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Prosecution rests case in murder trial
Published 7/25/2009 in Local News : Police
By RACHAEL GRAY
The Lucas K. Chavez murder trial continued Friday, mostly with prosecution showing video of police interviews with eye witnesses whose testimony in court has conflicted with what they told police during the investigation.
Chavez, 24, is charged with second-degree murder in the Feb. 1 shooting death of Philip M. Brown, 30, at 2615 N. Main St., Apt. 6F.
Chavez, who pleaded not guilty, also is charged with two counts of criminal possession of a firearm, including a 9 mm firearm he allegedly used to kill Brown and a .357-caliber firearm police say he may have owned.
The jury heard testimony Friday from Susana Martinez, a friend of Dara Abustan, the renter of the Apple Garden Apartment where Brown was shot. Martinez said Chavez had been arguing with Brown because Brown may have touched Chavez's girlfriend, Amber Riojas. She said Chavez kept threatening Brown and patting his waistband. Martinez said she saw Chavez draw the gun to threaten Brown.
Martinez said she told Abustan to talk to Chavez and calm him down. Martinez left the apartment before Brown was shot.
Judge Michael L. Quint ruled that a 16-minute redacted video of Detective Larry Watson's Feb. 1 interview with Amber Riojas could be aired for the jury, made up of nine men and five women. Prosecution wanted the video aired because they said Amber Riojas' testimony Wednesday conflicted with information she had given Watson.
During her testimony in court Wednesday, Riojas said she was present at the time of the shooting but did not see who shot the gun. In the interview with Watson back in February, she identified Chavez as the shooter and physically demonstrated how Chavez shot the gun.
Judge Quint also allowed airing of Detective Mark Johnson's interview with Antonio Solorzano, who witnessed the shooting.
He testified Thursday that he had his back turned when the gun went off. In the February interview with Johnson, Solorzano identified the shooter as "Luke" and demonstrated how he pulled the gun from his waist and shot Brown.
Jury saw a video of an April 29 testimony from Solorzano's then girlfriend, Ashley Trevizo-Hernandez, who was 13 at the time of the crime. She identified Chavez as the shooter in an April 29 pre-trial testimony used for deposition. Trevizo-Hernandez has not been available to testify in person during this trial.
Trevizo Hernandez reportedly ran away from home and was last seen June 12.
After the Solorzano video, prosecutors Brian Sherwood and Michael Higgins rested their case.
Kristi Cott, public defender and Chavez's lawyer, filed a motion for continuance so further testing could be done on some items of evidence. She filed a motion for acquittal stating that she didn't think prosecution met its burden of proof.
Judge Quint denied both motions. The Chavez trial will resume Tuesday morning at which time the defense is expected to open its case.
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