Zubia murder case 'difficult' to make
The courtroom scenes in "Law & Order" aren't very accurate, but one aspect of criminal prosecution is vividly displayed on the show. Prosecutor Jack McCoy often overcomes overwhelming legal obstacles and convicts the guilty by plea bargaining with less culpable defendants in order to use their testimony against the ringleaders.
Here in Kern County, the murder of Amanda Zubia was such a case.
Amanda, the 17-year-old mother of a 2-year-old child, was falsely imprisoned in a house in east Bakersfield and repeatedly kicked and beaten by four females. She was also burned with a cigarette. The motive for this torture apparently was that Amanda had stolen methamphetamine belonging to one of her assailants. A small boy took photographs. Unfortunately, they were good enough to identify only two of the perpetrators. The boy's mother, Sandra Quintero, came to the house at one point. It was her statement that initially identified the criminals, although she, herself, did not see the beatings.
On the second day, Robert Vallejo, 19, showed up and told the women that they needed to eliminate Amanda because she might go to the police.
Amanda was placed in a suitcase and loaded, still alive, in a car trunk. Vallejo; Maricruz Galaviz, 27; and Antonia Salazar, 33; drove away in the car. Amanda's body was later discovered in a barrel of cement.
Based on the interview of Quintero, the Sheriff's Department interrogated all of the suspects. The first one to tell anything approximating the truth was a juvenile, Crystal DeLeon. Since DeLeon was the youngest, and apparently the least culpable, Deputy District Attorney Elva Nunez decided to use her testimony against the other defendants in exchange for a promise to allow her to plead guilty to the murder as a juvenile. (She could have been prosecuted as an adult, even though she was 17.)
In the meantime, Robert Vallejo died in jail. This gave all the remaining defendants the opportunity to blame him for everything, since he was no longer available to deny it. Vallejo drove away the car into which Amanda had been placed, and it was he who said that she had to be killed. So the defense had a powerful argument that he and he alone was responsible for her murder.
While the case was being prepared, Sandra Quintero and her son disappeared. Their testimony was crucial, because they were the only non-accomplices who could say who had been present during Amanda's false imprisonment. It is a rule of law that every element of the crime has to be corroborated by some evidence other than the testimony of an accomplice, such as Crystal DeLeon. The disappearance of the boy and his mother put a huge hole in our case. Of course, we couldn't let the defense know that two crucial witnesses were no longer available.
In the end, by turning one defendant against the others, and by running a remarkable bluff, Deputy District Attorney Elva Nunez caused Galaviz and Salazar to plead guilty to first degree murder for 25 years to life. First degree murderers are never released, so they will spend the rest of their lives in prison.
The other major defendant, Robert Vallejo, was dead. DeLeon, the juvenile, was sentenced for first-degree murder in juvenile court, and will serve her time in the Youth Authority until age 25. Without the threat of her testimony, the other defendants would have gone free.
The last defendant, Erika LaSalde, pleaded guilty to assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury. She was not present on the second day of the victim's false imprisonment and played no part in the decision to murder her. She pleaded guilty to the maximum offense of which she was guilty and was sentenced to seven years.
The case against Amanda Zubia's murderers depended entirely on the testimony of one of the criminals, the testimony of two witnesses who had disappeared, and a small amount of physical evidence. It is a case that probably would not even have been prosecuted in most urban counties. Deputy District Attorney Elva Nunez and her supervisor deserve our community's gratitude for their tenacity.
Unfortunately, they are unlikely to receive it, since Amanda's murder has generally been viewed through an emotional, rather factual prism.
Amanda's family, quite understandably, wanted everyone involved to get the death penalty, and the media found it easier to extensively cover their emotion-laden statements than the complex facts and the legal difficulties of the case. Thus, the erroneous impression was left that somehow a pack of vicious murderers had "gotten away with it." Nothing could be further from the truth.
Prosecutorial decisions must be based on facts, not emotion. The facts of this case were very weak. Nevertheless, in the end justice prevailed.
Edward R. Jagels is Kern County's district attorney.
