Defense calls witnesses who describe a Hispanic suspect in Day 22 of the La Mesa Murders Trial

The Defense is making their case for Preston Strong’s innocence in Day 22 of the La Mesa Street Murders Trial.

After a one week recess, the defense began the case in Yuma Superior Court, presided by Judge Maria Elena Cruz.

The defense is arguing there is not enough evidence to prove Preston Strong murdered the family of six. They began their first day of testimony by calling multiple witnesses to the stand who described seeing a Hispanic man at the home on the day of the murders.

WOMAN SAYS HER EX-BOYFRIEND TOLD HER HE SAW A “MEXICAN MAN” IN THE BACKYARD OF THE HOME

The first witness to take the stand on Monday was Rocio Lopez. Lopez says that on the evening of June 24, 2005, she was in her backyard with her then boyfriend and a friend.

“I heard someone saying help in a low voice, so I turned down the music then they heard it, towards the wall,” Lopez explained, “then we heard the gunshots. I believe it was four, it has been a long time.”

Lopez told the jury that she ran into her house and told her kids to get on the floor then she called 9-1-1.

Lopez said that her then boyfriend, whose name the court has ordered not be released, jumped the fence and ran to the neighbor’s backyard where the shots were heard.

“I was yelling at him to get down,” Lopez said, “It happened so fast, I believe we were all kind of panicked.”

Lopez told Defense Attorney Ray Hanna that at some point her boyfriend ended up in the neighbor’s backyard and saw a man, presumably the suspect, near the home.

“I remember he saw a guy, a Mexican guy, but he had gone to the left side,” Lopez told Hanna.

The prosecution then objected to the Lopez’ statements saying foundation for the witness had not been laid but the defense argued the statement’s had been made in an excited manner.

The jury was then ordered out of the courtroom.

After lengthy examination Judge Cruz ruled that the witness’ statement would be stricken from the record.

“She goes back and forth and can’t remember when the statement was made and the objection is sustained,” Judge Cruz said.

“‘I remember it was a Mexican guy, and he had gone to the left hand side’ shall be stricken,” Judge Cruz ruled.

The jury was brought back in and direct examination of Lopez resumed.

“Did you see Preston Strong on June 24, 2005?” Hanna asked.

“No,” Lopez replied.

However, during cross-examination, the prosecution accused Lopez of being uncooperative with police detectives.

Lopez rejected the accusations saying she didn’t remember refusing to provide information.

“Didn’t you refuse to provide a written statement?” prosecutor Karolyn Kaczorowski pressed.

“I don’t remember anyone asking for my statement,” Lopez denied the accusation.

Kaczorowski then played the recording of Lopez’ 9-1-1 call asking for help.

In the recording Lopez tells the operator that she heard four to five shots being fired.

“There’s someone yelling ‘help, help, help’,” Lopez frantically told the operator.

Towards the end Lopez is also heard telling the operator that the victim had been shot four times and that they were in the backyard.

“Don’t touch him! Get away from him!,” Lopez was heard saying shortly before the recording ended.

Kaczorowski then asked Lopez why she told her boyfriend to get away from the victim.

“Because if there was any evidence, I didn’t want it getting mixed up,” Lopez replied.

Lopez then said that her family was traumatized following the incident.

“We were all nervous a lot, things changed. We started locking our doors and had to sleep with the lights on for a while,” Lopez explained, “We were afraid the shooter was going to come back.”

“Didn’t you encourage your boyfriend not to cooperate with police?” Kaczorowski pressed again.

“I don’t think I could encourage him to do anything,” Lopez replied.

KEY-WITNESS RETURNS TO THE STAND

The defense next requested that the key-witness, Lopez’ now ex-boyfriend, return to the stand.

The key-witness previously testified, during direct examination with prosecutors, that he had lied for over 10 years about the suspect’s identity.

According to the witness, whose name the court has ordered not be published, the man he saw in the backyard of the home after Luis Rios had been shot was Preston Strong, and not a Hispanic man whose description he had provided to police on multiple occasions. (click here for more.)

On Monday, the witness sustained his new account that he saw Preston Strong on the night of the murders.

However, the defense played a recording of an interview the witness had with detectives on March 17, 2011.

During the interview, the witness told police detective Clay Pouquette, that he had new information about a potential suspect involved in the murders.

The witness referred to the possible suspect as “Porky.”

The witness told Pouquette that a bartender in San Luis Rio Colorado had told him about the suspect.

During the interview, the witness goes on to tell Pouquette that he was having a hard time moving on from the incident and that he was having nightmares.

“I’ve tried to kill myself a few times, I have nightmares every week,” the witness told Pouquette.

Pouquette also asked the witness about the two portrait sketches he had provided to detectives.

