Francis Hernandez
AURORA -
Did outrage over the death of a three year old boy sitting in an ice cream shop impact the fair trial of an illegal immigrant? That question after the vehicular homicide trial of Francis Hernandez turns into a "trial" of the Aurora Police Department's handling of the investigation.
Qestions were raised Friday about a possible atmosphere to convict an illegal immigrant with a criminal history.
Even presiding judge John Wheeler Friday characterized the investigation as "dysfunctional" and "myopic."
Wheeler said there are serious questions about lead detective Johnny Lee's "credbility," his behavior and his claim that he accidentally deleted a key arrest affidavit from official police files just days after crash.
In testimony Friday 26 year veteran Aurora police officer Pat Hardin, with 16 years experience in traffic investigation, said she was concerned that detective Lee's behavior was "deceptive" and that he may have been conducting a possible "cover up."
Hardin said her concerns were ignored by superiors in the Aurora Police Department and not taken seriously by the prosecutor now presenting the case against Hernandez to a jury.
Hardin and officer Javen Harper testified they pointed out Lee's possible misconduct just days after the crash.
They testified Lee deleted information suggesting another person was in the Chevy Suburban with Hernandez, and that he gave conflicting explanations of how that information was deleted.
Det. Lee testified earlier he'd made a mistake and corrected the error by reentering the deleted information from a scanned copy of the original document.
Judge Wheeler ruled " We'll never know if that's the case, what was in that original document."
But Wheeler denied defense motions to dismiss the charges against Hernandez or to declare a mistrial.
He did however instruct jurors to weigh the credibility of Lee's testimony and any possible misconduct with regard to the evidence, when considering Hernandez's guilt or innocence.
Hernandez' wife, Brenda Aleman, and her mother had testified Hernandez' cousin Christian Hernandez may have been driving the night of the crash.
Christian Hernandez was shot to death last summer at the Denver apartment complex where he, Aleman and the defendant lived.
Hernandez is charged with 19 counts in the crash that killed 49 year old Patricia Guntharp, 51 year old Debra Serecky and three year old Marten Kudlis who was with his mother in the Baskin Robbins.
Hernandez' case sparked legislative inquiries in Colorado after it was learned he is an undocumented immigrant who has lived in the United States since he was 9 years old and has a history of arrests for traffic offenses.
Qestions were raised Friday about a possible atmosphere to convict an illegal immigrant with a criminal history.
Even presiding judge John Wheeler Friday characterized the investigation as "dysfunctional" and "myopic."
Wheeler said there are serious questions about lead detective Johnny Lee's "credbility," his behavior and his claim that he accidentally deleted a key arrest affidavit from official police files just days after crash.
In testimony Friday 26 year veteran Aurora police officer Pat Hardin, with 16 years experience in traffic investigation, said she was concerned that detective Lee's behavior was "deceptive" and that he may have been conducting a possible "cover up."
Hardin said her concerns were ignored by superiors in the Aurora Police Department and not taken seriously by the prosecutor now presenting the case against Hernandez to a jury.
Hardin and officer Javen Harper testified they pointed out Lee's possible misconduct just days after the crash.
They testified Lee deleted information suggesting another person was in the Chevy Suburban with Hernandez, and that he gave conflicting explanations of how that information was deleted.
Det. Lee testified earlier he'd made a mistake and corrected the error by reentering the deleted information from a scanned copy of the original document.
Judge Wheeler ruled " We'll never know if that's the case, what was in that original document."
But Wheeler denied defense motions to dismiss the charges against Hernandez or to declare a mistrial.
He did however instruct jurors to weigh the credibility of Lee's testimony and any possible misconduct with regard to the evidence, when considering Hernandez's guilt or innocence.
Hernandez' wife, Brenda Aleman, and her mother had testified Hernandez' cousin Christian Hernandez may have been driving the night of the crash.
Christian Hernandez was shot to death last summer at the Denver apartment complex where he, Aleman and the defendant lived.
Hernandez is charged with 19 counts in the crash that killed 49 year old Patricia Guntharp, 51 year old Debra Serecky and three year old Marten Kudlis who was with his mother in the Baskin Robbins.
Hernandez' case sparked legislative inquiries in Colorado after it was learned he is an undocumented immigrant who has lived in the United States since he was 9 years old and has a history of arrests for traffic offenses.
Digg
Twitter
Facebook
StumbleUpon
