Former Walmart shooting prosecutor levels accusations against El Paso DA
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- After resigning as the Trial Team Chief for the Walmart mass shooting case, Assistant District Attorney Loretta Hewitt said decisions being made in the case were geared towards getting El Paso District Attorney Bill Hicks reelected.
Hewitt left her position in the state case against the accused Walmart shooter, Patrick Crusius, in November.
According to Hewitt's exit interview with the county, obtained by ABC-7, Hewitt claimed "I was not given the resources to adequately prepare and clean up the case," and said "the DA was only concerned about making himself look good in news interviews."
Hewitt said she took a case that was in "complete disarray" that no prior attorney had been able to manage.
"Despite my recommendations regarding transparency in discovery to defense, candidness with the court and how to interact with the victims, Mr. Hicks disregarded my input, if it was asked for, and made the decisions based on how they would politically benefit him," Hewitt claimed.
Instead, Hewitt said, DA Hicks consulted with Chief of Staff Luis Rene Diaz and his friend John Briggs to make decisions. Due to Briggs' involvement in the case during the Yvonne Rosales administration, Hewitt said Briggs "should not have been involved in the decision-making process through resolution of the case, in any way."
A status hearing for the case in September revealed a potential trial date may take upwards of two years. The defense claimed the state's possession of evidence was slowing down the process.
Hewitt claims DA Hick's appearance was "completely inadequate" on behalf of the State of Texas.
"He did not have the knowledge or information regarding all the work I had been doing, along with the prosecutors newly assigned to the case with me," she said.
Hewitt wrote in her exit interview that she was being paid much less than other people with less experience and less responsibility in the office. After speaking with DA Hicks about her concerns, she said Hicks did not act.
"I would have continued to work hard and seek the justice that El Pasoans deserve! I moved to El Paso to try this case and seek justice, which I would have continued to do if I had been compensated as promised," she stated.
ABC-7 sat down with D.A. Hicks about the exit interview, he said he was "disappointed." He said several things mentioned were false statements.
"This isn't about elections or not elections. And that... from the beginning and all the way through, every decision I've made about this case is about making sure that we are seeking justice for the people of El Paso, for the people of Ciudad Juarez, for our entire community, and for those victims of this crime," said Hicks.
He said there are at least 8 other attorneys who have death penalty experience and also qualified to try the case.
Although she made claims that major decisions regarding the case would be made by her, DA Hicks said that was not the case.
"The mischaracterization that she put forward in her exit interview, mischaracterizes how we were running things," he said. "No competent District Attorney in the state of Texas is going to delegate all their authority to an Assistant District Attorney."
The DA said despite this, the case will not be affected.
"We are ready to go to trial. We have now completed all of the discovery. Everything is ready to go. We are ready to go. Losing Loretta for this this past month does not set us back," added Hicks.
