El Paso judge to hear more testimonies regarding allegations of altered documents in migrant riot cases

EL PASO, TX (KVIA) — UPDATE: The El Paso District Attorney's Office is accused of asking County Clerk staff to alter a court record.

County Clerk employees testified in a hearing today about the migrant riot that happened in April saying a court record was missing an eight-page list when the D.A.'s Office filed it on May 21.

The record was the order of certification and transfer of 59 cases from the District to the County court after the County Court Judge at Law, Ruben Morales, dismissed them on June 6.

A County Clerk's employee says an Assistant District Attorney said it was a "clerical error" on the clerk's end. Then the clerk's office added the missing eight pages without the intention of altering court records.

Chief Public Defender Kelli Childress said she and Judge Morales didn't know the record was changed until after the cases were dismissed.

"They instead of trying to correct it through proper channels by asking for a hearing, they called the clerk's office and, leaned on one of the supervisors there to just sneak the order in," Childress said.

These 59 cases have been dismissed three times already by Judge Morales because evidence has not shown probable cause.

"Rather than filing a new transfer order that had the exhibit, they (D.A.'s Office) went into the existing order and just snuck in an exhibit. And, I suspect part of the rationale for choosing to do it that way was that there are 214 cases before that had been dismissed because they filed a transfer order after the fact, and they didn't want to make that mistake again by filing a legitimate transfer order too late. So instead, they tried to just sneak it in," Childress added.

Now Judge Morales is set to have a final say on these testimonies presented at three different hearings on December 15 or 16.

A months-long legal battle involving migrant riot cases continues today. County Court at Law Judge Ruben Morales is set to hear more testimonies about allegations that the El Paso District Attorney’s Office mishandled court records.  

The case dates back to March and April, when hundreds of migrants were accused of breaching concertina wire and rushing law enforcement along the Southern Border. Over 200 migrants were arrested and charged with misdemeanor riot participation.  

In May, Chief Public Defender Kelli Childress argued that the cases had been improperly transferred between courts and that Judge Morales lacked jurisdiction. Judge Morales agreed, dismissing 211 cases. In June, he dismissed 59 additional cases for the same reason.  

District Attorney Bill Hicks, however, has continuously said that the errors were minor and should not have impacted the court's ability to hear the cases.  

The current hearing focuses on the 59 dismissed cases from June. Childress claims court records in those cases were altered. She alleges that an attachment mysteriously appeared in the court files on the same day the cases were dismissed, raising concerns about potential misconduct.  

During a hearing on Monday, members of the D.A.'s office testified that the issues were "clerical errors." Today we are expecting to hear more testimonies from members of the County Clerk’s Office.

The hearing begins at 9 a.m. at the Enrique Moreno County Courthouse. 

Stay with ABC-7 for updates on the latest developments.