Federal vehicle in Chicago ramming case may have had repairs before defense looked at it. Can the court do anything about it?

An image included in a criminal complaint against Marimar Martinez shows damage to the driver's side of the Customs and Border Protection vehicle. US District Court Chicago —

Thursday was supposed to be a day of no surprises for Marimar Martinez, the woman who was shot after allegedly ramming the car of a Border Patrol agent she had been following. She was headed to a routine court hearing.

But earlier that day, defense attorney Christopher Parente learned a piece of evidence that may be critical to the case was no longer in Chicago.

“I was informed about two hours before the hearing that the agent’s vehicle was gone,” Parente told CNN.

“Gone,” as it turned out, was more than 1,000 miles away. Department of Justice attorney Aaron Bond said in court the agent was told he could