Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Girls who attended party testify in East battery trial

Clara Garcia News-Bulletin Staff Writer; cgarcia@news-bulletin.com

A jury began hearing testimony Monday in the trial of a former Los Lunas wrestling star accused of assaulting several teenage girls during an underage drinking party at his parents' home last summer.

Cody East, 20, was indicted last summer on two counts of aggravated battery against a household member for allegedly injuring two former girlfriends. He was also indicted on two other counts of battery for allegedly injuring two other teenage girls at the party, three counts of child abuse and three counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

The incident occurred after a drinking party at his parents' home on Rosas Avenue in Las Maravillas. Police said the party began at 9 a.m.

During opening statements Monday, Assistant District Attorney Judith Reed told the jury that this case "is about a raging incident" in which East became enraged after his mother criticized him for bringing several of his ex-girlfriends to a party.

Reed said East first threw a birdcage through a glass door, kicked a window and then hit both his parents. She said he then turned on several girls, who, she says, were trying to calm him down.

She told the jury he punched one girl in the face, grabbed another and slammed her against a wall, and then body slammed two others to the ground, breaking one of the girl's arms.

East's defense attorney, Jane Rocha de Gandara, told the jury during her opening statement that several of the girls had begun to attack East at the party after he asked them to leave. She said that her client never hit any of the girls and only pushed them away as they pulled at him.

Rocha de Gandara asked the jury to weigh the girls' credibility because they were intoxicated and couldn't remember all the details of the incident.

The jury first heard from a neighbor who testified about seeing East assault one girl as he was returning home from the grocery story. Matthew Gruber said he had just turned into the street when he saw East throwing a girl in the middle of the road.

"She was off the ground," Gruber said. "I believe he was either bear hugging her or holding her with both hands, he threw her and she landed on her head. There were a lot of young adults running around crying and screaming."

Gruber said as he pulled into his driveway, he dialed 911. He said he then saw East come out of his house with a knife in his hands. While he was speaking with the 911 operator and getting out of his vehicle, another girl approached him asking for help.

"She complained that her arm hurt, and I took her into my house," Gruber said. "She was in my house talking on the phone for about 20 to 30 minutes."

The jury also heard from 16-year-old Eva Romero, one of East's ex-girlfriends who was at the party. She told the jury that when she arrived at the East residence, she and another girl left with Cody's mother, Dollie East, who went to buy alcohol for the group. Romero, who said she didn't remember how much she had to drink that day, said everyone was getting along before people started to get drunk.

Romero testified that she got into an argument with two girls who had previously dated East. She said she remembers going inside the house and into a bathroom when the door opened.

She said the next thing she remembers was being outside and being body slammed onto the ground. She said she doesn't recall how she ended up outside and what occurred just prior to the alleged assault.

When Rocha de Gandara questioned the witness, Romero was asked if she had kicked Cody. Romero said she didn't recall, but it could have been possible. Romero also admitted that test results revealed later that her blood alcohol content was .20 that day.

Another girl who was at the party testified that the Easts picked her up while she was at a friend's house that morning. Rachel Pacheco, 15, testified that she didn't know East and that it was the first and only time she had met him.

Pacheco told the jury that she also was drinking, but she didn't remember how much. She said she saw East throw the birdcage through the glass door and witnessed East "body slam" another girl into the floor.

She testified that when she saw another girl with a bloody nose, East grabbed her by her throat and threw her against the wall. Pacheco said she heard East's mother yell at him to stop.

"That's when he kneed her in the face," Pacheco said. When asked where East's father was, Pacheco said that he was in his bedroom. She said she saw him later in the living room, where Cody East "socked him in the face."

Under cross examination, Pacheco told the jury that she hit one of the police officers who arrived on the scene, but doesn't remember why or writing a statement about the incident. She said she does remember being interviewed at the sheriff's department the following day.

Valencia County Deputy Frank Methola testified that he was the first officer on the scene on July 24, 2007. He told the jury that he parked his vehicle down the street from the East house.

"I saw the gentleman in question (East) with a knife," Methola said. "He put it down and went back inside." Methola testified that he also saw a girl on the ground next to a truck parked by a sidewalk. He said his primary focus at that point was the suspect. The deputy said that as he got closer to the house, he noticed a girl, who was bleeding, leave the residence followed by East.

