New El Paso District Attorney tight-lipped about outcome of Walmart shooting hearing

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) - Tuesday marked the first hearing in the Aug. 3 shooting case since new El Paso District Attorney Bill Hicks took over the office.

But not much is known about what happened during the hearing.

The hearing was conducted in the judge's chambers of the 409th District Court. ABC-7 petitioned Judge Sam Medrano to hold the hearing in public, but Medrano did not respond to the request.

Patrick Crusius was not in the chambers for the hearing. Crusius is facing a state capital murder charge in the deaths of 23 people at the Cielo Vista Walmart on Aug. 3, 2019. Then-District Attorney Jaime Esparza announced shortly after Crusius' arrest the state would pursue the death penalty in the case.

Bill Hicks spoke to reporters after the hearing ended. He said a gag order remains in place, limiting his ability to discuss what was said behind closed doors.

"The defense and state were able to discuss the case frankly with the judge and each other," Hicks said. "The defense is very focused on finishing out the federal case ... and the state is of course, very focused on continuing our efforts to be prepared to go forward on the state case."

The federal government announced last week it will not pursue an execution in the case. The defense also announced Crusius will plead guilty to the federal charges.

Hicks, who has been in office since late December 2022, was asked if he had a better idea of when the state's case would go to trial.

"We can't do anything until the federal prosecution is done," he said, adding, "I don't know when that will be, but once the federal sentencing is over with, then it'd hopefully come into state custody and we'd set the trial date after that."

Judge Sam Medrano of the 409th District Court would be responsible for setting the trial date. Hicks said he was unsure if it would be in 2024 or 2025.