DAY4, PEOPLE vs MARIO LOZANO (Before lunch, with transcript.)

April 8, 2008. El Dorado Co. Superior Court. People vs. Mario Lozano.
Case # P06CRF0427 (Before Lunch, with transcript.)

This morning I showed up in a black tee with What part of “Thou shalt not” didn’t you understand? .God in white letters on the front. I have a red long sleeve tee underneath for the blood that was shed. Several people who read it appreciated it. Pat, Annie, Doug and Lee are there. Val Pease, a cousin, and Sedina Pease, 2nd cousin, show up. About 7 others I don’t recognize are there also. I wish I got their names to add to Kacie”s supporters list.

9:07 Mario comes in wearing the same suit but is in chains today. Usually they only have him keep his hands in his pockets. Another close neighbor came in, Harry Bannister. The deputies brought in a TV on a stand and we hear that the video was going to be shown to the jury, not us. Gomes and Atwell come in the side door talking and leave out the back door. Gomes comments, we won’t be needing that, pointing at the TV. Carroll Watson comes over and tells us that it was asked about all of Kacie’s supporters moving all the way to the right of the courtroom so we could see. (They keep the first row empty during criminal trials.) They decided to show the video on the large screen so we could see it too.
9:35 Gomes gets the video from Atwell. Atwell had it to compare it with the transcription. Within minutes Gomes and Nida are having difficulty viewing it on their laptop. Atwell comes over and stands at the front of their desk saying; Uh, yeah it played… maybe it’s a CD… maybe it’s in another player somewhere…(About now I’m thinking, what the hell’s going on? Is this Atwell’s defense? Lose the video and bring something else?) Finally they get it to play on the laptop and begin connecting it to the projector.
9:38 Judge Keller peeks in the side door and the bailiff tells him, we’re just getting the technical hooked up.
Finally it’s on the large screen, a small room is shown with a table and three chairs in it. A computer monitor and a telephone are on the table. One chair is by the table and Mario is seated in the center chair, with his back to the camera, cuffed to a bar on the wall.
9:43 Judge Keller enters. The jury enters; each is given a copy of the transcript and are seated. Court proceeds.
Atwell begins by waiving his right for an opening statement.
The Judge says there is a correction needed on the transcript. On page 24, line 2 in regards to Mr. Lozano’s statement: I’ve seen people who got shot. It should read read gut not who got. Would the jurors correct their copies?
The video begins. I’m trying to take notes but it’s so fast at times I can’t keep up.

I decide I’ll ask for a copy of the transcription later and watch the video. Mario is sitting in his chair calmly, occasionally looking at the screen. The jurors are alternately looking at the screen and their transcripts. During the few pauses in the video when Nida is called out of the room, I notice several of the jurors flipping pages of their transcripts reviewing what had been said. In the video, Detective Nida first sat on the right of Mario but moved to his left when she noticed it was hard for Mario to face her with his left hand cuffed to the wall. Whenever it seemed that Mario was lying, he would fidget with his right hand and get a drink of water or bite of pizza the guards gave him. I noticed at one time during the video that Pat was leaning on the chair in front of him just looking at the floor.
I’ll copy the transcript here for the sake of continuity. I will add Lieutenant Nida’s corrections in bold print and my comments in italics.

VIDEOTAPED INTERVIEW OF MARIO LOZANO
CONDUCTED BY DETECTIVE KIM NIDA

Officer 1: When I release your hand. I want you to put it on the wall for me. Okay. Shake that one out. You cool?
All right. Go ahead and turn around. Sit down. You want a piece of pizza or a bottle of water or something?
Mr. Lozano: Yeah.
Officer 1: Both?
Mr. Lozano: Yeah, please.
Officer 2: That’s no problem. Sausage or pepperoni?
Officer 1: Sausage or – what is it?
Officer 2: Sausage or pepperoni.
Officer 1: Sausage or pepperoni.
Mr. Lozano: Pepperoni.
