Hearing on alleged prosecutorial misconduct in Walmart capital murder case begins

UPDATE: Walmart shooter Patrick Crusius appeared in court Thursday morning, but the focus was on the witness stand. 

Former Assistant District Attorney, Loretta Lynn Hewitt testified that in her time at the DA's office, she discovered a DVD containing four recorded phone calls between Crusius and his lawyers. 

She said she turned it over to the defense team after realizing what was on it, and claims she didn't listen to the calls.

Hewitt later testified, someone in the DA's office did listen to the recordings, a paralegal named Claudia Hernandez. The defense argues this is a violation of Crusius’ rights.

"It indicated to me when I spoke with her that she didn't know that what she was doing was wrong," said Hewitt.

Another focus in Thursday's hearing was the possession of Hewitt's notebooks. Hewitt said she wrote extensive notes on meetings she had with potential witnesses in Allen, Texas, where Crusius is from. It included former neighbors of Crusius. 

"That they thought he had mental issues, that he wasn't right, that he had been bullied, That there's no way that he could have committed this by himself," said Hewitt. "That he was in special education. That he wasn't right in the head. That his- parents probably should have not let him live when he was sickly as a child."

The defense argues, those notes would be important in their case.

Hewitt said she planned to hand the notebooks over to the defense, but after leaving them in the DA's office, she can no longer locate them. 

The District Attorney's office claims they have not found such notebooks and will continue searching for them. 

D.A. Bill Hicks did not want to comment on the hearing. 

The hearing is in recess until tomorrow. Five more witnesses are expected to testify Friday.

EL PASO, TX (KVIA) -- The capital murder case against Walmart shooter Patrick Crusius will return to court today for a two-day hearing on alleged prosecutorial misconduct by the El Paso District Attorney’s Office. The hearing will begin at 9 a.m. at the Enrique Moreno County Courthouse.

This hearing will focus on multiple allegations made by Crusius’ defense team regarding the DA's handling of evidence and procedures.

Last week, Judge Sam Medrano denied a request from District Attorney Bill Hicks to postpone today’s hearing. On Tuesday, the DA’s office filed an appeal with the Texas Eighth District Court of Appeals to reverse Medrano’s decision. The court partially granted the DA's appeal, allowing the hearing to proceed but pausing any further action on two specific issues: the surveillance video of Crusius’ current housing and details related to his mental health care in jail.

Here are some of the allegations raised by Crusius’ attorneys: claims that the DA's office unlawfully obtained recordings of jailhouse phone calls between Crusius and his attorneys, accessed jail visitation logs of his meetings with his attorneys, intimidated potential witnesses, and failed to disclose evidence that may be favorable to the defense.

If the court finds evidence of misconduct, this could potentially dismiss the charges against Crusius or remove the death penalty, which is what DA Bill Hicks is seeking.

This hearing also comes just days before Election Day, where Hicks is running for reelection. The defense has argued that Hicks’ actions in the case are politically motivated. Hicks has denied these allegations repeatedly. 

ABC-7 will be at today’s hearing and will bring you complete coverage throughout the day.

We will also livestream the hearing on kvia.com and the KVIA news app.