Victim's girlfriend's testimony contradicts Iraq veteran's account of fatal shooting
Five seconds before Cesar Valdez was fatally shot, Christopher Sullivan raised his pistol and aimed it at Valdez's head, Valdez's girlfriend testified Wednesday in West Valley Superior Court.
Heather Montoya testified that she didn't see what happened after Sullivan raised his pistol, but when she heard a gunshot, Valdez was no longer visible from her vantage point.
Montoya's hour of testimony was the highlight of Wednesday's proceedings in the manslaughter trial of Sullivan, 26, a former Marine who returned home from Iraq duty less than a week before the April 9, 2006 shooting.
Montoya's testimony contradicts the theory presented last week by Sullivan's defense attorney, David Goldstein, who told the jury that Valdez, 24, grabbed for Sullivan's gun and pulled the weapon into his mouth.
Sullivan, a former Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy, did not point his gun at Valdez -- Valdez grabbed the gun and caused the weapon to fire, Goldstein said.
The evening of April 8, 2006, Sullivan, Valdez and a group of their friends went out drinking to celebrate Sullivan and another friend returning home from Iraq.
At a house party at about 5 or 6 a.m. the following morning, one witness testified that she saw Valdez and Sullivan jokingly grappling over Sullivan's sheriff's-department-issued pistol, with the weapon swinging between each man's head.
Shortly after 6, Montoya, Valdez and Sullivan left the house. Montoya drove to Sullivan's home in Upland to drop Sullivan off.
An extended goodbye between Valdez and Sullivan in front on Sullivan's home immediately preceded the shooting, Montoya testified. She said there was no sign that the two men were angry at each other.
After about 15 minutes of the men talking to each other, Sullivan told Valdez he was going inside to go to bed, Montoya testified.
Valdez followed him toward Sullivan's front door and gave him a long goodbye hug, Montoya testified.
In a playful way, Sullivan pushed Valdez away, and the two men continued "goofing around," with Valdez trying to hug Sullivan and Sullivan pushing Valdez away, Montoya testified.
After that, she saw Sullivan pointing his gun at Valdez's face. She said she didn't know whether he was doing so in a playful way.
During much of Montoya's testimony, a posed, portrait-style photo of Valdez wearing his Marine uniform was projected in the courtroom by Deputy District Attorney Tom Colclough.
When the prosecutor projected pictures of a bloodied Valdez lying on the ground following the shooting, Montoya said, "Can I have a tissue, please?"
Earlier Wednesday, jurors heard an eight-minute audio recording of a police officer's interview with Montoya at the scene of the shooting.
Montoya told the officer that she saw Valdez grab the gun, then saw him on the ground, according to the recording of the conversation.
Her statement to the officer appears to contradict her memory of the event as she described it in testimony Wednesday.
Jeremy Hintz, the police officer who interviewed Montoya at the scene, testified that Montoya told him she saw Sullivan point the gun at Valdez. Hintz said Montoya may have made that statement during an inaudible portion of the recording.
Sullivan told police at the scene that Valdez grabbed his gun and it fired, Upland police officer Antonio Macias testified Wednesday.
Montoya is set to retake the witness stand Thursday morning.
I feel so bad for both familys. It gose to show "you should NEVER PLAY with a loaded gun." What good is it to have two familys lose a son. It is so Sad already to have such a young soul be taken away from this earth,and from his family and friends that love'd him so much, but I ask again, what good is it?
I feel for the Valdez family , to lose a family member so young. The Valdez family will never fill that hole they have in their heart for Ceaser and nothing is going to bring him back, but to cause another mother to lose her son will not stop the pain they have. The two boys were best friends, brothers from another mother. Each boys family open their door for one another in time of need. I ask both familys to come together, be strong and forgive. The healing wount start until in there hearts they can forgive. Both families are forever intertwine and are all in this together if they like it or not.I hope everyone can see that both sides are greeving and not to focus on the bad , but remember the great moments shared between Sullivan and Valdez's friendship.