2019's Big Stories Shaping Austin's Path Into a New Decade

(Page 3 of 11)

March 4: D.A.'s Office Caught Lying on Tape

Before the storm: Margaret Moore performs with her band Mother Rukkus at a Democratic fundraiser in February. (Photo by David Brendan Hall)

The Travis County District Attorney's Office found itself the subject of many a news story this year due to continuous allegations that the office and the women who run it – specifically, D.A. Margaret Moore and First Assistant D.A. Mindy Montford – mistreat, neglect, and retraumatize survivors of sexual assault. Though the survivors' lawsuit filed last year – eight survivors accusing local law enforcement of failing to provide equal protection for women survivors and ultimately violating their constitutional rights – first named the concern that had been bubbling up in the advocate community for over a year, it was a March 2019 court filing that really raised concern.

Emily Borchardt, a plaintiff in the survivors' lawsuit who says she was kidnapped and raped by several men, accused Montford of "possible defamation" following a now-­public phone call between Montford and her former sister-in-law, Dawn McCrack­en, a family friend of the Bor­chardts. Montford – who had access to the police file stating Borchardt never consented to having sexual intercourse with her kidnappers and, in fact, tried to run away – told McCracken "no fewer than 11 times" that Borchardt's case was denied because she told APD her rapes were "actually consensual." At the time, Moore defended Montford's actions – both her seemingly blatant lies and that she shared confidential information with a third party. This fall, Borchardt filed a separate lawsuit against Moore and Montford accusing the two women of lying about her case in an effort to undermine and dissuade her from pursuing the survivors' lawsuit. She's since filed a restraining order against the pair in an effort to prevent them from making "or encouraging others to make" statements that assert or suggest she consented to being raped.

Moore's reelection campaign kicked off in the midst of these allegations, which quickly became ammunition for her challengers, José Garza and Erin Martinson. Less than a month after Moore was appointed to a statewide task force to address the needs of rape survivors, the D.A. stepped down from that task force in July amid outcry from local survivors and advocates. In November, the Austin Firefighters Association launched the "No (D.A.) Moore" campaign, sharing stories from several women who say they or their families have been abused by the D.A.'s Office. Several weeks later, another woman who says her case was denied prosecution by the TC D.A. shared a Change.org petition calling for Moore's removal from office. – S.M.