Press Coverage

Defense grills Texas Ranger over investigation into murder

Defense argues court should revisit case

P. Christine Mills

Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

A Texas Ranger who investigated a 1996 murder in Littlefield took the witness stand Monday during an evidentiary hearing aimed at overturning the convictions of two men who claim they are innocent although separate juries found them guilty.

Writs of habeas corpus filed on behalf of Alberto Sifuentes and Jesus Ramirez claim the Ranger, Sal Abreo, lied during his investigation into the Aug. 6, 1996, murder of Jolly Roger convenience store clerk Evangelina Cruz.

The hearing began on Aug. 29 and has been recessed twice because of legal issues and Abreo's lack of availability to testify.

In earlier testimony, lawyers for Sifuentes and Ramirez produced a document from Lamb County District Attorney Mark Yarbrough's notes that said, in part, that Abreo "lied to me to get me to file this case."

Yarbrough later testified that what he had described as a lie in the document was more a matter of semantics. At first, Yarbrough said, Abreo told him that a woman who was with the men the night preceding the murder had said she was "in" the Jolly Roger store. Instead, Yarbrough later learned that the woman reportedly said she was "at" the Jolly Roger store but did not go inside.

No prosecutors ever questioned him about his truthfulness, Abreo testified on Monday.

"Do you, sir, deny lying to Mark Yarbrough to get him to file this case," questioned habeas corpus defense attorney Ron Breaux, of Dallas law firm Haynes and Boone LLP.

"Yes sir, I do," Abreo said.

Breaux centered his questioning of Abreo on Monday on several key pieces of information that Breaux represents are inconsistencies or failures in Abreo's investigation.

At times, Breaux's questions indicated that Abreo threatened Mary Wood, the woman who was with the men the night of Aug. 5, 1996, and the early morning of Aug. 6, 1996, in order to get her to say that the trio had been at the Jolly Roger store.

Abreo denied he had threatened Wood.

Abreo also stood by his belief that an eyewitness exists while attorneys for Sifuentes and Ramirez say evidence indicates the eyewitness was not at the store near the time of the crime. The issue has been a main point of contention throughout the evidentiary hearing.

The men's attorneys say Brenda Ayala, the witness, had been mistaken when she said she first went to a Town & Country convenience store about 2 a.m. and then immediately to the Jolly Roger. Store surveillance tapes show that Ayala had been at the Town & Country at 12:34 a.m.

"I believe that she was there at 2 a.m. ... or shortly before," Abreo testified.

Abreo's boss, Texas Ranger Lt. Dusty McCord testified Monday that he also believes that Ayala was at the Jolly Roger about 2 a.m. and saw Sifuentes and Ramirez there. McCord had picked up the investigation after the law enforcement agency transferred Abreo to Austin in January 1997. He was not Abreo's boss at the time.

"I am aware that there is an allegation that (Ayala) appears on a videotape at another location," McCord testified, adding that he gives the claim "no credence."

The date and time stamp mean nothing, McCord said. Then, he quickly added that he sent a Texas Ranger to a convenience store in Littlefield on Monday, before McCord testified, to check a similar video surveillance system.

"The date is 45 days off," McCord said.

Both Abreo and McCord testified that neither of them has viewed the tape that pictures Ayala.

"We've given the state every opportunity to address (Ayala's) false testimony, and they come in today and give false testimony to cover false testimony," habeas corpus lead attorney Barry F. McNeil, also of Haynes & Boone, said after the hearing concluded. "Abreo just repeated his lies."

Another investigator had verified that the date and time of the video showing Ayala is correct, McNeil said.

Yarbrough said he sees the situation differently.

"I don't think anything (McCord) said was remotely false," Yarbrough said. "Brenda Ayala was in the store at 2 o'clock. With (McCord's) expertise ... he's probably one in the state of Texas that's an expert with (video)."

The hearing is aimed at convincing a judge that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals should examine Sifuentes' and Ramirez's convictions. The men's attorneys filed writs of habeas corpus on their behalf in 2002. The writs outline claims of new evidence that have come to light since the convictions and allege ineffective assistance of original trial counsel.

Now that testimony has concluded, attorneys for both sides will argue the case Dec. 21. Judge Felix Klein of the 154th District Court will then determine if the case moves on to the state criminal appeals court.