“But you felt pretty satisfied with those?”, Pouquette asked.

“Yeah,” the witness replied.

However, when questioned about the interview, the witness told the jury that he couldn’t remember it taking place saying he was on drugs during the meeting with Pouquette.

“I was on Xanax bars and I don’t even remember the interview,” the witness said.

During cross-examination the witness upheld his testimony, of the suspect being Strong and not a Hispanic man, to prosecutors had been the truth.

“Do you have any regrets or doubt about your testimony in February?” Kaczorowski questioned.

-“No,” The witness replied.

“You feel like you got a good look at the suspect?” Kaczorowski asked.

-“Yes.”

“Who did you see?”

-“Strong.”

However, Hanna continued questioning the witness’ credibility, referring back to the interview with Detective Pouquette.

“Do you believe there is a Porky?” Hanna asked.

“No,” the witness replied.

“So, it’s a lie?”

-“I don’t remember, I was on drugs.”

NEXT DOOR NEIGHBOR DESCRIBES “BROWN MAN”

The defense’s next witness was former next-door Dominique Diaz-Colunga.

Diaz told the jury that she was living at 2043 E. La Mesa Street on June 24, 2005.

According to Diaz-Colunga, she had come after a doctor’s appointment between 11 a.m. and noon.

“I was inside the house looking out the kitchen window,” Diaz-Colunga explained, “I was on the phone with my mom and saw a young brown man. He was on the neighbor’s side and had different keys. He was checking the lock. Then five minutes later he came back, locked up the gate and I saw him walk away.”

According to Diaz-Colunga, the man was on these die of the neighbor’s house at a wooden gate that led to the backyard. She described watching him go through several keys to open the lock before going into the backyard.

Diaz-Colunga told the jury that the man was wearing a blue cap, white shirt and blue jeans.

During cross-examination the prosecution asked Diaz-Colunga if there was a possibility the man she saw was the pool technician.

“Is it possible you saw the pool cleaner going into the backyard, Jerry Gomes?” prosecutor John Tate questioned.

“No.” Diaz-Colunga replied.

-“Why not?”

“He didn’t look like a person to clean pools. He looked very well dressed like I said, white shirt, blue cap, jeans.”

-“So you’re basing it on your opinion?”

“Yes, based on what I saw he was wearing.”

-“That’s your opinion,” Tate replied.

NEIGHBOR ACROSS THE STREET DESCRIBES “HISPANIC MAN”

The final witness to take the stand was Marina Garcia de Quintero.

Quintero told the jury- with the help of a translator- that she lived across the street from the home and saw Luis Rio’s Dodge Durango in the early evening hours.

“I was watching my soap opera,” Quintero explained, “It was about six or seven at night.”

“I heard two gunshots, so I stood up and looked out the window,” Quintero continued, “I saw a man come out of the home, he was a Hispanic man. I saw him leave in the Durango.”

Quintero described the Hispanic man as medium build, wearing a white shirt and possibly jeans.

According to Quintero, she next saw Luis Rios, one of the victims exit the home.

“Next, I saw Luis come outside, the one that was killed, behind the house,” Quintero said.

“You saw Luis after the man left?” Hanna asked.

“Yes, he went to the back where he was shot.” Quintero replied.

The prosecution then asked the witness if she remembered telling police after the shooting that it was dark outside and that she couldn’t remember the color of the Durango.

“I don’t remember, but perhaps I said it from the shock,” Quintero replied.

“Did you see more than one person?” Tate asked.

“Well I just saw the young man that left in the Durango, that was the one that did the shooting,” Quintero replied.

“How could you see the backyard from the home?” Tate continued.

“No, I saw that the man, Luis, came outside and went to the back, he’s a big guy,” Quintero replied.

The prosecution then had Quintero read her statement where she described seeing a car leave the home with one person. She said she heard gunshots, three.

“I can’t say the color of the car because it was dark, it was about 7-8 p.m. and then police arrived,” Quintero finished reading.

Quintero was then asked to further describe Luis Rios and what he was wearing.

“He was wearing a white shirt, he was also big,” Quintero explained.

Tate then asked what type of shirt Rios was wearing.

“I couldn’t describe it, because he ran outside,” Quintero replied, “He ran out of his door to the back.”

“But it was so dark you couldn’t recall the Durango’s color?” Tate questioned.

“Yes because I got scared, I couldn’t pay attention,” Quintero replied.

Quintero then went on to say that she didn’t recognize seeing the Durango before the night of the murders.

“I had never seen it before but it was parked there so I didn’t know who it belonged to,” Quintero said.

Tate then ended his cross-examination.

Hanna showed Quintero three pictures of the Durango. She recognized the second picture she was shown of a side view of the vehicle.