District judge addresses community as Walmart mass shooting case remains dogged by delays
In a rare move, a district court judge addressed the community in court as the El Paso Walmart mass shooting case remains stalled nearly five years after the racist massacre targeting Hispanics.
“I rarely address the community in court but I believe it is important in this case," Medrano said. "It is going to be five years in August (since the shooting), but the court sees this as something the court has had for less than half a year.
“I am hoping this community understands that everyone wants a resolution to this case, but not at the expense of justice.”
The experienced judge outlined four reasons why progress in the state's case has been so difficult:
the retirement of longtime district attorney Jaime Esparza
COVID-19
the resignation of Yvonne Rosales as district attorney
the federal case against the gunman being handled first
A status hearing Thursday, Feb. 22 ended with no trial date or even a date on when another status hearing will be held.
El Paso District Attorney Bill Hicks and lead defense attorney Joe Spencer issued a joint statement after the more than two-hour hearing declining to comment.
Medrano told them to honor a gag order he issued earlier in the case, they said.
State prosecutors and defense attorneys continued to fight over the handling of evidence in the case. The hearing included testimony from an expert on the evidence discovery process who told the judge it would take six months just to properly organize the evidence.
After that, defense attorneys argued they will need several more months to review the evidence and prepare for trial.
Using that timeline, the Walmart case won't likely start in 2024.
This fall the case could face another delay because voters will elect a DA to a four-year term. Hick was appointed to the post in late 2022 and is seeking to be elected to the post in the November general election. Three Democrats are hoping to win next month's primary to challenge Hicks.
Medrano asked defense attorney Felix Valenzuela if they could file any pre-trial motions as they go through the evidence.
Valenzuela replied, “none.”
Medrano asked why defense attorneys were able to enter a guilty plea in federal court after having the evidence for three years, but can’t go to trial in state court.
Valenzuela said the evidence turned over by the state is unorganized, has thousands of duplicate documents and new evidence improperly hidden in a folder titled “duplicates.”
“What are they (prosecutors) trying to hide?” Valenzuela asked. “What are they trying to keep from this court?”
State prosecutor Rebecca Tarango argued defense attorneys have had most of evidence for months, if not years.
Medrano asked Tarango why new evidence was being turned over in the past few months.
She replied, “because (former District Attorney Jaime) Esparza retired.”
Esparza retired in 2020. Democrat Yvonne Rosales was elected District Attorney but she resigned from office in November 2022 amid allegations of mishandling the Walmart case.
“Our duty is to turn over everything and that’s what we have done,” Tarango said. “If we did not turn over the duplicates, the defense attorneys would be asking why we weren’t turning that over.
“We are not holding anything back.”
Hicks said his team is ready for pre-trial motions to be heard in court — a major step toward a trial. He asked for an August dateline to file pre-trial motions.
Medrano did not set a deadline.
Justice delayed in El Paso Walmart shooting death penalty case
The state's case has been pending for more than four and a half years. The gunman drove 700 miles on Aug. 3, 2019, from his hometown of Allen, Texas, to the El Paso Walmart at 7101 Gateway Blvd. West near Cielo Vista Mall.
The gunman parked his car in front of the busy store and exited his vehicle carrying a GP WASR-10 semiautomatic rifle — a Romanian-made firearm variant of the AK-47 assault rifle — loaded with 7.62 x 39 mm hollow-point ammunition, federal court documents state.
He opened fire on people in the parking lot, including elderly shoppers and soccer team members collecting donations. He continued his shooting spree inside the store. The gunman fled in his vehicle after the massacre, leaving 23 people killed and dozens injured.
He pulled over at an intersection near the store and surrendered to a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper. "I'm the shooter," the gunman told the trooper, who was responding to reports of the mass shooting, according to court documents.
The gunman later confessed he committed the mass shooting to dissuade Mexicans and other Hispanics from coming to the United States, federal prosecutors and court documents allege. The white supremacist claimed the motive behind the shooting was because "they (Mexicans and other Hispanics) were to blame" and "he was trying to defend his country" from an invasion, federal prosecutors said.
The gunman also outlined his hatred towards Hispanic and his motive for committing one of the deadly mass shooting in U.S. history in a racist diatribe he posted online before the shooting, federal prosecutors said.
He has remained in a solitary jail cell at the El Paso County Jail in Downtown El Paso since his Aug. 3, 2019, arrest.
Gunman already sentenced to life in federal prison
As the state case drags on, the U.S. Attorney's Office in the federal case against the gunman reached a plea agreement with him and his attorneys to avoid a trial.
Unlike the El Paso District Attorney's Office, the U.S. Attorney's Office did not seek the death penalty.
The gunman pleaded guilty Feb. 9, 2023, to 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.
He was sentenced July 7 to 90 consecutive life sentences in 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 was transferred July 11 to state custody as the case in state court remains pending.
The last proceeding in federal court was in September when the gunman was ordered to pay more than $5 million in 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.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: What's next in the 2019 El Paso Walmart mass shooting case?
