Attorneys for the man facing trial in the killings of 23 people accused prosecutors of improper witness contact and violating confidential attorney-client communication.
A group of people carry crosses bearing the names of the victims lost in the Walmart shooting during a memorial service on the third anniversary of the Walmart mass shooting that left 23 dead, at Ponder Park in El Paso on Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022.The capital murder and assault charges against the accused El Paso Walmart mass shooter should be dismissed, or the death penalty should be taken off the table because of repeated prosecutorial misconduct, defense lawyers said in a motion filed Monday.
The motion asks Medrano to allow the defense team to conduct additional discovery — a legal term for finding evidence held by prosecutors — that might provide information on alleged misconduct. The motion said Rosales allowed her legal advisor, Roger Rodriguez, to be in meetings discussing the Walmart shooting, even though he was not an employee of the DA’s office. That included a meeting with, after a hearing where Medrano criticized Rosales for making public statements about the case but doing little to prepare for trial. Medrano issued a gag order just before that hearing that prohibited lawyers and potential witnesses in the case from making public comments.
The motion said Hicks had news conferences about the case in January and July 2023, and did an extensive interview about the case with KVIA-TV in December 2023. The motion also said the District Attorney’s Office violated Crusius’ Sixth Amendment right to counsel by requesting and receiving jail visitation logs that included the defendant’s interactions with defense lawyers and with psychological experts hired by the defense.
Lanahan said he learned about the release of the records on May 4, 2023, in an email from Spencer. “I immediately ordered that the records covered by the Order no longer be released to the District Attorney’s Office,” his affidavit said.“Multiple steps have been taken to ensure that there is no further violation of the Order,” Lanahan said in the affidavit, dated May 8, 2023.The earliest alleged violations cited in the defense motion are from 2020, when Esparza was district attorney.
Esparza is now the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Texas. He hasn’t responded to a request for comment from El Paso Matters.
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