISD in a public school classroom at Hamlin Middle School when the recording was made. Because he was doing his job in a public place, he can't expect complete privacy.
The court wrote that if police officers could block recordings like this, it would make it easier to hide wrongdoing.
"Police officers have less privacy than regular people when they're doing their job," the court explained in its opinion delivered January 8, 2026. The judges said the public has a right to know when officers may be breaking the rules.
The case now goes back to the Nueces County trial court, where Gonzalez's criminal charges will move forward with the recording allowed as evidence.
As KRIS 6 News first reported in December 2024, both Gonzalez and former Hamlin Middle School assistant principal Amanda Corona were arrested and charged in connection with a March 2023 incident.
According to court records, on March 7, 2023, Gonzalez — who was working as a CCISD police officer assigned to Hamlin Middle School — and Corona told students to leave a classroom so they could search for a vape pen.
One student accidentally left her phone behind with the recording app still on. The phone captured audio of their conversation inside the Hamlin Middle School classroom.
According to the appeals court opinion, the recording shows they found a vape pen with marijuana in a cabinet. The recording then indicates they discussed putting it in a specific student's backpack — even though they had no proof it belonged to that student.
That student was questioned by school officials and suspended.
According to arrest affidavits, the same vape pen was later placed in another Hamlin Middle School student's binder, and that student was also disciplined. Court documents state a third student was disciplined after Gonzalez and Corona claimed two students had accused that student of owning the vape pen.
Both Gonzalez and Corona were arrested and charged with:
- Three felony counts of tampering with or fabricating physical evidence with intent to impair
- Three misdemeanor counts of official oppression
