A drunken night, a hotel room and a murder trial

A woman celebrating her 27th birthday plummets from the balcony of a hotel room to her death more than 100 feet below. Was it a tragic accident that ended a night of heavy drinking and clumsy romance with her married boss, or was it a flat-out case of murder?

A Southland jury reached its decision in November, but you have an opportunity to assess the evidence for yourself tonight at 10 as CBS’ “48 Hours Investigates” rehashes the details of the well-publicized 1996 death of Sandra Orellana.

The weekly newsmagazine usually tackles more timely issues than this, but the sordid circumstances and controversial verdict probably helped extend its shelf life in the minds of producers. Yet the sense of drama the program toils so diligently to create works best if you managed to miss the reporting of the case the first time around.

Orellana and Robert Lee Salazar were in the city of Industry as part of a business trip for their Houston company. After drinking throughout dinner and then later in the hotel nightclub, the two ended up in Orellana’s hotel room, where what happened next, only Salazar knows for sure. The prosecution contends that his spurned sexual advances led him to throw Orellana off the balcony. The defense says the liaison was consensual, and that the woman’s death occurred when she, with a blood-alcohol level of nearly three times the legal limit for driving, fell over the railing while trying to hoist herself up, clad only in a camisole.

Salazar’s behavior over the next few hours was so bizarre that it would have left O.J. Simpson shaking his head, and the case even ended up getting entangled in fallout from the Simpson case as well as personnel changes in the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office. The verdict may leave you shaking your head.