EL PASO, Texas (EL PASO MATTERS) -- Hearings into claims of prosecutorial misconduct in the 2019 Walmart mass shooting case will resume in April, according to orders this week from 409th District Judge Sam Medrano. Defense attorneys made a number of claims in 2024 that prosecutors violated the rights of Patrick Crusius by listening to phone calls with his attorneys, obtaining records that courts had placed off limits, among other alleged actions. Prosecutors have denied that their efforts violated Crusius’ rights to counsel and a fair trial. Medrano conducted several days of hearings into the allegations last year, when Bill Hicks was district attorney, but until this week hadn’t scheduled additional hearings after James Montoya took office Jan. 1. Hearings on defense motions are scheduled for April 1, April 21 and April 22.  Montoya also has to decide whether to continue to pursue the death penalty for Crusius, who faces 23 counts of capital murder and 22 counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in the Aug. 3, 2019, mass shooting at the Cielo Vista Walmart. As a candidate in the 2024 election, Montoya initially said he would pursue the death penalty. But he later said he needed to review evidence in the case before making a final decision. ...read more read less