EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — Walmart shooter Patrick Crusius was in an El Paso courtroom Thursday morning for a scheduling hearing that ended up being a discussion on a motion of discovery that was filed by the defense team.
Defense Attorney Joe Spencer says they intend to file five to six more discovery motions, adding that former District Attorney Yvonne Rosales’ administration was a “disaster.”
“We could not believe the type of misconduct that was done by the District Attorney’s office,” Spencer said.
Crusius’ defense team also spoke on their previous six-month plan to organize data that was provided by the state and asked Judge Sam Medrano for over 15 to 24 months to go over that evidence.
Medrano discussed the discovery motion filed by the defense along with the gag order and allegations of corruption and evidence being held by the El Paso District Attorney’s office.
Medrano ordered an immediate turnover of 3.5 hours of recorded phone calls and call logs from the D.A.’s office. Anything in the D.A.’s office would also need to be preserved, and the state would have to review the defense’s requests.
A hearing on the discovery motion will be at 9 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 31, where parties will go line by line of motion to either produce the evidence requested or verbally admit that it does not exist.
No trial was scheduled on Thursday, and Medrano said a scheduling order would come before the end of the month.
Crusius was seen shackled and wearing a protective vest as he sat with his defense team.
Christopher Morales, a family member of the victims of the shooting, expressed frustration after the hearing.
“This is about the victims,” he said outside the courtroom. “This is about the people who were slaughtered that day and they are making a mess of it and the only people who are hurting and who need to be surrounded is the victims. This is not about him.”
On Monday, the defense team filed a motion to Medrano asking the court to order the state to produce all documentation related to its charges.
In addition, the defense asked the judge to consider penalties based on its findings to include barring the death penalty or dismissing charges altogether.
Read: Read More