Judge Refuses to Strike Testimony in Caro’s Trial

A Ventura Superior Court judge on Friday rejected a defense attorney’s attempt to strike testimony from Socorro Caro’s trial on charges she allegedly killed three of her four young sons.

Judge Donald D. Coleman rebuked Caro’s defense team over its prolonged effort, which entailed a special hearing squeezed into lunch hours and early-morning sessions over the course of three days.

“We’ve wasted a great deal of time allowing you to make a record,” he told Assistant Public Defender Jean Farley, “and you still haven’t made a record.”

Coleman made his comments and heard arguments outside the presence of the jury.

Charged with three counts of first-degree murder, Caro has pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity in the November 1999 killings. Because she could face the death penalty if convicted, her attorneys have been careful to note for the record any testimony or courtroom ruling that could prove useful in an appeal.

At issue this week were a few sentences from the testimony of a police investigator who interviewed Caro hours after brain surgery. Prosecutors said Caro shot herself in the head after killing her sons as they slept in the family’s Santa Rosa Valley home.

In her testimony, Ventura County Sheriff’s Sgt. Cheryl Wade told the jury about her three-hour bedside session with Caro, who at times was shrieking “Oh, God!” and crying out for her mother. Some of what was captured in a tape-recording of the session was unintelligible, but a question Caro asked about her youngest son was clear, Wade said.

“Where is Gabriel?” the distraught mother wanted to know, according to Wade’s testimony. “Where is Gabriel? Is the baby OK?”

Caro’s concern for Gabriel, who was then 13 months old, could be seen by jurors as incriminating because he was the only child unharmed. Caro had not asked about her other boys, Wade told the jury, and had not been told which of her three sons she was suspected of killing.

Caro’s defense team argued that the statement had been obtained improperly. Earlier in her interview with police, Caro was read her rights and had asked for an attorney. But no attorney was in the room when she made her inquiry about Gabriel.

Coleman rejected that argument, pointing out that Caro’s question about her infant son was “voluntarily asked by her with full knowledge that Cheryl Ward was a member of law enforcement.”

“The question did not arise as a result of interrogation by police officers,” he said.

Though jurors have heard the question about Gabriel, they likely will never hear testimony from Wade that could be even more damaging.

While the jury was not present Thursday, Wade said she had reviewed an unclear portion of her tape-recorded interview and concluded that Caro had said, “I killed Mike, Chris and Joey!”

On Friday, prosecutors said Wade’s interpretation was only an “opinion” and indicated they wouldn’t play the garbled tape for the jury.

“That tape is not clear enough to make an adequate determination of what was said,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Jim Ellison said.