Reyes’ Plea for Leniency to Focus on Abuse Claim

Edna Reyes wears the scars of her marriage to Martin Reyes.

He threatened to cut her throat, kicked their young children, called her a “fat pig” and beat her with the wooden end of an ax, her attorney says.

Although she complained to police in Idaho, Oakland, Mexico and Oxnard throughout their tumultuous 12-year marriage, the threats and fights did not end.

On July 5, the couple had their final fight. Then, Edna Reyes pumped two bullets into Martin Reyes’ chest in front of two police officers and their 11-year-old son.

After pleading no contest to voluntary manslaughter last month, the 29-year-old mother of four will be sentenced today.

The district attorney’s office said it expects to call witnesses but would not comment on its sentencing recommendation.

Members of Martin Reyes’ family said they are still coping with his death and cannot forgive Edna Reyes.

“I have suffered a lot because of his death,” said Amparo Valencia, Martin Reyes’ mother. “I loved my son very much.”

Edna Reyes’ lawyers hope for the minimum sentence of probation, citing her long history of abuse as a critical factor in determining her state of mind when she shot the father of her children, ages 3 through 11.

Throughout the couple’s marriage, Edna Reyes’ life was marred by physical violence, constant threats, intimidation and a feeling of total isolation because her husband prohibited her from making friends, said Jean Farley, Reyes’ defense attorney.

“I am hoping for probation and that the judge will give her the opportunity to prove that she can rise above this tragedy,” said Farley, adding that Reyes is suffering from severe depression and battered women’s syndrome.

Battered women’s syndrome is a behavioral condition that causes women who have been systematically abused to feel powerless and without self-esteem. This sense of helplessness could cause abused women to react violently if they think they are in imminent danger of being attacked by their abuser, experts say.

The state Supreme Court unanimously ruled Thursday that judges must allow juries to consider expert testimony about the syndrome in deciding whether to acquit a woman who has killed a spouse or partner.

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Farley said the decision has no bearing on this case at this point, but she will refer to the decision when asking the court to grant probation. Reyes, she said, is already living a life of torment, wrought with guilt over taking the life of her husband.

“This client is living proof that killing is not the solution,” Farley said.

At the sentencing hearing, both sides will present details of the couple’s relationship and allegations of abuse. Several advocates for battered women--including representatives from the Women’s Farmworker Leadership project, the Los Angeles-based Women’s Progress Alliance and Ventura’s Interface, Children Family Services--plan to attend the hearing.

Maria Luisa “Edna” Valerio Paredes and Martin Reyes met in the small town of Coeneo de la Libertad in Michoacan, Mexico. Edna had moved to the United States at the age of 8 but often returned to visit her family in Mexico, Farley said.

Martin Reyes, the third-oldest child in a family of nine, fell for the young woman, who was 15 at the time, Martin Reyes’ relatives said.

Martin Reyes’ father, Pablo Reyes, remembered her as being one of the “prettiest girls around in the small town.” After courting her for a short while, Martin Reyes, then 18, asked her to marry him, making him the first among his siblings to tie the knot.

But their marriage grew sour as time passed.

Martin Reyes ran up an extensive record of spousal abuse allegations while the family lived in Mexico, Idaho, Oakland and Oxnard, according to authorities.

In Oxnard alone, police were called to their residence in the 5100 block of Saviers Road 16 times between 1990 and 1994, according to Oxnard police. Most of the calls were due to violations of a 1993 restraining order that Edna Reyes had filed against her husband, said Oxnard Assistant Chief Tom Cady.

Martin Reyes also served jail time in Oakland in 1989 for spousal abuse.

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Last March, Mexican police tried to arrest him on suspicion of beating Edna Reyes, but he fled and could not be found, authorities in Mexico said. While in Mexico, Farley said, Edna Reyes was kept a virtual prisoner in her own house.

But Edna Reyes was no saint, according to Martin Reyes’ mother.

Edna Reyes had threatened her, Valencia said, and warned her that if Martin Reyes would not leave his wife and children alone, “One of these days either he will kill me or I will kill him.”

Her words proved prophetic.

Domestic abuse experts say many abused women are less passive than in the past.

“Every case is different,” said Martha Bolton, director of Ventura County’s Interface. “I don’t think it is typical, but we are seeing more and more cases of women fighting back.

“At this point we don’t know why. . . . (But) once you start fighting back, that only exacerbates a situation. . . . What we teach women is that they have to get out.”

Martin Reyes’ sister, Maria Velasquez of Riverside, said she was shocked by her brother’s death because he seemed in good spirits when he left her home to visit Edna Reyes and his children on the day he died.

“When he left, he said he was going to try to make things work,” Velasquez said. “I can’t forgive her for what she has done, especially because she has damaged her children so much.”