Officer 1: Pepperoni?
Mr. Lozano: Yeah.
Officer 1: Cool.
Mr. Lozano: You want these books of matches I got in my pocket?
Officer 1: I’m Sorry?
Mr. Lozano: You want these books of matches that are in my pocket?
Officer 1: No. You’re good.
Officer 2: Don’t light yourself on fire.
You been a friend of Larry’s for a while?
Mr. Lozano: Long time. Yeah.
Officer 2: Yeah. Me too. Him and his wife Bobbie.
Mr. Lozano: I feel bad about that. I put him in a -- I put him in a --
Officer 2: Well, yeah, you did. You know, because I was telling him -- I said, what would have happened if you got stopped? You had a warrant out for your arrest. And if you’d got stopped on your way to Idaho in the truck, they would have taken him along with you probably. So -- but he understood so that I don’t think that (inaudible)
Officer 1: Another piece?
Mr. Lozano: No, thank you.
Officer 1: Okay.
(This is where Gomes started the video in the courtroom. Officers 1 & 2 left and Mario is in the room alone. Detective Nida enters and takes a seat to the right of Mario.)
Detective Nida: My name is Kim Nida. I am a detective with Placerville Police
Department.
Mr. Lozano: Mm-hmm.
Detective Nida: I feel like I know you already. I’ve been kinda tracking you for about two and a half weeks now.
Mr. Lozano: Yeah.
Detective Nida: Sound about right?
Mr. Lozano: About right, yeah.
Detective Nida: You’re Mario Lozano, correct?
Mr. Lozano: (Nods head.)
Detective Nida: What’s your birthday Mario?
Mr. Lozano: 2/16/48.
Detective Nida: Okay. And your Social Security number?
Mr. Lozano: 5XX-XX-XXX9.
Detective Nida: You have the right to remain silent. Do you understand?
Mr. Lozano: (Nods head.)
Detective Nida: Anything you say may be used against you in court. Do you understand?
Mr. Lozano: (Nods head.)
Detective Nida: If you could verbally answer, that would be –
Mr. Lozano: Oh, yeah. Yeah.
Detective Nida: You have the right to the presence of an attorney before or during any questioning. Do you understand?
Mr. Lozano: Mm-hmm.
Detective Nida: If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you free of charge before any questioning. Do you understand?
Mr. Lozano: Yes.
Detective Nida: Having those rights in mind, why don’t you tell me why you think I’m here talking with you today.
Mr. Lozano: I don’t know.
Detective Nida: You don’t know?
Why don’t you start talking to me about Kauai. You were in Kauai for about five months or so before coming back here.
Mr. Lozano: Seven.
Detective Nida: Seven months. Okay. Why don’t you tell me about Kauai.
You can’t turn this way, huh?
Mr. Lozano: No.
Detective Nida: Okay. Let me over here.
(Detective Nida gets up and moves to Mario’s left and sits next to the table since Mario’s left wrist is shackled to the wall.)
Mr. Lozano: What’s to tell.
Detective Nida: What were you doing in Kauai. How’s -- how’s Kauai doing?
Mr. Lozano: I was busting my ass over there.
Detective Nida: Yeah, What were you doing? You’re a hard worker. I know that.
Mr. Lozano: Framing.
Detective Nida: You were framing? You weren’t doing carpet cleaning?
Mr. Lozano: I did it for a little bit and then I got a paying job framing, so, you know.
Detective Nida: Okay. And how was Kauai. Was it good for you over there? Making lots of money?
Mr. Lozano: Yeah. I sent a lot of it back.
Detective Nida: Where did you send it to?
Mr. Lozano: Kacie.
Detective Nida: Kacie who?
Mr. Lozano: Barron.
Detective Nida: Okay. How much did you send back to Kacie?
Mr. Lozano: I don’t know. I don’t know.
Detective Nida: How did you send it back to her?
Mr. Lozano: Usually by money order or wire.
Detective Nida: Okay. How long were you sending it back to her? What time frame?
