New Murder Trial Denied Even Though Witness Says She Lied

Saying he does not believe a key prosecution witness’s claim that her original testimony was wrong, a judge Friday denied a new trial for a man convicted of murder in Kern County seven years ago.

Liticia Mendez testified at a trial in 1979 that she saw Charles Ray Tomlin kill her boyfriend in a drug deal rip-off.

Tomlin, 33, was convicted and sent to state prison even though relatives and neighbors testified that he was home asleep at the time of the killing.

In recent weeks, Mendez, 31, said at hearings seeking a new trial that “I convicted the wrong man.”

She contended that after the slaying, police subtly pressured her, first into picking Tomlin’s picture from a photo lineup and then picking him out of a lineup.

But Kern County Superior Court Judge Robert Baca said in a 25-page ruling that he found her answers inconsistent from question to question and from court session to court session.

Defense attorney Gerson Horn said he will appeal, saying of Baca’s decision, “It’s preposterous.”