Thursday, Oct. 9, 2003 | 9:51 a.m.
Special Public Defender Bret Whipple told a jury that there was no evidence that his client fired the gun that killed a 9-year-old girl who was playing in front of her apartment.
Whipple, during opening arguments in the trial Wednesday, called the Sept. 7, 2002, death of Genesis Gonzalez a tragedy but said the evidence will prove that Pascual Lozano was not the triggerman in the fatal shooting,
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Lozano, who is charged with several felonies, including murder with the use of a deadly weapon and battery with the use of a deadly weapon in the shooting that killed Gonzalez and wounded her 8-year-old sister Heidi.
"The question you have to ask is, 'Who was the person who fired that gun?' " Whipple said to the jury during his 15-minute opening statement. "The evidence will show that Mr. Lozano did not fire the gun that took the life of Genesis Gonzalez.
"There was no gun shot residue found on (Lozano's) hands and the reason is because he did not fire the gun."
Chief Deputy District Attorney Ed Kane agreed that there was no residue from a fired gun on Lozano's hands but did say that police experts would testify that there was residue on Lozano's shirt.
Kane also said a witness who was riding in a car with Lozano just prior to the shooting would testify that Lozano got out of the car and chased a man with what looked to be a gun. This witness, Darrian Moten, will also testify that he heard gunshots and that when Lozano returned to the car, Lozano said, "I shot that dude."
The incident happened just before 5 p.m. on a Saturday when a man named Robert Valentine had an exchange with some men in a car that was driving by in the 3400 block of Civic Center Drive near Cheyenne Avenue. Valentine was reportedly next to a garbage can when people made gestures, possibly gang signs, at him from the passing car.
"The car screeched into a U-turn and Pascual Lozano got out holding a gun," the prosecutor told the jury.
Valentine then ran through the courtyard area where Gonzalez was outside playing with her sister and a 10-month-old boy from next door. Heidi was grazed in the leg by a bullet, and was treated and released from the hospital. Genesis was struck in the chest and died.
Kane, whose opening statement was about 10 minutes long, said that both Moten and Valentine would be called to the stand as witnesses.
Another possible witness, who Kane said pointed out Lozano as the shooter to police, won't testify because he moved to Mexico and prosecutors have been unable to locate him.
The trial is expected to last up to a week, with witnesses expected to be called this morning at 11.
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