Mr. Lozano: For about six months. I guess.
Detective Nida: Okay. Tell me more about Kauai. And what led you to come back to California?
Mr. Lozano: Kacie.
(Silent pause… Mario’s looking at the floor, shaking his head.)
Detective Nida: Whatcha thinking?
(Silence again.)
Mr. Lozano: I would not have left Kauai to come back to the crank fXXXing inferno, you know, if somebody had been up front with me to begin with. (Inaudible.)
Detective Nida: What went on there? What did you see there.
Mr. Lozano: In Kauai?
Detective Nida: No, in Placerville. What do you mean crank fXXXing inferno? Okay. Describe that for me.
Mr. Lozano: Every one around you wired except you.
Detective Nida: Really?
Mr. Lozano: Yeah.
Detective Nida: Okay. Who was all in and out? Do you know names?
Mr. Lozano: Oh, just a lot of people.
Detective Nida: Do you know them?
Mr. Lozano: Mm-hmm.
Detective Nida: Okay. Were they friends of yours?
Mr. Lozano: No. They were all friends of hers.
Detective Nida: Okay. Was it being sold. Was it --
Mr. Lozano: Mm-hmm.
Detective Nida: It was being sold out of there?
Mr. Lozano: Mm-hmm.
Detective Nida: Okay. And you watched it all taking place?
Mr. Lozano: Mm-hmm.
Detective Nida: How did that make you feel?
Mr. Lozano: Not very good. I spent my last money to get here thinking that there was money saved here, but there wasn’t.
Detective Nida: How did you find that out?
Mr. Lozano: It just wasn’t there.
Detective Nida: Did she tell you she spent it all? Or did you have access to a mutual bank account? How did you know that it wasn’t there? What happened?
Mr. Lozano: She told me she spent it all.
Detective Nida: What did she spend it on?
Mr. Lozano: I don’t know.
Detective Nida: You have no idea?
Mr. Lozano: No.
Detective Nida: Okay. Was she supposed to be spending it on something for you guys or just saving it?
Mr. Lozano: Yeah.
Detective Nida: Yeah, what?
Mr. Lozano: Well she bought some stuff for the -- for the trailer and all of that. We were supposed to go like next month.
Detective Nida: Where were you supposed to go?
Mr. Lozano: Down to Arizona. But one look at all of that when I got back, I knew that boat wasn’t leaving anytime soon. The trailer got torn apart. We got a huge truck to pull that trailer with. I mean, gas being what it is now -- you know, we were gonna be on a limited income as it was. You don’t go out and buy a 454 dually crew cab--
(Kacie wanted to travel farther than just Arizona. The trailer was “torn apart” for repairs that most men I know wouldn’t attempt. The truck was a gift, or on loan from long time friends for Kacie to use if she fixed it up, licensed and insured it.)
Detective Nida: With gas prices.
Mr. Lozano: -- to pull a 24-foot trailer, you know?
Detective Nida: With gas at 3:30 a gallon.
Mr. Lozano: Four in some places.
Detective Nida: Yeah. It’s ridiculous, isn’t it?
Mr. Lozano: And she found herself a new beau. New crank connection so…
Detective Nida: Who was that?
Mr. Lozano: I don’t know. I know she spent the previous night in a motel room with him in Cameron Park.
Detective Nida: How did -- how did you find that out?
Mr. Lozano: I just did. What you can do with a computer these days, you know?
Detective Nida: That is very true. So the whole time that you were in Kauai, she let you to believe that you guys were gonna be together when you -- when you got back over here?
Mr. Lozano: Yeah.
Detective Nida: And then when you got back over here, you found out that she wasn’t true to her word?
Mr. Lozano: No, she wasn’t.
Detective Nida: Who was this other guy?
Mr. Lozano: I don’t know. He sold her pain pills, too, I think.
(That was probably Mike Thompson, who had a relationship with Kacie years ago. They were still good friends for many years. Mario obviously couldn’t understand having close relationships with exes.)
