Ventura County

A Santa Barbara judge ruled Tuesday that prosecutors could not force an Oxnard man to testify in his bid to have his murder conviction overturned.

“One has an absolute constitutional right to refuse to answer questions that could potentially incriminate that person,” Superior Court Judge Frank J. Ochoa told Santa Barbara County Deputy Dist. Atty. Hilary Dozer.

After the judge’s decision, Dozer entered into evidence a tape recording and transcript of an interview with 26-year-old Efren Cruz, which was conducted after Cruz’s conviction.

Ventura County investigators were looking into the possibility that Cruz’s cousin, Geraldo Reyes, had actually shot and killed 23-year-old Michael Torres in a 1997 gang-related melee in a Santa Barbara parking lot.

An informant secured a recording in which Reyes, behind bars for another crime, confessed to the shooting. But Santa Barbara authorities have rejected that confession, suggesting Reyes was simply trying to free his cousin. Cruz is serving 41 years to life.

During the interview, Cruz denied being the shooter. But Dozer said Cruz had also made “self-serving” and contradictory statements that undermined his credibility and bolstered the argument he was guilty.

Cruz’s attorneys, Phil Dunn and Kevin DeNoce, said the opposite is true.

“He admits to being under the influence of cocaine. He admits to giving [his cousin] the gun. This is not a guy who is trying to paint himself as lily white, and I think that gives credibility to his ultimate statement that he was not the shooter,” DeNoce said.

The first one-third of the interview was played Tuesday and the remainder is expected to be heard today. Lawyers for both sides said they could wrap up their cases today.