"Cody came out, and I gave him verbal commands to lay on the ground," Methola said. "He wanted to talk to me, but I told him to lay on the ground."

Methola said East was cooperative and he was able to place handcuffs on the defendant and detain him in the back of a police unit.

While being questioned by Rocha de Gandara, Methola said he took photos of the defendant, but didn't take close-up shots of his injuries, which the deputy said were on his right cheek and shoulder and on his leg. He also said that East had swollen hands and red knuckles.

Francis Martinez, another one of the girls at the residence that day, testified that while she was there, she didn't have anything to drink. She testified she was in the living room when she witnessed East take some pills.

Martinez, 15, told the jury that she didn't know exactly what the pills were, but she overheard East and his mother saying that they were Oxicoton.

"That's when other people showed up," Martinez testified. "Dollie was getting upset because Cody was inviting all these girls he had hooked up with. That's when he started going crazy."

The witness told the jury that East first starting yelling and then "busted out the back door — he kicked it." Martinez said she saw East then running around the house yelling at people.

Martinez said she ran across the street to a neighbor's house to call 911 when she saw East throw another girl on the ground. "She didn't get up until a neighbor picked her up a few minutes later," she said.

The girl told the jury that she saw one girl with a bloodied nose and another girl with injuries, although she didn't see how either teen was injured.

Martinez did admit on the stand that she had made a false statement to police on the day of the incident. According to the witness, she had told sheriff's deputies that day that she had arrived with East's younger brother Tyler when she saw the defendant throw the girl to the ground.

"It wasn't true," Martinez said.

When questioned by the defense attorney, Martinez said that making the false statement was a mistake and that it wasn't right.

"That's what Tyler and I said what we were going to say," she said. "But it wasn't right. I knew everything was going to come out."

Sarah Martinez, who was 13 years old on the day of the incident, testified that she knew she was going to the Easts' home to drink. She told the jury that she had been to the home a number of times before where she had drunk alcohol.

She said after arriving at the Easts' home, she left with Dollie East and Eva Romero to purchase alcohol. Sarah Martinez said she remembers returning to the house and starting to drink. She said she became very intoxicated and doesn't remember very much afterwards.

"Just bits and pieces," Sarah Martinez said. "I remember Tyler saying to slow down on our drinking, but we didn't. I even think Dollie told us to slow down.

"I remember I was outside with blood all over my shirt," she said. "I was sitting on top of a cop car."

Terry East, the defendant's father, pleaded no contest earlier this year to one count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. District Judge John Pope, who is presiding over the younger East's trial this week, gave the father a suspended sentence, placed him on 18 months probation and gave him a conditional discharge, meaning if Terry East successfully completes probation, the felony count will be stricken from his record.

Dollie East also entered a no contest plea to two fourth-degree felony charges of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. In exchange for her change of plea, prosecutors dismissed the remaining charges of giving or selling alcohol to minors, three counts of child abuse and one count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. District Court Judge William Sanchez accepted the plea agreement and said he would sentence Dollie East after a pre-sentence report is complete. She is facing 18 months in prison for each count.

Sally Apodaca, 19, testified that she used to hang out with Cody, but denied that he was her boyfriend. "We would hang out at his house and drink," she said. She was asked by Reed who would supply their alcohol, and, she replied, "Usually his mom and dad."

She said that, on the day of the incident, she went to Cody's house and everyone planned to get alcohol. She said when East's mother and two other girls returned from the store, they all started drinking right away.

Apodaca testified that things started getting "out of control" after everyone started arguing. She clarified her testimony by saying it was East and Romero who were arguing.

She said she remembered Cody picking up a birdcage and throwing it through the window. At that time, Apodaca testified, she went and hid outside near the air conditioner.

"I remember going outside (to the front of the house) and saw Cody hitting Eva. I got in front of Eva, and he picked me up and threw me. I remember getting up and my arm was swinging there. That's when I went to the neighbor's and got on the phone." She said she called her brother, her father and an ambulance.

The jury was shown an X-ray of Apodaca's broken arm.

Under cross-examination, Apodaca denied a question posed by Rocha de Gandera about jumping on East's back. She reiterated that she saw East hit Romero in the face. "I walked outside and she (Romero) was already all bloody. I saw him hit her. That's when I got in front of Cody and told him to stop," she said.

Testimony was scheduled to continue on Wednesday.

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