Just Days Before the Federal Trial Begins, Defense Motions Seek to Suppress Evidence, Exclude Codefendant Statements at Trial
FORT WORTH, TX – Days before a widely watched federal trial is set to begin in the Prairieland ICE protest case, U.S. District Court Judge Mark Pittman ordered pretrial motions hearings for Tuesday, February 10 and Thursday, February 12. Nine defendants—Savanna Batten, Zachary Evetts, Autumn Hill, Meagan Morris, Maricela Rueda, Daniel “Des” Rolando Sanchez Estrada, Benjamin “Champagne” Song, Elizabeth Soto, and Ines Soto—who were indicted in November on a variety of charges including riot, discharging a firearm, attempted murder, material support for terrorism, and conspiracy to conceal documents will start their federal trial next week with jury selection on Tuesday, February 17.
On Tuesday, February 10 at 10am, Judge Pittman will hear arguments on a motion to suppress evidence against Prairieland defendant Elizabeth Soto, and a motion filed by Prairieland defendant Autumn Hill to exclude statements of codefendant Meagan Morris. A third motion filed on behalf of Daniel Rolando Sanchez Estrada, which is currently being withheld from the public record, will be heard on Thursday, February 12 at 2pm. The Prairieland case stems from a July 4, 2025 noise demonstration in support of detained immigrants at the Prairieland ICE Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas.
What: Federal pretrial motions hearings for Prairieland defendants
When: Tuesday, February 10 at 10am; Thursday, February 12 at 2pm
Where: Fourth Floor, Federal Courthouse, 501 West 10th Street, Fort Worth, TX 76102
The motion to suppress argues that all physical and digital evidence, as well as any testimonies or statements, obtained as a result of the search of Elizabeth Soto’s vehicle and residence in July and September should be excluded from trial. Elizabeth Soto’s attorneys argue that evidence was seized and obtained from their client’s residence and vehicle “without a valid search warrant and without probable cause or reasonable suspicion of criminal activity in violation of the Defendant’s constitutional rights under the Fourth Amendment.”
The motion to exclude codefendant statements argues that Autumn Hill’s Sixth Amendment rights would be violated if post-arrest statements made by her codefendant Meagan Morris are allowed to be admitted in the trial. The arguments are based in part on the Bruton rule, stemming from the 1968 case, Bruton v. United States, which guards against a non-testifying codefendant’s confession that directly implicates the defendant being admitted at their joint trial.
Another pretrial motion filed in January, which has not been scheduled for hearing, aims to challenge the ‘objection’ procedure defined by Judge Pittman at a January 14 status conference. Judge Pittman issued an order limiting defense objections at trial to the single attorney questioning a government witness, thereby greatly limiting other defendants’ abilities to appeal. The motion filed by Prairieland Defendant Ines Soto, on behalf of all nine defendants, asks the court to modify its order to “allow any defense counsel to lodge an objection with the proviso that other defense counsel not make duplicate objections,” which would be more consistent with the federal rules of criminal procedure, according to Ines Soto’s lawyers.
Prejudicial statements related to these cases have been made repeatedly by officials at the highest levels of government, undermining the defendants’ ability to get a fair trial. The Trump administration has publicly claimed that the Prairieland case is the first legal case against Antifa, while Trump declared Antifa a domestic terrorist organization. On September 25, the White House released the National Security Presidential Memorandum-7 (NSPM-7), which ordered all federal law enforcement agencies to prioritize combating Antifa as a domestic terrorism threat. FBI director Kash Patel has called the Prairieland defendants “Antifa-aligned anarchist violent extremists,” sharing Fox News coverage of the case on X.
Exorbitant bonds of up to $15 million are being used in the State cases to imprison people who do not represent a flight risk or a danger to the community. Supporters believe that pretrial detention is being used by the government to hinder the defense and to maintain the dominant narrative in the media.
The Prairieland cases, involving both state and federal charges, stem from a noise demonstration in solidarity with detainees at the Prairieland ICE Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas, on July 4, 2025. After the protest, an officer with the Alvarado Police Department allegedly became involved in an exchange of gunfire soon after arrival. The officer allegedly sustained minor injuries, and was reportedly released from the hospital shortly afterwards. Authorities have still not provided hospital records to justify these claims, six months later. Alvarado police arrested ten people in the area, and a manhunt ensued in the subsequent days for another defendant. Eight more defendants were arrested in the days and weeks following the protest.