Missouri City police officer Blademir Viveros was charged with two counts of manslaughter, three counts of aggravated assault by a public servant, and one count of aggravated assault.
SEE ALSO: Trial of Missouri City officer involved in crash that killed 3 people in 2024 underway
Viveros is charged in a crash that killed three people, including a mother and her 16-year-old son, in June 2024 on Cartwright Road.
Prosecutors say Viveros was going 107 mph, with a man who was in custody, Michael Hawkins, in his back seat, as he was responding to an emergency call without his lights and sirens on.
Hawkins was found hours after the fiery crash by DPS troopers. Hawkins was paralyzed in the crash and died 7 months later.
On Thursday, in court, day three of the trial began with a tense back-and-forth over internal investigation documentation and evidence.
The day started with a disagreement that went on for hours between the state and defense teams over the internal investigation documents prepared on Blademir Viveros before his firing from the Missouri City Police Department in June of 2024, following the deadly crash, and whether those documents were turned over to the defense team ahead of trial.
The state says they did and provided them again this morning for Viveros' attorneys to review during an extended lunch.
Defense attorney Greg Cagle said in court that the pages were disclosed to their team for the first time on day three of the trial and argued he was unsure whether they had the exact attachments mentioned in portions of Viveros' internal investigation.
The state rebutted, saying they had turned over the information and that Viveros' team had access to all the body- and dash-cam video mentioned in the report.
Viveros' attorneys filed a motion to exclude that evidence, which the judge denied.
At nearly 2 p.m., the jury was brought back into the courtroom to hear witness testimony for the first time since 10 a.m.
Eyewitness News heard from the medical examiner who did the autopsy for Hawkins, who said he died from complications of multiple injuries and quadriplegia caused by the crash.
Investigators said Hawkins was not wearing a seat belt or handcuffs in the back of the police vehicle when he was found.
The jury also heard from DPS troopers who investigated the crash and were on scene that day when Hawkins was found hours after the crash happened. Several photos of the crash scene were shown, including some images of Hawkins, Angela, and Mason.
Viveros is charged with two counts of manslaughter, three counts of aggravated assault by a public servant, and one count of aggravated assault.
The case picks back up on Friday morning at the Fort Bend County Courthouse.
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