Day one of the Enrique Arochi trial kicked off with opening statements and the prosecution’s first two witnesses.
Arochi is the man accused of kidnapping Christina Morris. She vanished in 2014 from a Plano parking garage.
The day in court was a reminder of the tragedy that happened two years ago, when a 23-year-old woman disappeared. Her family was in court and two emotional co-workers testified about the Labor Day weekend two years ago when Morris didn’t show up for work and they realized she was missing.
The prosecution and defense also laid out a basic outline of how they’re going to argue this case in their opening statements.
Prosecutors want the jury to rely on three key areas of evidence against Arochi, who went to high school with Morris.
First: Surveillance video showing Morris for the last time, walking with Arochi into a parking garage; plus more video showing him washing the trunk of his car the next day.
Secondly: Morris’ DNA that investigators found in the trunk of Arochi's car.
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Third: Cell phone pings showing the pair was together for some time after leaving a party with a group of friends.
Prosecutors argue Arochi kidnapped Morris and planned to sexually assault her, after another friend turned him down.
The defense, meanwhile, is shifting focus to another man, Morris’ boyfriend at the time, who is now in prison serving a drug sentence.
Morris’ co-workers testified she and her boyfriend had been fighting a lot and the defense showed several angry text messages they exchanged the night she disappeared.
As for the DNA, the defense said the same crime scene technician analyzed Morris’ car shortly before Arochi's and that she could have accidentally transferred the DNA from one car to the other.
There will be at least 23 witnesses called, including Morris’ old boyfriend the defense is focused on, her parents and several friends.
Tweets about from @alicebarrnbc5 AND #arochitrial
// <![CDATA[ !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+"://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs"); // ]]>The trial resumes at 8 a.m. Wednesday at the Collin County Courthouse.
