Court Hears Contradictory Descriptions of Reyes

A caring mother of four who herself had been raped and abused as a child, Edna Reyes--who shot and killed her estranged and abusive husband while he stood between two Oxnard police officers--was also capable of beating her own children, attorneys said Tuesday.

During the first day of Reyes’ sentencing hearing, attorneys presented a complex and at times contradictory picture of the 29-year-old Oxnard woman.

The abuse and terror began within two weeks of her marriage to Martin Reyes 12 years ago, according to the defense.

But over the years Reyes had also beaten her only son with an electrical cord and injured him by using a hot wire, Assistant Dist. Atty. Maeve Fox said.

Referring to Reyes as a desperate and tormented woman who tried hopelessly to protect her children from their abusive father, Public Defender Jean Farley made an impassioned plea for mercy to the judge, who will make the sentencing decision. The hearing is scheduled to continue today at 9:30 a.m.

Stating that killing her husband was “abhorrent to every single ounce of blood running through [Edna Reyes’] body and totally against her religion,” Farley asked Superior Court Judge Vincent O’Neill to consider the dozen years of continuous abuse Edna Reyes had suffered when making his decision.

“She had taken all of the precautions imagined,” said Farley, whose voice broke several times during her presentation in the crowded courtroom. “She had finally convinced herself that maybe a divorce was needed. . . . She was scared to death.”

But the family of Martin Reyes presented teary testimony that his death had affected them and asked O’Neill for justice in punishing Edna Reyes.

“She knew how to protect herself,” said Pablo Reyes of his daughter-in-law. “She wanted to get rid of Martin and she did it. We are all responsible for the consequences when taking the life of another person. The consequence is prison and she should serve the maximum sentence possible.”

Edna Reyes pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter July 30 for the July 5 fatal shooting of her husband. Prosecutors reduced the original murder charge against Reyes to voluntary manslaughter after reviewing her history of abuse, Deputy Dist. Atty. Richard Holmes said.

In addition to reviewing the testimony, O’Neill will consider information from a probation report that contains details of abuse, medical records and police reports involving Edna and Martin Reyes.

*

While questioning defense psychologist Sandra Baca, Fox asked why medical and police reports had not shown that Edna Reyes had ever received serious injuries from her husband.

“Just because there was no serious injury doesn’t mean this man was not a threat,” Baca said. “People have misperceptions about domestic violence. They think it has to be physical abuse 24 hours a day when actually 95% of the abuse is done [verbally].”

Baca, who said earlier that Reyes was “dead emotionally” after years of abuse, added that it was common for domestic abuse victims to numb their pain by dulling their emotions. Fox, however, objected to the suggestion that Reyes was emotionally dead, calling the comment a bit of “high drama.”

The psychologist described Edna Reyes--a victim of sexual molestation as a child--as a severely depressed, paranoid and hyper-vigilant person who had gone by the book to protect herself and her children from her husband and had lost faith in the criminal justice system.

Baca said she had counted 23 times that Edna Reyes contacted authorities throughout her marriage while the couple lived in Idaho, Oakland, Mexico and Oxnard.

According to Oakland police, Martin Reyes was jailed in 1989 for spousal abuse and complaints had been filed against him for abusing their children, now ages 3 to 11.

In Oxnard, police were called to the couple’s former residence in the 5100 block of Saviers Road 16 times between 1990 and 1994, police officials said.

*

Reyes had filed a restraining order in 1993 against her husband but did not know it had expired a few weeks before he showed up at her apartment, according to her attorney.

Several advocates for battered women were in the courtroom Tuesday to show their support for Edna Reyes.

“There were a lot of points addressed by Farley and Baca that support battered women’s syndrome. They brought out things that are not commonly known,” said Barbara Marquez-O’Neill of Interface, a women’s and children’s advocacy center.

Others, however, were angered by some of Fox’s comments.

“I would suggest that if she wants to talk about ‘high drama’ it’s about getting beat up all of your adult life,” said Tammy Bruce, president of the Women’s Progress Alliance, a nonprofit women’s advocacy group based in Los Angeles. “There is a difference between the horrible things that happen to people and high drama.”