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Defense rests their case in ‘El Gallito’ murder trial

Defense rests their case in ‘El Gallito’ murder trial
1 month 3 weeks 3 days ago Monday, October 14 2024 Oct 14, 2024 October 14, 2024 3:36 PM October 14, 2024 in News - Local

Jurors were sent home Monday afternoon after the defense rested their case in the murder trial of a man accused of killing a Harlingen attorney.

Salomon Campos Jr. is on trial in connection with the death of his uncle, attorney Ernesto "El Gallito" Gonzales.

Authorities say Gonzales was kidnapped and shot. He was reported missing in June 2017 after filing a temporary protective order against some of his family members.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: State rests their case in 'El Gallito' murder trial

Gonzales’ body was found in 2020 buried in Campos’ goat farm, according to the Harlingen Police Department.

The defense rested after calling four witnesses to the stand. 

One of the witnesses was a digital forensics expert who told the jury he questioned investigators with the Harlingen Police Department about a server crash that happened in 2017, the same year Gonzales went missing.

The expert said the Harlingen Police Department did not know how or exactly when the server crashed, and claimed that police did not follow procedures in order to preserve data.

The state argued they did have procedure, but they didn't apply to this case because at the time, Gonzales was considered a missing person, not a murder victim.

Testimony during the trial involved video interviews that were lost during the investigation.

Police told the jury during testimony those files were involved in the server crash.

The forensic expert claimed he requested to physically inspect the server, but was told by police they did not have it.

Jurors are expected to return on Tuesday morning to hear closing arguments from prosecutors and the defense.

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