El Paso District Attorney Bill Hicks played a political role in the Walmart shooting, and the former lead prosecutor on the case, who resigned in November, said his decisions in the case were made with the intention of running for office in 2024. It is said that there is
In an exit interview with the county obtained by El Paso Matters, former assistant district attorney Loretta Hewitt wrote that she was “not given the resources to properly prepare and clean up the case.” “Mr. Hicks and his administration didn’t value my work at all. He only cared about making himself look good in news interviews.”
“Shortly after I was hired, I was told that all decisions regarding the Walmart case would be made to re-elect Mr. Hicks and positively influence his re-election campaign.”
Hewitt, who was hired by Hicks in January, could not be reached for comment.
Hicks, who was appointed prosecutor in December 2022 in part to prepare the Walmart case for trial, told El Paso Matters late Friday that she was disappointed to read Hewitt’s comments.
He also said some of what she wrote was simply not true, such as that she was the only person who met the victims and their entire families.
“My top priority was to get the Walmart case back on track,” Hicks said. “What she said is ironic and appalling. Over the past 11 months, we have been working on cases that have been badly handled, and it’s been a terrible situation. And we need to ensure that the interests of this community are properly protected.” I am ready to go to trial where I can.”
After Mr. Hewitt resigned in November, Mr. Hicks issued a statement saying that Mr. Hewitt was the “primary attorney responsible for organizing the case, preparing witnesses, and disclosing findings to the defense.”
The secretariat’s statement also said Hicks was the “founding chair.”
“It is important to understand that Attorney Hicks has always been the attorney responsible for prosecuting Walmart and will be the ‘first chair’ of this case when it goes to trial,” the DA’s office statement said. Ta.
That November statement contradicts what Hewitt said during his exit interview.
It also contradicts what Hicks told KFOX-TV in a January interview. In that interview, Hicks said Hewitt would be the new trial team chief in the Walmart case. Hicks also told the El Paso Company that Hewitt “was brought to El Paso to lead the litigation on our behalf.”
Hicks reiterated Friday that he will be, and will continue to be, the first chair of the case each time the trial begins.
“The attorneys working on this case are working as a team,” he said. “As far as strategic decisions and who is responsible for the broader strategy, those decisions are mine.”
Hewitt is a former San Antonio Bexar County assistant district attorney who prosecuted several capital murder cases.
“I was hired as the head of the trial team in the Walmart shooting case and was told that I would be responsible for making all trial decisions on the case, that I would be in charge of the team I would oversee, and that I would be responsible for leading the case. Decisions regarding trial preparation.
“The DA’s office did not comply with these working conditions,” Hewitt wrote in his exit interview.
She also wrote that she has more experience prosecuting heinous murder cases than anyone else in the district attorney’s office, including Hicks.
“Despite being told that I was in charge of the case, I was not involved in most of the decisions, discussions, and meetings regarding the case. Instead, Mr. Hicks was told by his chief of staff, Lewis “I consulted Rene Diaz and her friend John Briggs,” she wrote.
“My experience and knowledge were completely ignored by my employer, especially when I disagreed with their decisions.”
Hewitt is missing, but Hicks said the case is still active.
“Everything we do is done as a team, and her leaving the office only means the next person will come in and make our work even better,” he said.
Hicks is the third district attorney to oversee a state case in the Aug. 3, 2019, Walmart attack. At least nine prosecutors previously assigned to the case have resigned or been transferred.
The gunman, Patrick Crusius, pleaded guilty in federal court to various hate crime and weapons charges. He had posted slogans online saying he was trying to “stop the Hispanic invasion of Texas.” He was sentenced to 90 consecutive life sentences and is currently being held in the El Paso County Detention Center after the U.S. Department of Justice decided not to seek the death penalty.
A state trial date has not been set.
Hicks was appointed district attorney by Gov. Greg Abbott after former District Attorney Yvonne Rosales resigned in December 2022 amid accusations of massive failures at the district attorney’s office, including in prosecuting the Walmart case. Ta.
Hicks has announced that he will seek the Republican nomination for DA nomination in the March primary election. Three Democratic members are seeking the nomination. The first-round winners will compete in November.