The Walmart mass shooter is expected to return to a Downtown courthouse where El Pasoans first publicly set eyes on the racist killer who targeted Hispanics at the Borderland's most popular grocery store.
Judge Sam Medrano will preside over the hearing Thursday, Sept. 12, in the 409 District Court at the EnriqueMorenoCountyCourthouse in Downtown El Paso. The gunman, 26-year-old Patrick Crusius, is expected to attend Thursday's hearing.
A scheduling conference in the case is set for 9 a.m. and could provide a timeline on when pretrial motions must be submitted by attorneys in the case that has lingered for more than five years since the Aug. 3, 2019, mass shooting. A trial date is unlikely to be set at the conference as legal maneuvering and public bickering continues between the El Paso District Attorney's Office and the gunman's attorneys over a mountain of evidence.
The gunman is facing one count of capital murder of multiple persons and 22 counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He is facing the death penalty in the mass shooting that resulted in the deaths of 23 people in the binational attack on El Paso and Juárez residents.
El Paso District Attorney Bill Hicks remains committed to seeking the death penalty. The hearing comes about a year and a half after the shooter in February 2023 admitted to the massacre in federal court after the Biden administration's Department of Justice refused to seek the death penalty.
The gunman, who was sentenced to 90 consecutive life sentences in federal prison, was turned back over to Texas officials to face state charges. His attorneys, opponents of the death penalty, are fighting to have the case tossed or to save his life by eliminating the death penalty.
More:El Paso Walmart mass shooter's attorney file motion claiming 'outrageous conduct' by DA
A gag order issued by Medrano prevents state prosecutors, defense attorneys, witnesses, victims and their families, and anyone connected to the case from discussing it.
State prosecutors, defense attorneys continue arguing over evidence
The main delay in the case has been the massive amounts of evidence and defense attorneys' allegations that the district attorney's office has mishandled the evidence since the gunman was indicted on state charges in September 2019.
The case has been handled by three different district attorneys. The first district attorney was Jaime Esparza, who did not seek reelection during the 2020 election. Yvonne Rosales was elected by El Pasoans to replace Esparza.
Rosales' tenure was mired by controversies, including allegations that she and her staff mishandling the Walmart case. She resigned as district attorney before a petition to removed her from office want to trial.
Hicks was appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott to replace Rosales. The allegations of the district attorney's office mishandling the case have continued from the Rosales administration into Hicks' tenure as district attorney.
More:El Paso Walmart shooting: A timeline of tragedy
The Walmart case has millions of pieces of evidence that the district attorney's office must turn over to defense attorneys.
Lead defense attorney Joe Spencer has alleged the district attorney's office has turned over evidence late, disorganized and improperly filed, and still has not turned over all the evidence to his team.
Hicks claims all evidence has been turned over and any new evidence is being turned over as soon as the district attorney's office receives it.
Spencer claims the voluminous, unorganized evidence files will take him and his team months to sort and prepare to go trial. Hicks counters by repeatedly stating his office is ready for Medrano to sets a trial date.
The majority of Thursday's hearing is expected to revolve around the ongoing issues with the evidence.
Allegations of prosecutorial misconduct, defense attempting to delay case
Days before Thursday's hearing, Spencer filed a motion claiming the El Paso District Attorney's Office was guilty of "outrageous conduct, shocking to the conscience" in its handling of the Walmart case.
The allegations in the motion include mishandling of evidence, state prosecutors illegally listening to jailhouse phone calls between the gunman and his attorneys, and Rosales' administration having improper contact with witnesses.
More:Frustration grows: El Paso Walmart mass shooter’s death penalty case languishes after 5 years
The motion asks Medrano to order the district attorney's office to turn over all evidence so the defense team can determine how much, if any, prosecutorial misconduct has been committed. The motion also requests for the death penalty to be removed as a possible punishment for the gunman because of the alleged misconduct by the district attorney's office.
The allegations by the defense team are "just yet more delays and attempts to delay the case from going to trial," Hicks said.
Spencer has declined to comment on the case because of the gag order issued by Medrano.
Five years since mass shooting at East El Paso Walmart
As Borderland community members shopped Aug. 3, 2019 at an El Paso Walmart located at 7101 Gateway Blvd., the gunman, who drove nearly 700 miles from Allen, Texas, to El Paso, began his killing spree by shooting people in the parking lot.
He continued into Walmart, where he fatally shot nine people in a bank inside the store. He then continued, shooting another nine in the aisles of the Walmart, federal prosecutors and court documents stated.
The gunman used a GP WASR-10 semiautomatic rifle — a Romanian-made firearm that is a variant of the AK-47 assault rifle — and 7.62 x 39 mm hollow point ammunition, a federal indictment states. The gun and 1,000 rounds of ammunition were purchased June 19, 2019, on the internet by the gunman, the indictment states.
The gunman, then 21, fled the store in his car after the shooting but a few minutes later pulled over at a nearby intersection and surrendered to a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper, who was responding to the shooting. The gunman told the trooper, "I'm the shooter."
The gunman targeted Hispanics in an effort to dissuade Mexicans and other Hispanics from coming to the United States, federal prosecutors said. The gunman posted a racist manifesto online minutes before the shooting, outlining his motives for committing one of the most deadly shootings in U.S. history.
After his arrest, the gunman confessed to law enforcement that "they (Mexicans and other Hispanics) were to blame" and "he was trying to defend his country,"federal prosecutor said.
He has remained jailed at the El Paso County Jail in Downtown El Paso since the shooting.
Gunman sentenced to life in prison in federal case
The gunman pleaded guilty Feb. 9, 2023, in federal courtto 23 counts of hate crimes resulting in death, 23 counts of use of a firearm to commit murder during and in relation to a crime of violence, 22 counts of hate crimes involving an attempt to kill, and 22 counts of use of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.
U.S. Attorney's Office elected not to seek the death penalty.
The gunman was sentenced July 7, 2023, to90 consecutive life sentencesin federal court for the mass shooting. He was ordered to serve his federal prison sentence at ADX Florence supermax federal prison near Florence, Colorado. However, the gunman wastransferred July 11 to state custodyas the case in state court remains pending.
The gunman wasordered Sept. 25 to pay more than $5 millionin federal restitution for the financial losses suffered by the victims and their families because of his actions.
Aaron Martinez may be reached at amartinez1@elpasotimes.com or on Twitter @AMartinezEPT.
