Repairs possibly made to SUV agent drove to Maine after alleged car-ramming, Brighton Park, Chicago shooting of Marimar Martinez
Federal prosecutors on Monday acknowledged that a Customs and Border Patrol agent's SUV that was involved in an alleged "ramming" incident, which led to the agent shooting a woman on Chicago's Southwest Side earlier this month , was released to the agent and driven back to his home base in Maine before the woman's defense attorneys could inspect the vehicle.
A prosecutor also told the court that repairs to the SUV had been authorized but he couldn't say whether the repairs had actually taken place because they don't yet have a report from the mechanic.
"Sounds like some repairs may have been attempted" to the vehicle, Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronald DeWald told US District Judge Georgia Alexakis at a Monday hearing.
The woman, Marimar Martinez, has been charged with assault on a federal officer with a deadly weapon - after the government alleged that she followed the agents and then rammed the agents SUV. The incident led to chaotic street protests. Martinez has pleaded not guilty and was released on bond pending trial.
Martinez's attorney, Christopher Parente, has contended in court filings that it was the agent's vehicle that initiated the collision and that the condition of all the vehicles involved is critical for her to mount a defense to the charges.
"The Government has yet to provide defense counsel with even basic information about exactly when the CBP Vehicle was released from the FBI Evidence Garage, who authorized the release of this critical piece of evidence without notifying defense counsel, and what if any changes were made to the vehicle after it was released from FBI custody," Parente wrote Sunday in a motion asking the court to set a hearing to investigate the potential destruction of evidence.
SEE ALSO | Woman shot by CBP agent among 2 charged in alleged Brighton Park vehicle ramming, prosecutors say
Alexakis said she was "troubled" by what she was hearing about the potential repair work done to the vehicle and set a hearing for early next month to hear testimony from the agent who drove the car back to Maine, who is the same agent who fired the shots that struck Martinez, according to court records.
Parente had pushed for a more expedited hearing, arguing that he wanted to know from the agent what route he took and what stops he made along the way so that Martinez's legal team could try to locate any surveillance video of the SUV while it was en route back to Maine. He noted that when he went to the FBI evidence garage to inspect the other vehicles involved in the crash, he was told not to touch the cars and was ordered to remain at least two feet away from the cars.
"I can't touch these vehicles but he can drive it to Maine," Parente said. "That's now how this works, Your Honor. I want my own experts to look at it."
"The way that this car was impacted is going to be critical," Parente said.
READ MORE | New details on Border Patrol shooting, alleged vehicle ramming in Brighton Park revealed in court
DeWald said at the hearing Monday that the agent was given approval to retrieve the vehicle from an FBI evidence team in Chicago after the vehicle had been processed and photographs. He said the vehicle is now in a secure lot at a CBP facility and that those in possession of it have been instructed "not to touch it any further."
The agent involved in the shooting has not been identified. He has been referred to in court filings as "Border Patrol Agent-1" or "BPA-1."
Alexakis set a trial in the case for early February.
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