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Feb. 2 Trial Set in Brighton Park Shooting as Judge Orders Hearing on Agent’s SUV

A November 6 hearing will probe why the agent’s government SUV was driven to Maine instead of being preserved for inspection.

Overview

  • Marimar Martinez, who was shot by a Border Patrol agent on Oct. 4, faces a federal charge of using a vehicle to assault agents and has pleaded not guilty.
  • U.S. District Judge Georgia Alexakis scheduled jury selection to begin Feb. 2 and ordered the agent’s SUV returned to Chicago on a flatbed for evidence review.
  • The court will question the agent on Nov. 6 about driving his assigned vehicle to Maine before defense experts could examine it, a move the defense says jeopardized evidence.
  • Defense filings say body‑camera footage undercuts DHS claims that agents were boxed in and allege an agent used an expletive before firing five shots.
  • Charging documents describe contact between the vehicles and note a loaded gun in Martinez’s car that prosecutors say was not brandished, while her attorney says she is licensed and the firearm was secured in her purse; co‑defendant Anthony Ian Santos Ruiz also pleaded not guilty.