EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — The trial of Robron Lewis — one of two men facing capital murder charges in a deadly 2021 drug deal turned robbery at a West El Paso McDonald’s — has been put on hold over a possible piece of evidence that will need further examination.

KTSM was the only news organization inside the 34th District Courtroom in Downtown El Paso on Thursday, July 9, when the trial was delayed.

 Trial delayed in El Paso McDonald’s drug deal murder case 

During the evidentiary phase of the trial,  prosecutors presented a cellphone recovered by police in the victim’s car the night of the incident. Despite the device being in El Paso Police’s possession for the past five years, detectives on the witness stand could not say who the cellphone belonged to, or if it contained crucial evidence.

Local criminal defense lawyer and legal expert Omar Carmona said the sudden introduction of unexamined evidence is a highly unusual occurrence. 

Carmona said that because a capital murder conviction carries only two possible outcomes — the death penalty or life in prison without parole — prosecutors, the defense, and investigators work diligently to gather as much evidence as possible to ensure a clean trial.

“Every capital murder demands the highest level of scrutiny,” Carmona said. “You never want to go to a jury trial on a capital murder case, ever, and there are boxes that are not checked.”

Carmona said that finding unexamined evidence this late in the process is shocking, but bringing the cellphone forward was the right thing to do to ensure the defendant receives a fair trial.

“I’m glad the prosecutors caught that. They did the absolute right thing in coming forward,” Carmona said. “That tells me that they saw something and they understand that if they were to get a conviction and it were to come out later, that there was a phone that was collected at the scene, never examined, that could potentially have exculpatory evidence, then they know that case is going to come back on appeal.” 

While sitting on the dais, 34th District Court Judge William E. Moody described the situation as an unusual occurrence in his over 40-year career. Moody ordered the cellphone to be reviewed by experts and police before the trial can resume. 

While the judge said the goal is to resume court proceedings by next Monday, Carmona noted that based on his legal experience, decrypting modern cellphones can be a lengthy process.

“If there is something in there that needs further examination, it is likely going to take longer than a few days,” Carmona said. “There could be messages that were deleted and it’s going to take a lot longer than just Monday or Tuesday to get deleted messages brought back from, it could be Instagram, apps like WhatsApp. They’re encrypted, so it could take a while.”

Carmona said the sudden delay leaves several looming questions for the courtroom.

“Some valuable questions are going to have to be asked, possibly by the court by Judge Moody as to, how was this discovered? It sounds like they know how it was discovered, but when was the phone collected? Why was it not turned over? Why was it not examined? Why are we just learning about all these things right now after five years?” Carmona said. 

Prosecutors were expected to rest their case on Thursday, with the trial initially slated to end on Friday — until the cellphone was brought forward.

The trial for Lewis has been delayed until at least next Monday pending the results of the cellphone’s forensic review.

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

 For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News.