Prosecution rests in Chino strangulation trial
The prosecution rested its case today in the trial of a Chino Hills man accused of trying to strangle his estranged wife to death.
Oscar Gonzalez, 46, is accused of hiding in the trunk of his wife's car while she was at work in Chino, then emerging and nearly strangling her to death with a rope after she began driving home.
Maria del Rosario Gonzalez survived the Feb. 17, 2006 attack after a Chino police officer saw her car run a stop sign and paramedics cut her free from the rope, prosecutors say.
On Thursday, the fourth day of testimony in West Valley Superior Court, Deputy District Attorney Michele Daly called to the witness stand the case's investigating officer, and a paramedic and doctor who treated the woman after the attack.
A series of photos of Maria del Rosario Gonzalez's injuries were shown to the jury and explained by the investigating officer and the doctor.
In the photos, a deep red line left by the rope around the woman's neck was prominent, as were self-inflicted bite marks on her tongue.
Also notable in the photos were burst blood vessels in the woman's eyes, and darkened skin on her neck and face -- similar in appearance to a sun tan -- above the point of pressure on her neck.
Richard Hausman, the doctor who treated Maria del Rosario Gonzalez at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton, said that when she arrived at the hospital she had an oxygen level of about 60 percent.
That level is significantly lower than a normal rate of 95 to 100 percent, he said, and could result in death.
Also shown during testimony were the gloves Oscar Gonzalez wore before the attack and two license plates found after the attack under the lining of the bed of his pickup truck.
Oscar Gonzalez's defense attorney, Robert Von Schlichting, asked questions of witnesses today that appeared designed to further his assertion made during opening statements that his client intended only to scare his wife when he placed the rope around her neck.
The knot in the rope became tangled with the woman's hair and the rope tightened without Oscar Gonzalez meaning for it to be tightened, Von Schlichting said during opening statements.
Prosecutors say Oscar Gonzalez threatened to kill his wife several times after the couple separated in early 2004.
Von Schlichting will have an opportunity to call his own witnesses when the trial resumes Tuesday in West Valley Superior Court.
Judge Michael Libutti again told the jury today that testimony and closing arguments in the trial are expected to end by Oct. 22 or 23.
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