Defense investigator staged vehicles to match surveillance; judge limits expert testimony but admits many defense exhibits

Christopher Otero, a private investigator called by the defense, told the 187th District Court that he reviewed discovery (church surveillance video, a police dashcam and reports), visited the church parking lot, staged substitute vehicles and took photographs and measurements intended to reproduce the perspectives captured in the footage.

Otero described the physical work he performed: he said he staged a Ford F-150 to approximate the position of the San Antonio police vehicle and used a 2009 Chevy Traverse in place of the white Nissan Rogue so he could photograph the driver’s perspective. He testified he took measurements on site using a measuring wheel, recorded video (a GoPro mounted to a vehicle hood) and captured still photographs for the defense record. He also said he attempted to extract event data from the white Nissan Rogue with a Bosch crash-data retrieval tool but could not retrieve usable EDR information…