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The Latest: Lawyer says will try to prevent death penalty

Posted at 8:48 PM, Aug 07, 2019
and last updated 2019-08-07 21:48:18-04

EL PASO, Texas (AP) - The Latest on the mass shooting in El Paso (all times local):

8:30 p.m.

A court-appointed lawyer for the man accused of shooting dozens of people in El Paso says he will do everything he can to ensure his client is not executed.

Twenty-one-year-old Patrick Crusius has been charged with capital murder in state court for the Saturday massacre, and may face federal hate-crime charges that could also come with a death sentence if he's convicted.

Attorney Mark Stevens told The Associated Press in an email Wednesday that he "will use every legal tool available to me to prevent" Crusius from being put to death.

Stevens, a veteran criminal defense attorney from San Antonio, said he will only represent Crusius in state court and declined to comment further on the case. A judge appointed him Monday

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3:50 p.m.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's first calls for action after a gunman in El Paso killed 22 people include cracking down on internet sites used by violent extremists and confronting racism. But the Republican didn't suggest any substantive gun-control measures.

Abbott says the state must keep weapons away from "deranged killers" but didn't offer specifics. He also told reporters the information he's received suggests there were "no red flags" with the suspected El Paso gunman.

Abbott met with lawmakers from El Paso on Wednesday in the border city. All are Democrats and have unsuccessfully pushed for gun restrictions in Texas, where three mass shootings since 2017 have killed more than 50 people.

The meeting happened as President Donald Trump was on his way to El Paso.