Attorneys for six Eastland family members filed motions challenging search warrants in a Texas Rangers criminal investigation.
Attorneys representing six Eastland family members filed motions challenging search warrants in a Texas Rangers criminal investigation.
Six members of the Eastland family filed motions in Kerr County District Court asking for a hearing on several issues surrounding electronic data sought by investigators. In the filings, attorneys argue the warrants are “overbroad” and characterize the searches as a “fishing expedition.”
The Texas Rangers are investigating potential criminal charges related to the deaths of 25 campers and two counselors at Camp Mystic. No criminal charges have been filed.
Search warrant applications filed in September sought electronic records from people associated with Camp Mystic as investigators examine what camp leaders and staff knew about the flood threat, how they responded as the Guadalupe River rose and, in some cases, their actions in the months that followed.
The affidavits identify potential offenses including manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, abandoning or endangering a child, injury to a child and deadly conduct.
Eastland attorneys call search warrant overbroad
The warrants do not all seek the same time period. For example, a warrant targeting Tweety Eastland seeks electronic data from July 3 through July 4, 2025. A warrant targeting Edward Stacy Eastland extends from July 3 through Oct. 17, 2025.
In the filing involving Edward Eastland, his attorney argues that while July 3 and July 4 have a direct connection to the flood, applying the same broad categories of requested data across the following three-and-a-half months is “overbroad.”
“The warrant instead moves from several identified flood-related data points to unrestricted access to nearly every category of information a cloud account can contain,” the filing states.
The search warrant affidavit identifies two post-flood calls involving Eastland, on July 21 and Oct. 17. His attorney argues that even if those calls justify obtaining the calls themselves and directly related records, they do not establish probable cause to search every photograph, location entry, application record, contact, note, calendar entry, password, backup, deleted item and unrelated communication through Oct. 17.
“Again, this is a fishing expedition by Ranger Johnston,” the filing states.
Concerns over privileged communications
Attorneys for the Eastland family argue the broad scope and extended time period of some of the warrants create another concern: investigators could gain access to attorney-client communications and other privileged material related to ongoing civil litigation.
The filing involving Edward Eastland notes that Camp Mystic and members of the Eastland family were already defendants in civil litigation stemming from the flood. It argues that electronic records sought through Oct. 17 could include communications with attorneys about the civil claims, discovery, witness preparation, expert consultation, regulatory inquiries, settlement and litigation strategy.
Eastland’s attorneys are asking the court to halt investigators’ review of the electronic data and establish an independent process to separate potentially privileged material before anything is disclosed to investigators or prosecutors. Among the options proposed in the motion are a court-appointed special master or an independent review team with no involvement in the investigation or any potential prosecution.
State says privilege review was already being developed
A separate filing from the Kerr County District Attorney’s Office indicates DPS was already working to establish a process to protect privileged information before the Eastland motions were filed.
In its motion for a continuance, the state says DPS Assistant General Counsel Raphael Guerrero had been involved in setting up a “Taint Team” and a procedure for protecting attorney-client privileged and other protected information obtained through the search warrants.
The filing says Ranger Johnston had also already scheduled a meeting with the judge to discuss the planned procedure.
Electronic evidence won’t be reviewed while the court considers motions
The state’s filing says electronic records obtained through iCloud will not be reviewed and cellphones will not be downloaded until after a hearing on the motions.
The state is asking the court to allow Texas Rangers to download the encrypted iCloud data before the link provided by Apple or another provider expires, but says the data would not be converted into a readable format until further order from the court.
The state requested that the hearing be continued until after Oct. 12, citing scheduling and representation issues. A proposed order attached to the filing does not indicate a new hearing date.
Kerr County DA says she plans to seek recusal
The state’s filing also says 216th Judicial District Attorney Lucy Wilke plans to file a motion to recuse herself and her office, citing “a conflict of interest and lack of resources.” The filing says she will request that a prosecutor pro tem be appointed.
Camp Mystic bankruptcy and civil litigation
The search warrant dispute comes as Camp Mystic and members of the Eastland family face civil lawsuits stemming from the July 2025 flood.
Camp Mystic filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in June. The camp has said it intends to pursue the sale of its 749-acre property along the Guadalupe River to a buyer that would, in its words, “maintain the historic mission” of Camp Mystic.