D.A. Jaime Esparza Responds

will continue to do that.” el paso’s district attorney reacts to a judge not allowing an assistant d-a to prosecute a 20-12 triple-murder case… after the judge rules she became a potential witness in the case the defense argued denise butterworth should be disqualified… because she listened-in as police interviewed a three-year-old boy who just saw his mother and sister attacked… allegedly by his own father. luis javier solis gonzalez is accused of killing the boy’s mother marysol saldivar, her boyfriend eric de santiago and her daughter, 13-year- old cassaundra holt. it happened on may 31st, 20-12 in east el paso. today, district attorney jamie esparza sat down with just one station to talk about what happened yesterday. esparza said he plans to appeal judge luis aguilar’s decision. reporter darren hunt has the interview you’ll see only on abc-seven… esparza told me his office has been sending prosecutors to crime scenes for 20 years… and he says other d-a offices across the state do the same thing! but we found one that does not: “i think the district attorney’ office runs a risk every time they subject themselves to going out to a crime scene.” despite defense attorney joe spencer’s successful argument to have an assistant d-a removed from a triple murder case … d-a jaime esparza believes he is on solid ground. “prosecutors across the state constantly advise law enforcement, police departments, sheriff’s departments, to make sure that their questions are answered, and prosecutor’s questions are answered and that the investigation is complete.” “you don’t feel in any wa you’re overstepping your bounds here?” “oh obviously not! i mean, th real question is, are we getting a complete investigation so that we can make decisions that are smart for the community and for the case … and so it is our job to be at the scene, what we don’t do is become investigators … we offer suggestions, we answer their questions, we might pose questions to them, or we might ask them to look into certain areas, because we want the investigation to be complete.” but at least one d-a’s office in texas told us they are careful not to do it that way. the bexar county d-a’s office in san antonio told us: “we do not go to the crime scene or participate in the initial investigation out of concern for the prosecutor becoming a fact witness.” however the directo of the texas district and county attorney’s assocation told me: “it’s common procedure, especially in homicide cases, they be there to give advice. i can see why defense attorneys don’t like it, but the state needs to ensure investigations are done properly.” i also emailed the dallas and harris county district attorneys to see how they handle it, but have yet to hear back from them. esparza said he is confident his office will win the appeal because they won a similar appeal in 2014 when defense attorney teresa caballero tried to have an assistant d-a disqualifed. rick. a domestic dispute ruined travel for a lot of people today