Experts testify about surveillance, phone records in Christina Morris trial

Day Four of the trial against the man accused of kidnapping Christina Morris focused on phone records.

The prosecution presented experts of cell phones and cell towers in an effort to show jurors that phone records are just one critical piece of the puzzle in explaining when Morris disappeared and how Enrique Arochi, and possibly others, played a role.

An expert from the Plano Police Department told a Collin County jury he could not see on a video if kidnapping victim Christina Morris was in a car with the man accused of taking her.

The jury saw the surveillance video from the Shops at Legacy in Plano two years ago on August 30. Morris was last seen in the video walking to her car with Enrique Arochi that night around 3:55 a.m.

During the same time frame, records show a call from Arochi's cell phone at 3:50 a.m. to Morris' boyfriend, Hunter Foster, The phone call was followed by two text messages: one at 3:53 a.m. and one at 3:55 a.m. The records don't indicate who was using the phone.

Morris's friends previously testified that her battery was running low.

Cell phone experts testified that Foster's phone received the messages at a location on McKinney Avenue near downtown Dallas, but he did not respond.

The last known signal from Morris's phone was a ping to a cell tower two blocks north of the Shops at Legacy, nearly an hour after she was seen in the parking garage video. Minutes later, Arochi's phone pinged off the same tower.

It wasn't until three days later that Morris's boyfriend reported her missing to police. But that same night, experts testified Foster contacted Arochi at 12:56 a.m.

Foster refused to testify in the trial, fearing he could incriminate himself. One reason Foster may be concerned about incriminating himself is that he is already serving time for a drug conviction.

Prosecutors said they have evidence of Morris’ DNA in the trunk of Arochi’s car. But the defense is trying to raise doubt by floating other possible theories, including one that involves a suspicious green car and one that involves drugs and Morris’ boyfriend.

Police believe Morris was murdered, but her body was never found. There was also no blood evidence ever found at the scene.

The trial is expected to last another week and a half.