A local defense lawyer who hopes to unseat McLennan County District Attorney John Segrest this year is getting a lot of airtime on one local television station, thanks to his role as a commentator on the Matt Baker murder trial.

Abel Reyna has been keeping up with the trial as it unfolds, both by sitting in the courtroom and watching and reading summaries of testimony online. He then has offered analysis of the proceedings during news reports for KCEN-TV, Channel 9. He is not getting paid for his commentary and was approached by the station about the possibility of offering analysis, news director Jim Holland said.

“He is a well-known attorney, articulate and was available to sit in on a lot of the trial,” Holland said.

Holland has been with Channel 9 for six months. But at other stations where he has worked, it has been common to ask local attorneys to comment on high-profile trials, he said. The station is asking Reyna for “perspective and insider-baseball questions,” he said.

For example, Reyna is being asked what impact he thinks particular testimony will have on the verdict or why attorneys asked particular questions of witnesses, he said.

“He’s been invaluable so far,” Holland said.

Asked about the station giving Reyna so much on-air time during an election period, when his opponent is not getting the same attention, Holland said it’s a nonissue. He pointed out that both Reyna, a Republican, and Segrest, a Democrat, are unopposed in the party primaries in March.

“The (general) election is not until November, so there’s quite a distance out,” Holland said.

Reyna echoed that point, saying that by the time the election rolls around, his commentary on the Baker trial is not going to be something most voters will think about. He acknowledged that his TV appearances are giving him more exposure, both as a defense attorney and as a candidate. But that’s not the reason he agreed to help the station, he said.

“They asked. It was kind of a neat opportunity. ... I didn’t see any reason not to,” Reyna said, adding that he checked with Kari Baker’s family before agreeing to the gig.

As to the issue of fairness to Segrest, Reyna said:

“Mr. Segrest has 18 years of name recognition. One week of me commenting on a trial is not going to offset that. I still have a huge battle ahead of me.”

Segrest said he could not comment because attorneys involved in the Baker case are under a gag order.

cculp@wacotrib.com

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