Case Goes to Jury : No Witnesses for Defense in Border Banditry Trial

The robbery and attempted murder trial of Jaime Arroyo Zaragoza went to the jury Wednesday, with the defense attorney insisting that the only thing Arroyo did wrong was approach the border agents and police who killed his brother in a nighttime shoot-out.

In his closing argument, defense attorney Jose Tafolla told jurors that none of the officers and Border Patrol agents who testified during the three-day trial linked Arroyo directly to any crime. On Tuesday, most of the testimony focused on the fatal shooting of Julio Arroyo Zaragoza, Jaime’s brother, during a gunfight in which more than 25 shots were fired by both sides.

Jaime Arroyo, 23, was arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit robbery and attempted murder. Tafolla chose not to call any defense witnesses during the trial.

“We rested our case on our belief that the prosecution failed to prove (Arroyo’s guilt) beyond a reasonable doubt . . .. The only thing he was observed to have done was . . . approach the agents within 5 to 10 feet, observe they were agents, then he retreated into a bush where he was apprehended,” Tafolla said.

Jaime Arroyo was arrested May 4 by authorities, who say the Arroyos and an unidentified third man crossed the border from Mexico to rob illegal aliens in the border canyons. On the night of the incident, the three suspects were confronted half a mile east of the San Ysidro port of entry by members of the Border Crimes Prevention Unit, which is composed of Border Patrol agents and San Diego police officers.

A gunfight ensued, and Julio Arroyo, 33, was killed when a 9-millimeter bullet struck him in the middle of his forehead at the hairline. Police said that agent Fred Stevens, 39, was hit five times during the exchange of gunfire with Julio Arroyo--but was saved by an armored vest. Homicide investigators recovered about $30 in Mexican and U.S. currency from Julio Arroyo’s body, along with several watches and jewelry.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Dan Williams argued that circumstantial evidence, plus the valuables recovered from Julio’s body, proved that Jaime engaged “in the despicable crime of robbery of individuals who, for no other reason than to improve their lives, were migrating from the Republic of Mexico.”

However, all but one of the agents and officers who testified as prosecution witnesses said they never saw the three men rob anyone during 1 1/2 hours of observation. Sgt. Larry Bender testified that he thought he saw a robbery in progress.

None of the prosecution’s witnesses could identify the three suspects, and they could not tell if the suspects were armed. Bender, however, said that, based on his experience in the canyons, he believes the three suspects they observed were the Arroyos and their unidentified accomplice.

In his closing argument, Williams said the recovered items are proof that the three, including Jaime Arroyo, had been robbing aliens that night.

Tafolla responded that Williams had failed to present any witnesses to testify that they had been robbed that night. “They have aroused suspicion,” Tafolla said. “That’s all they’ve done, arouse suspicion.”

Neither Williams nor Tafolla called any witnesses from the county coroner’s office to testify about a controversial autopsy performed on Julio Arroyo. County pathologist David Katsuyama noted in his autopsy report “several stellate disruptions” extending from Arroyo’s head wound.

Stellate disruptions--star-shaped lacerations extending from a bullet wound--are indicative of a shot fired from point-blank range, several pathologists have told The Times. A police report said that Arroyo was shot from a distance of 30 to 40 feet.

At Tafolla’s request, Arroyo’s body was exhumed from a Tijuana cemetery in August for a second autopsy, and Tijuana Coroner Gustavo Salazar reported that Arroyo died from a contact wound--a wound suffered when the barrel of a gun is placed on the skin or very near it. Laboratory tests conducted on tissue samples taken during the Tijuana autopsy showed traces of gunpowder around the wound, said Dr. Hormez Guard, a defense pathologist.

Guard, a former San Diego County pathologist who is now a critic of the coroner’s office, said the laboratory tests supported Salazar’s findings. But when the coroner’s office examined the same tissue samples, Coroner David Stark said that pathologists had determined that the “gunpowder” was actually dirt.

The family of Julio Arroyo has filed a civil lawsuit alleging that he was executed after the gunfight.