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Melba Martinez
Witness for the People: Guilt Phase September 9, 2004
Direct Examination by Birgit Fladager FLADAGER: Miss Martinez, do you live in the La Loma area of Modesto? MARTINEZ: Yes, I do. FLADAGER: How long have you lived in there? MARTINEZ: About ten years now. FLADAGER: Ten years? Do you have a dog? MARTINEZ: Yes, I do. FLADAGER: Did you have a dog back in December of 2002? MARTINEZ: Yes, I did. FLADAGER: One, or more than one dog? MARTINEZ: More than one. FLADAGER: And what kind of dogs were they? MARTINEZ: Golden Retrievers. FLADAGER: What where were names? MARTINEZ: Ruby and Dodger. FLADAGER: Do they look pretty similar to one another? MARTINEZ: Yes, they do. FLADAGER: And about the same age, or not so much? MARTINEZ: About two years apart. FLADAGER: Did you walk your dogs in the neighborhood where you lived? MARTINEZ: Yes, I did. FLADAGER: Would you walk them one at a time or together, or did, MARTINEZ: One at a time. FLADAGER: What time ordinarily would you go walking with your dog? MARTINEZ: In the mornings, any time from 6:30 a.m., seven, eight, nine. It varied. It depended on how my back is. I have a bad back. So depended how I felt that morning. Usually in the evening, though, I would walk. Mostly in the evening also. FLADAGER: Mornings and evening? MARTINEZ: Yes, correct. FLADAGER: Have you take a look at what's been marked People's Number 231. JUDGE: Did you mark that? What is that? FLADAGER: It's a map. Did you have a chance to look at that? MARTINEZ: Yes. FLADAGER: Do you see an area highlighted on that map? MARTINEZ: Yes. FLADAGER: That indicate the route you normally travel? MARTINEZ: Correct. FLADAGER: Going to put it up here on the screen. This appears to be a pathway marked, highlighted in yellow. Some of it dotted line, some of it is a solid line. What's the difference in meaning in terms of the dotted line and solid line on the path that you might take? MARTINEZ: Is there a difference? FLADAGER: Is one an ordinary route, one an alternate route? MARTINEZ: Yes. Well, usually I would go down Roble, west on Roble, and go down Santa Rosa, make a right on Santa Rosa, cross over Encina, go down Edgebrook, because it's like a hill that goes up. You get kind of a nice burn when you go up it backwards. And then right on the Covena, and then hit Encina, make a left, or I could keep going on Covena then hit Roble, and make a left, then go to my home. Yes. FLADAGER: When you go on Edgebrook turn on Covena, would you go past the Peterson residence 236 (sic) Covena? MARTINEZ: Yes. FLADAGER: Could I have a picture of the dog marked? JUDGE: 231A. GERAGOS: 231 be the map? JUDGE: 231A is a photograph of a dog. Your dogs' names are Ruby, MARTINEZ: And Dodger. JUDGE: Dodger, like the baseball team? MARTINEZ: Correct. FLADAGER: Can you tell me if this one is Ruby or Dodger? MARTINEZ: I'm sorry. This is Ruby. FLADAGER: Why is Ruby called Ruby? MARTINEZ: Her color. FLADAGER: She's red? MARTINEZ: Yeah. FLADAGER: There is a little girl there? MARTINEZ: That's my granddaughter. FLADAGER: All right. No further questions, your Honor.
Cross Examination by Mark Geragos GERAGOS: Good morning. MARTINEZ: Good morning. GERAGOS: Miss Martinez, they interviewed you in March of this year? MARTINEZ: Yes, sir. GERAGOS: And specifically asked you if you were walking on December 24th? MARTINEZ: Yes. GERAGOS: You said that you, I think your answer was you were preparing for dinner for family at home. You don't remember if you did or didn't walk your dog? MARTINEZ: I don't recall if I did or not. GERAGOS: Okay. And you don't recall if you took an alternate route? If you did walk that day, you just don't have a memory of, is that correct? MARTINEZ: I don't remember, sir. GERAGOS: Okay. And how often would you walk after December of 2002? MARTINEZ: Two to three times a week. GERAGOS: Okay. And you would normally be home by what time when you would walk? MARTINEZ: Well, depend. If I left at 6:30, I would be back by 7:30 or 8:00 o'clock. GERAGOS: In the morning? MARTINEZ: Yes, in the morning. GERAGOS: And then that would be the latest? MARTINEZ: Yes. GERAGOS: Okay. And if you walked in the evening? MARTINEZ: If I walked in the evening, I would leave about 5:30, about seven, 7:00 p.m. GERAGOS: Do you let your dog off the leash when you walk your dog? MARTINEZ: No, I don't. Never. I'm sorry. Sometimes in the front yard when I'm doing yard work and stuff, she'll just sit on the front porch with my other dog. GERAGOS: I'm sorry, I didn't ask it correctly. Did you ever let your dog off the leash when you walk the dog? MARTINEZ: No. GERAGOS: And is it a fair statement that you are never walking the dog after 9:00 o'clock in the morning, at least until you take an evening walk? MARTINEZ: I'm sorry, can you say that again? GERAGOS: Your normal routine when you do walk the dog is to get up at 6:30 in the morning and walk the dog in the morning and be back at your house before 8:00 o'clock; is that correct? MARTINEZ: Usually. Not always, though. Depend if, what was going on that morning. I mean I could, I have gone later. It always varied. GERAGOS: Okay. And as you sit here right now, you don't recall where you walked on December 24th? MARTINEZ: No, I don't. GERAGOS: You don't recall if you walked on December 23rd? MARTINEZ: No. GERAGOS: Thank you. I have no further questions. JUDGE: Did you walk both your dogs at the same time? MARTINEZ: No, I don't. Just one at a time. They are too big. You can see, she's, JUDGE: One at a time. You walk Ruby, then you walk Dodger? MARTINEZ: Correct. One, I would take one the one day, and the other the next day. JUDGE: Okay. Thank you. May this witness be excused? DISTASO: Yes. JUDGE: Okay. Thank you. |