Late Evidence Allowed in Trial

A baseball bat prosecutors allege was used in the beating death of 18-year-old William Zara will be admitted as evidence in court, even though it was not discovered until midway through the murder trial, a judge ruled Wednesday.

Superior Court Judge Charles McGrath ruled in favor of prosecutors who wanted to show jurors the bat they say defendant Benny Lopez used to fatally bludgeon Zara in front of the teenager’s Ventura apartment complex on Sept. 25, 1999.

But at Wednesday’s hearing, defense attorneys argued it is too far into the trial, which began April 18, to introduce new evidence. Lawyer Nancy Aronson said with earlier knowledge of the bat she would have changed how she presented her case, and to introduce it now would “seriously undermine the defense case as a whole.”

For example, her opening statement and cross-examination would have addressed the alleged weapon, she said.

“But you can’t go back now and redo all that strategy,” Aronson argued. “That’s the problem.”

Four people face life in prison if convicted on charges of murder and conspiracy to commit an assault in the East Warner Street attack, which police say is territory claimed by a street gang.

Prosecutors allege the defendants, Lopez, 20; Frank Olvera, 34; Rosana Olvera, 37; and Terry Schell, 33, are either associates or members of the gang and became enraged when they mistakenly thought their neighbor, Zara, called the police to complain about a loud party they were throwing.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Maeve Fox told jurors the defendants and several other gang members attacked Zara, his friends and neighbors--kicking and punching them--after police had stopped by the party and ordered Rosana Olvera to keep the noise down.

Prosecutors said the defendants participated in the attack on Zara, who was held by his arms while being stabbed and repeatedly hit over the head with a bat and shovel. Zara died from massive head trauma on Sept. 26, 1999.

A grand jury indicted the four defendants as well as Chris Gonzales, 24. But in exchange for Gonzales’ testimony against his friends, prosecutors granted him immunity and placed him in a witness protection program.

Gonzales led investigators to the bat May 5. He initially told authorities he had run toward Ventura Avenue after the attack but later changed his story to say he ran the other direction, toward an open field where he met Lopez and helped him bury the bat, authorities said.

Prosecutors sent the bat for lab tests, hoping to find fingerprint or blood evidence. Early results, however, have only turned up animal hair and fibers, Fox told McGrath at the hearing.

The trial continues today, and Gonzales is expected to take the stand for the first time.