Detective Nida: What did he drive?
Mr. Lozano: I don’t know.
Detective Nida: Did you see him visit while she was there -- while you were there?
Mr. Lozano: Yeah.
(He visited when I was seeing Kacie. But I didn’t get all bent about it.)
Detective Nida: Okay. What does he look like?
Mr. Lozano: You already know all of that, I’m sure.
Detective Nida: I didn’t realize she had another boyfriend. That didn’t come up.
(Duhh! Didn't come up because there wasn't one.)
Mr. Lozano: Didn’t you know about her crank connection?
Detective Nida: I did.
Mr. Lozano: And her pill -- her pill dude? Okay. FXXXin’ waste (Inaudible)
What a waste.
Detective Nida: Waste of your time running, (Waste of your time and money,) huh?
Mr. Lozano: A waste of everything. I’m a dead man now so it doesn’t matter, you know?
Detective Nida: What do you mean?
Mr. Lozano: She’s got friends in that town that ain’t gonna be too happy about this, probably ain’t already. And they know people on the inside, so, it’s just a matter of time.
Detective Nida: Well, let us know. We’ll keep you from those people. We can keep you separated as much as possible.
(We understand they have been keeping him in the infirmary.)
Mr. Lozano: Oh, it doesn’t matter. One way or the other, I gotta go so…
Detective Nida: We’re all living to die, right?
Mr. Lozano: Well it ain’t gonna go no farther than this, is it?
Detective Nida: What are you gonna tell me? How are you gonna help yourself today?
Mr. Lozano: Help myself do what? Drive to San Quinton to the fXXXing -- to the gas chamber or what? What do ya want me to tell ya?
Detective Nida: What happened? Tell me what happened.
Mr. Lozano: The first one was a fXXXin’ mistake. That was an accident.
Detective Nida: Okay.
Mr. Lozano: She threw down on me with a fXXXin’ 12 gauge.
Detective Nida: That’s what I thought.
Mr. Lozano: Then I stuck the other one in the window and she was looking at me telling me, asking me did I wanna play.
Detective Nida: She said, do you wanna play?
Mr. Lozano: Mm-hmm. And I just looked at her. Looked right at the fXXXin’ shotgun (Inaudible). (barrel)
Detective Nida: Okay. Take me to the beginning of the story. That’s the end, right?
The first shot was an accident?
Mr. Lozano: Mm-hmm.
Detective Nida: The second shot wasn’t?
Mr. Lozano: (Shakes his head.)
Detective Nida: You were leaning in the window on the first shot?
Mr. Lozano: No, I was standing outside.
Detective Nida: Of the door?
Mr. Lozano: Or the window.
Detective Nida: Okay. On the green chair?
Mr. Lozano: Well, in front of it.
Detective Nida: Okay.
Mr. Lozano: Yeah.
Detective Nida: And you were leaning in with the shotgun?
(So how far in the window could he reach with the gun?)
Mr. Lozano: Mm-hmm.
Detective Nida: Okay. And “by accident,” what do you mean by that?
Mr. Lozano: Well, I thought she would pull the trigger first. I was kinda counting on that.
Detective Nida: Mm-hmm.
Mr. Lozano: (Inaudible.)
Detective Nida: I hear she’s a pretty good shot and pretty fast.
Mr. Lozano: Well, she wasn’t this time. I wish she had.
Detective Nida: Okay. So tell me about the second shot.
Mr. Lozano: Kill shot. It (She) was gut shot. It looked to me like it was pretty close to the liver.
Detective Nida: The second shot?
Mr. Lozano: No, the first one.
Detective Nida: The first one was the -- the body shot?
Mr. Lozano: Mm-hmm.
Detective Nida: And the second one was the head shot?
Mr. Lozano: Mm-hmm.
Detective Nida: How far away were ya on both shots?
Mr. Lozano: She was -- she went to yank. She went to yank with this hand.
