Motion to Quash Comes Two Weeks After Arraignment of Three New Prairieland Defendants, Indicted Without Fanfare by the State of Texas
CLEBURNE, TX – Lawyers for Prairieland defendant Dario Sanchez filed a motion in State court yesterday to quash two counts of hindering the prosecution of terrorism. Texas District Court Judge William Bosworth ruled last week denying defense efforts to quash Sanchez’s other charge of tampering with physical evidence for removing someone from group text chats. On May 19, Sanchez was re-indicted by the District Attorney for a third time since his arrest in an attempt to clean up a previously flawed indictment from December 2025. Currently one of the only Prairieland defendants released on bond, Sanchez is currently scheduled to go to trial in State court on June 22.
“The indictment states conclusions, rather than facts” and, furthermore, “fails to allege facts which constitute a criminal offense,” declared Sanchez’s motion to quash. The effort to dismiss Sanchez’s hindering the prosecution of terrorism counts centers around use of the term “physical evidence” and the argument that Sanchez’s actions, even if deemed illegal, pertain to digital evidence. Sanchez is being accused of removing someone from private group text chats, routine activity conducted in widely used communications platforms.
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. Toward the end of the demonstration, an officer with the Alvarado Police Department became involved in an exchange of gunfire soon after his arrival on the scene. The officer allegedly sustained minor injuries, although his medical records have successfully been withheld by the prosecution. Sanchez was not at the noise demonstration and was arrested more than a week later, on July 15, 2025.
“The state obtained yet another indictment in response to one of our arguments to quash the previous indictment,” said Dustin Hoffman, one of Sanchez’s lawyers. “But the state has effectively ignored our strongest position, failing to respond to or address the fact that digital evidence is not physical evidence,” continued Hoffman. “The new indictment still attempts to shoehorn digital into physical evidence. This defies the plain text of the statutes and is absurd. We are confident our position on this issue will prevail.”
The motion to quash comes two weeks after three new Prairieland defendants were arraigned on State charges. Without fanfare and unbeknownst to the DFW Support Committee, Melanie Estes, Steven Reyna, and Andrew Smith were indicted two months ago on March 25 and charged with engaging in organized criminal activity and hindering the prosecution of terrorism. These newly discovered indictments bring the total number of Prairieland defendants to 22. According to defense lawyers, Estes, Reyna, and Smith do not intend to cooperate with the prosecution against their co-defendants.
Sanchez’s case has been plagued by delays despite standing speedy trial demands filed on multiple occasions. Sanchez originally had a trial scheduled for January 12 before it was rescheduled twice to its current date of June 22. The District Attorney has repeatedly failed to satisfy its discovery obligations. Currently, Sanchez has a pending motion to exclude testimony of his co-defendant John Thomas, who plead guilty and testified for the prosecution during the federal trial earlier this year. Thomas’s testimony indicated that the District Attorney promised to dismiss State charges in exchange for Thomas’s cooperation, but so far the prosecutor has refused to turn over details of that agreement in what Sanchez’s lawyers are calling a discovery violation, an issue that may further delay Sanchez’s trial.
“The case that the State of Texas has brought against me is a sham,” said Sanchez. “The State is dead-set on butchering the meaning of the law to serve their narrative,” continued Sanchez. “I’m confident that we will prevail at trial, and I look forward to seeing the State twist themselves into knots to try to justify this lawfare.”
Coincidentally, Sanchez’s trial is scheduled to start on the same date as the trial against Johnson County Sheriff Adam King, who was arrested in August 2025 and charged with intimidating a witness, sexual harassment, and perjury. Despite violating his bond conditions numerous times, Sheriff King remains in his position while his criminal case is ongoing. King was acting in his official capacity as Johnson County Sheriff at the time of the noise demonstration and the subsequent police investigation into the Prairieland case.
Almost all Prairieland defendants are currently in State custody, being held on exorbitant bonds of up to $15 million. Prairieland defendant Lucy Fowlkes, who was arrested months after the noise demonstration, on January 5, and similarly charged with hindering the prosecution of terrorism, has an arraignment scheduled for June 11. Fowlkes is also moving to reduce her bond on the same day.