El Dorado man set for May 31 trial in shooting

The trial for Tristen Waller, an El Dorado man arrested in 2019 with co-defendant Chancin Hooks and charged with the shooting death of 27-year-old Brandon Parker, is set for May 31.

Judge Grisham Phillips was assigned to the case after a recusal order issued by Judge Robin Carroll was followed with recusals by the other five 13th Judicial District Judges earlier this month.

Numerous defense motions and state subpoenas were submitted late last week, including two defense motions to dismiss the case and a formal notice communicating an intention to argue that Waller acted in self-defense.

A series of defense motions were entered from May 16-May 19, according to court records.

The first is a motion submitted by lead defense attorney Sylvester Smith to dismiss the case citing a “Brady violation.” This term references the 1963 case Brady v. Maryland and the “Brady Rule,” which requires “prosecutors to disclose materially exculpatory evidence in the government’s possession to the defense,” according to Cornell University.

The motion, submitted on May 16, alleges that a white 2003 Ford Taurus — the vehicle Parker was in when shot — was not properly “preserved” by the prosecution.

The motion contends that the vehicle was a “mobile crime scene,” with “several” bullet holes and, after being impounded and examined by the Union County sheriff’s office, was released to Parker’s family.

The motion goes on to allege the vehicle was “immediately destroyed upon being released to the family.”

Smith argues in the motion that the defense should have been given time to examine the vehicle for reasons including “to determine if the condition of the vehicle supports Mr. Waller’s contention that the Decedent and those in his vehicle fired the first shots.”

The next motion, filed on May 17, is a formal notice that informs the prosecution of Waller’s intention to “raise the defense that the acts allegedly attributed to him” were done in self-defense and “are justified.”

A motion to suppress evidence was also filed by the defense on May 17.

The motion alleges that the prosecution has jail phone and video call recordings of Waller as well as co-defendant Chancin Hooks and the second victim in the case, Randy Lamar Miller, that have not been provided to the defense. Miller is facing charges connected to the case including tampering with physical evidence, simultaneous possession of drugs and firearms, hindering apprehension or prosecution, possession of a controlled substance and possession of a firearm by certain persons.

The motion states that these alleged recordings “likely” contain material helpful to the defense’s case.

A second motion to dismiss cites speedy trial violations. This motion includes calculations of Waller’s time since June 6, 2019 in the Union County jail including the many excluded periods, which are periods of time not tolled towards a speedy trial calculation.

Responses from the state or the court to the motions for dismissal or the motion to suppress evidence were not available in court records by the end of Monday.