(indicating). (With his left hand.) She had the shotgun in this hand (indicating). (With his right hand like he had it shouldered.) She went to yank on the barrel with her left and it was pointed up.
(Did anyone catch that he said “she went to yank on the barrel” not that she yanked the barrel?)
Detective Nida: It was up?
Mr. Lozano: Well, it was, you know, about this kind of angle (indicating). (Acting like he’s pointing a shotgun slightly up.)
Detective Nida: Okay. So she’s like this (indicating)? (Like pointing a shotgun slightly down.)
Mr. Lozano: She’s got it pointing right at me.
Detective Nida: And you’re at the window. (With a chair between him and the trailer.) And where is she at?
Mr. Lozano: She’s leaning down out of the window. I mean she’s leaning down
this side.
Detective Nida: She’s on the cushions right there?
Mr. Lozano: She’s standing in between.
(Standing… leaning… which is it, Mario?)
Detective Nida: Okay. So she’s standing in between the cushions and you were at
the window. And where did you get your shotgun from?
Mr. Lozano: Inside the house.
Detective Nida: Okay. And where did she get her shotgun from? Did she have it
in there with her?
Mr. Lozano: Yeah.
Detective Nida: Was there an argument beforehand? You guys get in a --
Mr. Lozano: Yeah. She told me to leave and I said well, let me have my bags.
Detective Nida: Because your bags were in the trailer. So walk me through that. Tell me about the argument.
Mr. Lozano: She just said she wanted me to go. So I just wanted to get my bags and go.
Detective Nida: That’s fair. And she wouldn’t let you get the bags?
Mr. Lozano: (Shakes his head.)
Detective Nida: Was the door locked?
Mr. Lozano: Yeah.
Detective Nida: Did you try to get in through the door?
Mr. Lozano: No. I knew it was locked.
Detective Nida: How did you know it was locked?
Mr. Lozano: Because she was locked in there.
Detective Nida: Why was she locked in there?
Mr. Lozano: She always locks herself in.
Detective Nida: Oh, she does?
Mr. Lozano: Yeah.
Detective Nida: I didn’t know that.
Mr. Lozano: She locks -- she locks everything behind her.
Detective Nida: Okay.
Mr. Lozano: Because of this Dave guy that she was supposed to testify against
this next couple of months or this month. She’s been afraid for the last couple of years.
(Dave Partridge was a previous ex trying to control her. He couldn’t accept that Kacie wanted him to leave. So he stalked and harassed her. He finally came in her back door that was unlocked and caught her in the kitchen. While trying to get her to submit, he twisted her two middle fingers sideways and shattered the bones. He still would stalk and harass her from a distance.)
Detective Nida: So is it normal for her to have a shotgun with her?
Mr. Lozano: She slept with it.
Detective Nida: So when she was outside, she normally had it with her?
Mr. Lozano: Well, one or the other, you know.
(When I was seeing her she rarely had the doors locked or the shotgun outside with her during the day unless she sensed something was up.)
Detective Nida: So you guys get in an argument. From -- she’s inside. You’re
outside. You get in an argument.
Mr. Lozano: I told her that if she wanted me to go, let me have my bags and I’ll
be on my way. I don’t know how I was gonna do that, but…
Detective Nida: You’ve survived before.
Mr. Lozano: Yeah. But I usually get my clothes. And one thing led to another.
Detective Nida: Tell me about the one thing led to another. That’s the part I don’t
understand.
Mr. Lozano: Well, she was in the trailer with this fXXXin’ gun and she’s telling
me to leave, but she won’t give me my bags. All she has to do is throw them out the window.
Detective Nida: Mm-hmm. She’s obstinate.
(Yeah, she could be that at times.)
Mr. Lozano: Yeah. I mean, I had left before. You know, I left for Kauai in
January. And I left when it was really cold. You know, and I get over to Kauai and --
Detective Nida: What do you mean you left when it was really cold? Between you
guys?
Mr. Lozano: Yeah, that and --
Detective Nida: Oh, the temperature. Okay. And you guys worked stuff out while
you were in Kauai. She came and visited you?
