October 13, 1995: Testimony of Bernardo Torres
The State calls Bernardo Torres
Skurka:State your name please:
Torres: Bernardo Torres.
Skurka: What do you do?
Torres: I work for the Corpus Police Department.
Skurka: How long?
Torres: For 10 years.
Skurka: Were you assigned to other departments?
Torres: Yes sir.
Skurka: What department?
Torres: Patrol.
Skurka: How long?
Torres: Two years.
Skurka: Did you have any law experience?
Torres: I was Deputy Sheriff in Los Angeles.
Skurka: On March 31, tell the jury how you got involved?
Torres: I was having lunch and I got a call.
Skurka: Were you in a marked car?
Torres: No sir, I had my own personal car.
Skurka: What information did you receive?
Torres: To report to a shooting at Days Inn, and a suspect was in a vehicle in a red truck.
Skurka: We got a picture here. Will you show the jury where you parked?
Torres: Officer Torres pointed it out on the diagram and took a seat.
Skurka: What did you see John Betz do after you left ?
Torres: He was following the red truck.
Skurka: What happened?
Torres: He went into the lobby.
Skurka: At that time, was the paramedic there?
Torres: Yes sir. They were attending to the victim.
Skurka: What did you do then?
Torres: I exit the lobby doors and I spotted the red truck.
Skurka had officer point this out on the diagram.
Skurka: At the time that you were walking on the sidewalk, do you know that was the red truck that you were looking for?
Torres: No sir.
Skurka: At that time, did you have your gun out?
Torres: No sir.
Skurka: When you went walking down the sidewalk, you had only your walkie talkie in your hand?
Torres: Yes sir.
Skurka: Were your badge visible.
Torres: Yes sir.
Skurka: Were your gun visible?
Torres: Yes sir.
Skurka: What happened when you approached the red truck?
Torres: I went up to the red truck and let her know that I was a police officer.
Skurka: Was the window down?
Torres: They were up.
Skurka: What did you do?
Torres: I kicked in the back tailgate area to get her attention.
Skurka: What did she do? Torres: She let the window down half way.
Skurka: What did you do then?
Torres: I asked her to put her hands out.
Skurka: What did she do?
Torres: She stuck one hand out of the window.
Skurka: What did she say?
Torres: I have to call San Antonio. She said she was not involved in the shooting.
Skurka: At this time, what was her demeanor?
Torres: She was calm.
Skurka: What happened?
Torres: She put the gun to her head.
Skurka: Was that the first time that you saw the gun?
Torres: That was the first time that I saw the gun.
Skurka: What did you do then?
Torres: I pulled out my gun down to the side.
Skurka: That is the first time that you had the gun out?
Torres: No I had the gun out before to my side.
Skurka: What did you do then?
Torres: I called dispatch.
Skurka: What did she do then?
Torres: She said that I am going to kill myself.
Skurka: Was Officer Betz back at this time?
Torres: I don't know.
Skurka: What happened then?
Torres: That is when I told her to put the gun down.
Skurka: What did she do?
Torres: She kept the gun to her head.
Skurka: What kind of gun did she have?
Torres: A revolver.
Skurka: Did other officers join you?
Torres: Officer Betz, and two others.
Defense:
Tinker: Were the clothing that you had on that day, similar to what you have on now?
Torres: A winter jacket.
Tinker: Describe the jacket.
Torres described the jacket. It was not like the one he is wearing today.
Tinker: How far did the jacket go down?
Torres: Not below my beltline.
Tinker: What department do you work?
Torres: Background investigations.
Tinker: Were you out in the field doing some kind of background investigation?
Tor: No sir.
Tinker: Were you in your vehicle?
Torres: Yes sir.
Tinker: You left the situation in your personal car for lunch?
Torres: Yes sir.
Tinker: There is no question that your jacket covered the gun?
Torres: I don't know.
Tinker had Officer Torres stand up to let the jury see if the defendant may have seen the gun.
Tinker: Was it cold on March 31?
Torres: Yes sir.
Tinker: Did you make a report concerning you involvement in this?
Torres: Yes sir.
Tinker: What was the report involving ?
Torres:While I was at the scene?
Tinker:Did you do your best to write a complete and accurate report?
Torres: Yes sir.
Tinker: Everything that you thought that was important?
Torres::Yes sir.
Tinker: How long after the situation that you wrote this?
Torres: (Didn't answer.)
Torres: In that report that you did?
Torres: Well I am thinking about it.
Tinker: Tinker approached the witness in the witness area standing with the report.
Tinker: You didn't write in you report that she denied the shooting. Didn't you.
Torres: No comment.
Tinker: The Prosecution had already told you about your not putting that in your report, didn't they?
Torres: Yes sir.
Tinker: What time was it, that you recall, when your first got there?
Torres: Maybe a little before noontime.
Tinker: The report said that you were not in the parking lot and no vehicle was inside? Is that right?
Torres: Yes sir.
Tinker: Was there any police vehicles anywhere when this red truck pulled up on the parking lot?
Torres: No sir.
Tinker: When you walked up to the red truck, did you know that the lady was going to be in it? Didn't you?
Torres:: Yes sir.
Torres: Didn't you walk up there?
Torres: Yes sir.
Tinker: At some point you pulled your weapon?
Torres: Yes sir.
Tinker: Did you, at any time, pulled your weapon.
Torres: No sir.
Tinker: Did you pull your weapon before you saw her weapon?
Torres: After.
Tinker:: When you asked the lady to show her hands, she stuck one of them out.
Torres: Yes sir.
Tinker: The lady was shot at the time. Did you know that?
Torres: I didn't know at the time.
Tinker: Were you there for some period of time?
Torres: Yes sir.
Tinker: Were you able to hear what Officer Houston had to say to her?
Torres: No sir.
Tinker: If you had heard anything in your conversation, would you have put it in your report?
Torres: No sir.
Tinker: That's all of the questions.
Prosecution:
Skurka: Is the lady in the vehicle in this courtroom?
Torres: Yes sir.(Identifying Yolanda Saldivar.)
Skurka: Prosecution rest.
Editor's note: David Giles also testified Friday but his testimony is not included here.