A federal appeals court has cleared the way for the Travis County district attorney to keep investigating Michelle Evans, the Williamson County Republican Party chair, over a photo she posted from the women’s restroom at the Texas Capitol in May 2023. Evans went to federal court to try to slam the brakes on the probe, asking for a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction. A three-judge panel said no, leaving prosecutors free to keep digging through Evans’s phone and weigh possible charges under Texas privacy law.
Appeals court lets probe proceed
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on Tuesday upheld the trial court’s refusal to grant emergency relief. The panel concluded that Evans had standing to sue but had not shown she was entitled to an immediate injunction. In its opinion in Evans v. Garza, the court emphasized that the statute at issue includes an intent-to-invade-privacy requirement that limits prosecutions to highly offensive intrusions and narrows how broadly the law can be used. The judges also pointed out that, as of the ruling, no criminal charges had actually been filed.
Evans' account and local reporting
Evans, the current Williamson County GOP chair, says she saw a person she believed to be biologically male in the women’s restroom at the Capitol and snapped a photo. She later posted that image on X, though the post has since been deleted. According to KVUE, she turned her phone over to the Texas Department of Public Safety after DPS opened an inquiry at the request of Travis County District Attorney José Garza, then filed suit to block any investigation. Local coverage details her federal filings and the district court’s repeated denials, which set the stage for the appeal.
Legal implications
At the center of the fight is Texas Penal Code § 21.15(b), which makes it a crime to photograph or transmit an image of someone in a bathroom or other place where a person has a reasonable expectation of privacy, “without the other person’s consent and with intent to invade the privacy” of that person, as set out in Texas Penal Code § 21.15. The Fifth Circuit panel highlighted that the statute’s intent requirement is designed to narrow its reach and forces prosecutors to prove an invasive purpose before they can secure a conviction, a point reflected in the record summarized on Justia Dockets.
What happens next
With the appeals court declining to halt the investigation, the Travis County DA’s office can continue reviewing data from Evans’s phone and other evidence while it decides whether to bring charges. The case has drawn extra attention because the panel did not speak with one voice: a dissent warned that using the statute against a political social-media post could chill debate over hot-button policy issues at the Capitol. For now, the DA is keeping its cards close. Local outlets report no charging decision has been announced, and KVUE noted that it reached out to Garza’s office for comment.
