EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — The defense team for Walmart shooter Patrick Crusius filed five motions Monday, Sept. 30 in the 409th District court, arguing the prosecution withheld evidence that would potentially be favorable to their client.
The defense argues prosecutors are in violation of the Brady rule. This rule stems from a 1963 Supreme Court case, Brady vs. Maryland, which established that prosecutors have a constitutional right to disclose information that may be favorable to the defense. Prosecutors typically must disclose this information by the discovery deadline in each case. The discovery deadline in the Walmart case is not scheduled until Jan. 13, 2025.
Crusius murdered 23 people on Aug. 3, 2019 when he opened fire at the Cielo Vista Walmart store in El Paso and wounded more than 20 others. He pleaded guilty to federal charges in July 2023 and was sentenced to 90 consecutive life terms.
The State’s case is seeking the death penalty for Crusius.
According to the motion, the defense team claims an investigator and attorney from District Attorney Bill Hicks’ office met with two neighbors of Crusius in Allen, Texas in August and November of 2023, respectively.
In those interviews, one neighbor reported to investigators that Crusius was not a “normal” child and, by the age of 3, was banging his head against the sidewalk, had difficulty communicating, was unable to make eye contact, and was enrolled in special education classes from an early age. The first neighbor told investigators: “Everyone in the neighborhood knew he had autism.” A second neighbor, who was also a special education assistant for Crusius, reported telling prosecution investigators that he had “some kind of brain formulation problem” and he was “not right” since birth.
The defense claims they only became aware of these interviews during their own investigation when they began interviewing the defendant’s neighbors themselves.
In a second motion, the defense delved deeper into an argument first raised in last month’s motion filed in the case. They claim the prosecution intercepted 15 phone calls recorded by the El Paso County Jail between the defense team and Cruius. Those calls, beginning Aug. 25, 2020, through Jan. 14, 2021, allegedly lasted three hours and 34 minutes combined.
During a hearing before Judge Medrano on Sept. 11, District Attorney Bill Hicks acknowledged the prosecution had some of the calls but denied having 15 calls as the defense argued.
The defense also requested that the prosecution disclose all discoverable information concerning the case against Crusius received from the federal case. They also moved to preserve evidence and disclose any records or material “impermissibly” in the prosecution’s possession about defense team’s visits with the defendant in jail.
Judge Sam Medrano has scheduled a hearing at 9 a.m. Oct. 31. KTSM will be live streaming the hearing on KTSM.com.
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