Defense attorneys for the woman shot by Border Patrol in Brighton Park this month want a hearing “as soon as possible” after the agent who opened fire drove his vehicle to Maine before the woman’s attorneys could inspect it.
Chris Parente, who represents Marimar Martinez, says it’s not clear who allowed the agent to drive the vehicle to the East Coast. But he wrote in a weekend court filing that the “absurdity” of the decision became clear when attorneys visited an FBI evidence garage to inspect the vehicles that had been driven by Martinez and her co-defendant, Anthony Ian Santos Ruiz.
“Ironically, prior to being allowed into the FBI evidence garage, counsel was lectured by the FBI evidence technician that nobody was to get closer than two feet of the vehicles and nobody was allowed to touch either of the vehicles,” Parente wrote.
The agent who took the car to Maine likely traveled “well over 1,000 miles and presumably had no FBI evidence technician with him warning of the various pitfalls of proper evidence preservation, or that no one should be within two feet of his vehicle,” Parente wrote.
The defense attorney warned in his nine-page filing that the controversy could lead to dismissal of the indictment against the pair. He also noted that federal authorities cited the prosecution in their recent submission to the U.S. Supreme Court, seeking an order that would allow President Donald Trump to deploy National Guard troops within Illinois.
U.S. District Judge Georgia Alexakis on Thursday ordered the vehicle returned to Chicago on a flatbed trailer. A prosecutor told her the vehicle at issue is the agent’s personally assigned government vehicle.
Lawyers have sought a speedy trial for Martinez and Ruiz. Parente told Alexakis the feds “publicly branded this woman as a domestic terrorist.”
“We’re trying to clear her name as soon as possible,” he said.
Martinez’s Oct. 4 shooting set off protests, prompting agents to deploy pepper balls and tear gas. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said the shooting erupted after agents were “rammed by 10 cars” and “boxed in.”
Then, in a criminal complaint charging Martinez and Ruiz with assault, an FBI agent alleged that a Chevrolet Tahoe carrying three Border Patrol agents had been followed by a convoy of vehicles, including a Nissan Rogue SUV driven by Martinez and a GMC Envoy driven by Ruiz.
The feds allege that Martinez “side-swiped” the Border Patrol vehicle and Ruiz “drove into and struck the rear right” of that vehicle. They also alleged that Martinez drove the SUV toward an agent who had gotten out of the car.
That agent then fired five shots at Martinez, according to the complaint.
A prosecutor has said in court that Martinez had a loaded firearm on the passenger side of her car but never brandished it. Martinez has a valid firearm and concealed-carry license, Parente has said.
Not only that, but Parente’s latest court filing says the gun was found “at the bottom of her purse, inside a snapped closed bright pink holster.”
The defense attorney has aggressively challenged the feds’ entire account. He told Alexakis last week that federal officials have released “objectively wrong” information about the incident. He also said the cars simply “made contact side-by-side,” and that the agent then jumped out of his car and opened fire.
In an earlier hearing, Parente also alleged that an agent said, “Do something b—” before getting out of the vehicle and shooting at Martinez.