District attorney asks appeals court to block hearing in El Paso Walmart mass shooting

EL PASO, Texas (EL PASO BREAKING) – The District Attorney’s Office on Tuesday asked an appeals court to block or limit a hearing this week on allegations of prosecutorial misconduct in the Walmart mass shooting case, saying the 409th Cir. Judge Sam Medrano acted improperly by failing to grant his demands. review the orders issued by him in this case.

District Attorney Bill Hicks and Assistant District Attorney John Davis asked the El Paso Eighth Court of Appeals to grant Medrano a writ of habeas corpus. legally binding responsibilities. He also asked the court’s three judges to postpone hearings Thursday and Friday on allegations by lawyers for accused mass killer Patrick Crusius that prosecutors violated his constitutional rights.

The request for a writ of certiorari asks that the appeals court order Medrano to release any orders requested by the defense without notifying the prosecution. Defense attorneys’ September motion cited three such orders, known as ex parte orders, which are allowed under narrow circumstances.

The Eighth Court of Appeals has not yet ruled on the prosecution’s motions.

Crusius’ lawyers filed a response to the prosecutor’s motion Tuesday morning, arguing that the ex parte orders are legal. Defense attorneys Joe Spencer, Felix Valenzuela and Mark Stevens also argued that the ex parte rulings relate to a small portion of prosecutors’ misconduct allegations that will be addressed at this week’s hearing.

The lawyers asked the Eighth Court of Appeals to reject an attempt to delay this week’s hearing or limit any stay order to issues related to ex parte orders.

At an Oct. 24 hearing, prosecutors raised concerns about orders requested by defense attorneys and issued to Medrano without notifying prosecutors. They said a 2023 Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruling limited the use of so-called ex parte orders to very rare circumstances.

Defense attorneys said the 2021 and 2023 orders included directives to preserve videos of Crusius’ arrest, bar jailers from providing prosecutors with information about their visits to Crusius and medical treatment.

Although prosecutors initially asked Medrano to appoint a third party to review ex parte rulings in the case, Davis said at the hearing that Medrano could do so himself. Medrano said at the hearing that he had already done so.

Prosecutors asked him to postpone this week’s hearing because some of the defense’s allegations of prosecutorial misconduct involved ex parte rulings they had not seen.

Medrano denied the prosecution’s request to delay the hearing this week, but he ordered the release of four ex parte rulings issued after the 2023 Court of Criminal Appeals decision.

He did not order the reversal of any ex parte orders issued before the 2023 ruling, and prosecutors are asking the Eighth Court of Appeals to order the reversal of all orders that do not comply with that ruling.

Although prosecutors rarely use it, this is the second time the El Paso district attorney has sought prosecution against Medrano in the Walmart mass shooting. Then-District Attorney Yvonne Rosales unsuccessfully asked the Eighth Court of Appeals in October 2022 to force Medrano to lift a gag order he had placed on attorneys and witnesses in the shooting.

Rosales, a Democrat, resigned in December 2022 while facing a motion to remove her from office that accused her of misconduct in the Walmart case and other official actions. Gov. Greg Abbott named Hicks, a fellow Republican, as his successor.

In raising allegations of prosecutorial misconduct, defense attorneys said Medrano should consider dropping charges against Crusius or eliminating the death penalty as a penalty if he finds prosecutors violated the defendant’s Sixth Amendment rights to a fair trial.

Since 2020, the defense team has filed numerous allegations of misconduct. During this time, El Paso had three district attorneys: Jaime Esparza, Rosales and Hicks. The charges include improperly obtaining recordings of conversations between Crusius and his lawyers; obtaining jail logs by the defendant, his attorneys and mental health professionals in violation of court orders; intimidation of witnesses; and failure to turn over evidence to the defense as required by law.

Hicks denied the allegations.

Thursday’s hearing also was scheduled five days before the Nov. 5 election, which includes the election for district attorney. Hicks is being challenged by Democrat James Montoya.

Crusius is charged with 23 counts of capital murder and 22 counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in the Aug. 3, 2019, mass shooting at an El Paso Walmart. The state’s investigation into the case was delayed until federal prosecutors completed their case against Crusius, who admitted he was the gunman and opened fire at Walmart to “stop the Latino invasion of Texas.”

He pleaded guilty last year to federal hate crimes and weapons charges after federal prosecutors decided not to seek the death penalty. He was sentenced to 90 consecutive life terms in federal prison without the possibility of parole.

The U.S. Justice Department declined to explain why it did not seek the death penalty, but defense attorneys and a prosecutor said at the sentencing hearing that Crusius had an extensive history of mental illness dating back to childhood and had been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder.

This story is developing and will be updated.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports and streaming video, visit KTSM 9 News.