Starr County officials are seeking to dismiss a federal filed by a woman who was wrongfully jailed on a murder charge in 2022 after receiving an abortion.

Lizelle Gonzalez was arrested on April 8, 2022, and jailed for three days following a “self-induced” abortion. She was released from custody when the murder charge was dismissed.

Gonzalez filed the lawsuit in March against the county and several officials, including Starr County District Attorney Gocha Allen Ramirez and Starr County Assistant District Attorney Alexandria Lynn Barrera. 

READ MORE: Attorneys for Starr County woman falsely charged with murder following abortion discuss lawsuit

Texas law prevents murder charges from being brought up against the individual who undergoes an abortion. The lawsuit accuses Ramirez and Barrera of misleading grand jurors to formally charge Gonzalez with murder.

Ramirez previously said he reviewed state law and found they had no legal basis for the charges — and called the case a “mistake.”

Gonzalez is seeking $1 million in damages in connection with the lawsuit.

Court records show attorneys for the defendants in the lawsuit filed a motion to dismiss the charges on May 1. The filing claims Ramirez and Barrera are entitled to “absolute immunity” in the case.

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“Even if [Gonzalez] had made some factual allegation to show that the district attorney and ADA had investigated — rather than prosecuted… she fails to plead how the investigation itself violated a clearly established right,” the filing stated. “Accordingly, Plaintiff’s Fourth Amendment claims for malicious prosecution and false arrest should also be dismissed.”

An initial conference on the lawsuit is set for Thursday, July 11, 2024.