Eyewitness’ Courage Highlights Tough Challenge Facing Police

Cheri Sainz doesn’t think of herself as a hero. In fact, she’s not even convinced that she made a difference. But Los Angeles County law enforcement officials disagree.

To them, Sainz did something important: She testified.

A 25-year-old wife and mother, Sainz witnessed two gang-related shootings within five months.

Earlier this year, her testimony in two trials helped convict both killers, who were sentenced to prison.

“That’s probably one of the major problems with arresting individuals on a lot of our cases,” said homicide Det. Rick Peterson of the Los Angeles Police Department.

“We don’t have witnesses who are willing to step up to the plate and provide us with information that’s necessary. They just don’t want to commit.”

Peterson estimates that LAPD detectives have identified suspects, motives and enough evidence to solve a majority of the city’s homicide and attempted murder cases.

But an eyewitness is often indispensable, and many, particularly in street crimes, are unwilling to run the risk of intimidation or retaliation.

Recently, a key witness in a murder case was allegedly killed in the Men’s Central Jail downtown by the man he had testified against.

In 2003, an estimated $1.9 million worth of rewards in homicide cases were offered by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and Los Angeles City Council.

But only $25,000 was claimed.

That’s what makes Sainz unusual.

“The fact that she’s a witness in two murder cases ... how unlucky to be in that position,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Maria Ramirez, who called Sainz a “critical” part of her case. “She made a difference.”

Sainz has received a Courageous Citizen Award from the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office and later this month will receive the Patricia Lewis Witness of the Year Award from the California District Attorneys Assn.

“I was scared, but I mean somebody has to make a difference,” she said quietly. “A lot of these people that commit crimes or even kill people get away with things because everyone’s afraid to come forward.”

Sainz recalls the first shooting with clarity.

It was a Saturday in August 2002, and her husband had just left their City Terrace apartment, headed for school.

She said she heard gunshots and looked out of her second-floor bedroom window, fearing that her husband had become a victim of senseless violence.

Instead, Sainz saw a man shooting a gun at passing vehicles. A 17-year-old passenger was struck and later died. She called 911.

But the gunman got away, making Sainz the key witness in the case. When a suspect was arrested and charged, authorities asked her to identify him.

Despite pleas from her husband, Sainz agreed to testify against the suspect, a member of a violent East Los Angeles gang.

But testifying would not be as easy as she thought.

One evening before the trial began, Sainz was threatened by an unidentified person as she returned to work from a lunch break.

“They told me not to turn around,” she said. “To keep my mouth shut and they knew where I lived and where I worked, and they knew what I was driving.”

But Sainz still testified.

“We know there is a killer out there that can be arrested but the lack of coming forth by a witness can be frustrating,” said homicide Sgt. Mitch Loman of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, which investigated the first case.

“You’re not looking at just the arrest, you’re looking at the long-term result,” he said. “To convict somebody in court, it’s beyond a reasonable doubt, and in any case eyewitness testimony is crucial.”

There were at least four other witnesses who saw the shooting, said Ramirez.

But none came forward.

Sainz’s positive identification of the suspect helped Ramirez win a conviction, which resulted in a sentence of 50 years to life in prison.

“It’s not like I felt good about what I was doing,” Sainz said when asked about the conviction. “But justice had to be done somehow.”

Sainz and her family later purchased a home outside the city -- not out of fear, but to escape the violence, she said.

But it was not to be.

Five months later, Sainz was sitting in her car in the drive-through lane of a crowded fast-food restaurant when she heard gunshots.

She looked in her rearview mirror and saw the car behind her maneuvering to pass. Sainz said she moved up and the car sped off, with another in pursuit as a running gun battle erupted.

Bullets were flying everywhere and smoke filled the parking lot, she said.

Sainz said that after the victim’s car smashed into a tree, she ran across the street to help.

She held the 18-year-old victim, who had been shot in the head, and used her favorite sweater to rub blood from his face, talking to him until an ambulance arrived. He died at a hospital.

Hesitant to again be a witness against another East Los Angeles gang member, Sainz said she dodged detectives during their investigation.

But recurring visions of the victim in her arms forced her to come forward.

This time, Sainz’s testimony helped convict the gunman of first-degree murder. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

When Sainz accepts the witness of the year award this month, she said she will still have reservations about being honored for what she did.

“I don’t know if what I did is even making a difference,” she said.

“It’s making a difference for the families of the victims, but I don’t see that as being a hero. I just see that as the right thing to do.”