Dallas Criminal Defense Attorney Says Capital Murder Conviction Likely For El Paso Mass Shooter
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - The path to justice for Patrick Crusius is only beginning.
But authorities have already expressed a desire to seek the death penalty.
Local judges and attorneys following the case in El Paso say it shouldn't be difficult.
With videos recording the crime, security camera images capturing his face and a document laying out his reasons for the massacre, it will be hard for Patrick Crusuis to avoid a capital murder conviction according to prominent criminal defense lawyer David Finn.
"I don't know if he's thinking about mental issues I don't know if he's gonna use an insanity defense or if he was high on drugs or intoxicated I don't know but I would think based on what I do know this is as close to a slam dunk capital I've seen in quite a while," says Finn.
The Dallas attorney has represented accused murderers and also served as a prosecutor and judge.
While he's only an observer of this case, he believes any defense would have to be based on a distorted state of mind.
"I don't know if they've got much to work with. What you gonna do blame President Trump? 'President Trump made me do this' I don't think that's gonna fly," says Finn.
Dallas County District Court Judge Brandon Birmingham, who also has no connection to the case, has posted a blog about the potential charges and judgment.
He says Crusius could face both state and federal charges.
"One of them is going to go first the feds and the state will decide who's going to go first, after that happens, let's say that the state goes first and they complete their prosecution of all of their cases all of their indictments, if there's going to be any, are completed then after all of that then the feds will take over perhaps it's going to be the other way around," says Birmingham.
These legal experts say Crusius could face the death penalty without prosecuting the case as a hate crime.
They also say this could end up being the most murders a single person is prosecuted for in modern Texas history.
Judge Birmingham's article about the case can be found here.
