Trial Begins for Man Accused in Triple Slaying

Two ballistics experts will testify that 15 of 16 bullets fired at a birthday party in Arleta where three people died came from a gun belonging to Juan Guillen, a prosecutor said Tuesday in opening statements of Guillen’s trial.

Guillen, 26, is charged with three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder in the Jan. 14, 2001, deaths of members of the Pacoima Pacatrece gang.

He pleaded not guilty last year to killing Joel Gonzalez, 27, of Arleta; Jesse Abel, 24, of Pacoima; and Jack Loutsios, 17, of Mission Hills.

He also denied wounding German Lopez, 21, during the party in a residential backyard.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Shellie Samuels told jurors in San Fernando Superior Court that the shootings occurred after Guillen argued with Abel. Samuels said 16 shell casings were found in the yard and in the alley behind the house where Richard Torres was celebrating his 17th birthday.

The ballistics experts from the Los Angeles Police Department will testify that 15 of the bullets were shot from Guillen’s gun, the prosecutor said.

She urged jurors to treat testimony from gang members who were at the party with the same consideration as other witnesses.

“You’re not going to get a lot of bankers up there,” Samuels said. “You’re going to have a lot of gang members up there, because that’s who was at the party.”

Guillen’s attorney, Nancy Mazza, told jurors that gang members should not be taken seriously.

“You’re going to listen to gang members, gang members usually prosecuted,” she said. “These are punks. They have rap sheets; they lie to the police.”

Mazza said Guillen was hired to be a disc jockey at the party and had abandoned gang life five years ago to live with his wife and two children in Palmdale.

Neighbors who lived across the alley will testify that they heard several gunshots coming from various directions, showing that there was more than one gunman involved, Mazza said.

Although Los Angeles police have said Guillen turned himself in last year after fleeing to Mexico, Mazza said Guillen and his 26-year-old wife, Maria, went to Tijuana after the shootings to drop off their daughter for a visit with Guillen’s mother.

The couple left Mexico, Mazza said, when police called Guillen for questioning.

“He didn’t flee as they’re saying he did,” Maria Guillen said outside the courtroom.

Mazza said she will prove that LAPD Det. Jose Martinez coerced witnesses into naming Guillen as the gunman.

She said Lopez, who was shot in the face, will testify today that he was on medication when Martinez interviewed him in the hospital. Mazza said interviewing a witness under medication violates police protocol.

“Det. Martinez is to be looked at very carefully,” she said.

Family members of the slain men sat in the back of the courtroom as the opposing attorneys presented their case.

“I just want to know what happened,” said Gonzalez’s father, Manuel.