Lozano’s attorneys attack girl’s testimony

Erica D. Johnson

Thursday, Nov. 6, 2003 | 9:47 a.m.

The attorneys defending convicted child killer Pascual Lozano say a discrepancy in the testimony of a key witness is grounds for a new trial.

A Clark County jury earlier this week determined that Lozano should be executed for the September 2002 shooting death of 9-year-old Genesis Gonzales.

Gonzales was struck by a stray bullet as she played outside her North Las Vegas apartment complex.

During the trial, Gonzales' 14-year-old sister, Tannia, testified that she saw a man open fire in an alley near the complex moments after the shooting.

She told jurors that she was not sure of the sex or ethnicity of the gunman.

Pete Baldonado, an investigator for the district attorney's office, testified that Tannia Gonzales told him that the gunman was a Hispanic male. Lozano, 24, is Hispanic.

But in a motion filed Wednesday, Deputy Special Public Defender Bret Whipple claims Baldonado misrepresented Tannia Gonzales' statement for jurors.

Whipple said he and a defense investigator interviewed the girl on Tuesday and that she denied ever telling Baldonado that she saw a Hispanic man.

"What he said to jurors was absolutely false," Whipple said.

Whipple said Tannia Gonzales' testimony, and Baldonado's subsequent testimony, was a major factor in Lozano's conviction and death sentence.

"The jurors believed her and Pete," he said. "Her testimony was absolutely significant in this case. This goes to the very heart of the issue."

The motion asks District Judge John McGroarty to preclude both the defense and the state from interviewing the girl until the judge can question her as part of an evidentiary hearing.

The motion states that defense attorneys want to "preserve the testimony of witness Tannia Gonzales and also to limit the emotional difficulties of additional interviews."

Defense attorneys will file an additional motion Monday requesting a new trial, Whipple said.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Ed Kane said he and Chief Deputy District Attorney Vickie Monroe would fight both motions. Kane said defense attorneys had more than a year to interview Tannia Gonzales prior to trial.

He said the defense team interviewed the girl at her home following her testimony, even though her mother was not home.

"They have ambushed this 14-year-old child twice and now they are concerned that she'll be emotionally upset by interviews?" Kane asked rhetorically.

"Neither Ms. Monroe nor I require ethical advice from people who ambush the 14-year-old sisters of murder victims."

When asked what role he believed the girl's testimony played in Lozano's conviction, Kane replied, "I'm sure it was significant."

Prosecutors argued that Lozano accidentally killed Genesis while he fired shots at a rival gang member named Robert Valentine.

Tannia Gonzales was the only witness who said she saw the gunman fire shots. Several defense witnesses said they saw a black man with a gun flee in a getaway car shortly after the shooting.

Following Tannia Gonzales' testimony, prosecutors called Baldonado as a rebuttal witness. Baldonado said he was present when Monroe interviewed Tannia Gonzales.

"(Gonzales) said that the person that was doing the shooting was a Latino man," Baldonado testified.

"(Monroe) said can you describe the gentleman that she thought she saw? And (Gonzales) just stated that."

But Whipple said when he and James Aleman, an investigator for the special public defender's office, interviewed Tannia Gonzales on Tuesday, she denied ever telling prosecutors that the man she saw was Hispanic.

Whipple said he and Aleman spoke to the girl at the Las Vegas Academy, where she is a student.

The dean of students was present and Tannia Gonzales had obtained permission from her father by phone to speak with them, Whipple said.

According to an affidavit signed by Aleman, he and Whipple asked the girl if she had ever told anyone that the shooter was Latino or Hispanic.

"She stated she did not tell anyone that the shooter was Latino or Hispanic," Aleman stated in the affidavit.