San Ysidro

Defense attorneys Friday argued for a new trial for convicted murderer Michael E. Kennedy on grounds that U.S. prosecutors withheld the testimony of an expert witness whose findings support the defense theory of the case. Kennedy, a former Federal Protective Services officer, was sentenced to life in prison on January, 1981, for the brutal rape and murder of Maria Lopez de Felix.

Prosecutors said that Lopez de Felix, 19, was killed and raped in an old U.S. Customs building near the San Ysidro border crossing. Her body was then dragged outside the building. The woman was an illegal alien who was arrested at the border crossing on Nov. 23, 1979, while entering the United States in the trunk of her sister-in-law’s car. According to a motion for a new trial filed by Kennedy’s attorneys, Lopez de Felix was released around 1:30 a.m. Nov. 24, and directed toward the Mexican side of the border. At 10 a.m. Nov. 26, the woman’s body was discovered.

Kennedy, who was 25 at the time of his conviction, was tried three times for murder. The first two trials ended in hung juries, but he was convicted at the third trial, based on physical evidence recovered at the murder scene and testimony from witnesses who said Kennedy was the last person to see the woman alive.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal upheld Kennedy’s conviction but called the woman’s time of death “a pivotal issue in the case.” Expert witnesses at the trial could not agree on the time of death, and defense attorneys have argued that Kennedy was off duty when she was killed.

U.S. District Judge Howard B. Turrentine heard arguments from both sides and took the matter under submission. It is not known when he will issue a decision.