Christina Morris Kidnapping Trial Enters 2nd Week
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MCKINNEY (CBSDFW.COM) - The second week of the Christina Morris kidnapping trial started Monday, but it will likely be a shorter day than usual at the Collin County Courthouse in McKinney. One of the jurors has an important appointment in the afternoon, cutting Monday's courtroom proceedings a bit short.
It has been more two years since Morris disappeared from a Plano parking garage. Enrique Arochi is the prime suspect in this case. The two were former classmates in high school. Morris was last seen walking with Arochi into the garage at The Shops at Legacy. After finding matching DNA samples in the trunk of his car, police arrested Arochi for aggravated kidnapping.
However, throughout the entire police investigation, Arochi has denied having anything to do with this case. And the location of the 23-year-old woman's body is still a mystery. To this day, friends and family members of Morris continue to look for any signs of her remains.
Last week in the trial, the jury heard from a range of witnesses including one of the victim's ex-boyfriends, a technology expert and employees from The Shops at Legacy. The defense has pointed toward other people who could be held responsible for the disappearance of Morris such as boyfriend Hunter Foster. He invoked the Fifth Amendment and will not testify.
The jury also heard from people who were out partying with Morris and Arochi that night. Arielle Loften testified that she saw both of them at the bar, but did not recall any activity that was out of the ordinary.
Prosecutors on Friday focused on surveillance video from the shopping center, and clips that show a black car leaving the area on August 30, 2014. They have been working to establish that Morris left the scene in Arochi's vehicle. The defense questioned the authenticity of the video, saying that the discs were copies of copies. The judge admitted the evidence, however, it was not clear that the car shown in the video belonged to Arochi.
Monday morning's testimony has centered around technical details about cell phone tracking. The prosecution called in three expert network engineers from AT&T and Sprint to discuss phone records, and the Plano police detective who was assigned to tracking phones in this investigation. Prosecutors are trying to follow Arochi's location on the night that Morris vanished, and show that Foster was not nearby.
More witnesses will take the stand on Monday morning. The day is expected to wrap up before lunchtime. You can follow CBS 11 News reporter Jennifer Lindgren or KRLD reporter L.P. Phillips on Twitter for the latest updates.