Mr. Lozano: Yeah.
(So there’s a chunk of the money you sent her.)
Detective Nida: Okay. You got sick back there or something?
Mr. Lozano: Mm-hmm.
Detective Nida: You got in a fight or something or in an accident?
Mr. Lozano: Yeah. Got in an accident.
Detective Nida: And she came out and kinda took care of you during that time?
Mr. Lozano: No. I mean, it was all over and done with by the time she came out.
Detective Nida: Oh.
Mr. Lozano: This guy I was -- I had been staying with --
Detective Nida: Tim?
Mr. Lozano: Jim?
Detective Nida: Jim.
Mr. Lozano: Yeah. You guys talk to him, too?
Detective Nida: No. I didn’t talk to Jim, but I knew it was your statement. (but I
knew you stayed with him.)
Mr. Lozano: You talk to Sue?
Detective Nida: No.
Mr. Lozano: Oh.
Detective Nida: Is that his wife?
Mr. Lozano: Nah. It don’t matter.
(Who's Sue? Hmmm, Sounds like you were really broken up about Kacie, huh?)
Detective Nida: Okay.
Mr. Lozano: It’s not important. Anyway, he had taken it upon himself to call her and tell her I was in critical condition out there. I didn’t ask him to do that. I was in critical condition. You know, I was -- you know, by the time she -- she took off from her place thinking I was in critical condition, by the time she comes out, I’ve already been -- it’s done and over with for --
Detective Nida: And you’re all better now.
Mr. Lozano: Yeah. Four or five days, you know, since that happened. So anyway, she spent the week there with me and got on the plane and came back here. And then she sold her Cutlass to buy that trailer and discovered it had leaks and was really depressed about it. I mean she was getting more and more depressed. I think it was the 1st of July she had a -- she was in the puff unit on a 24-hour hold.
Detective Nida: Oh, was she?
Mr. Lozano: Suicidal. She had taken more Soma’s than she should have. You do a tox on her?
Detective Nida: Yes.
Mr. Lozano: I figure that. Wanna do one on me? I’m fine with that.
Detective Nida: Do you mind if we do?
Mr. Lozano: Not at all.
Detective Nida: We’ll see. I don’t know.
Mr. Lozano: Marijuana that’s about it.
Detective Nida: It’s practically legal, isn’t it?
Mr. Lozano: Not in here, but --
Detective Nida: No, not in here. Where did you get your shotgun at or the one you used?
Mr. Lozano: In the bedroom.
Detective Nida: At what point did you get that?
Mr. Lozano: When she threw down on me and told me that she wasn’t having any -- any part of it.
Detective Nida: Okay.
Mr. Lozano: And she’d blow my fXXXing head off so…
Detective Nida: So you went to protect yourself?
Mr. Lozano: Yeah, I just went to calm -- you know, okay. Now we’re both even. Now can I have my fXXXng bags? You know what I mean?
Detective Nida: Right.
Mr. Lozano: So it didn’t work out.
Detective Nida: So when you came back to the trailer with the shotgun in your hand, what did you say to her?
Mr. Lozano: I said let me have my bags.
Detective Nida: What did she say to you?
Mr. Lozano: Told me to get the fXXk out of there. I said, “I will as soon as you give me my bags.” Detective Nida: And the whole time that you’re talking with her, where is she at? Is she still standing in between the cushions?
Mr. Lozano: Yeah.
Detective Nida: That little walkway area. And you were just outside the window? Okay.
Mr. Lozano: She didn’t see the shotgun. I was hiding it on my side.
Detective Nida: Down. Are you right handed? Or down.
Mr. Lozano: I put it in the window. Just give me my sXXt. Oh, you wanna play? I didn’t say anything.
Detective Nida: She said you wanna play?
Mr. Lozano: Well I was looking down the barrel of that 12-gauge and then I looked at her. I don’t know why she didn’t pull the trigger because there was nothing but hate in her eyes. I thought for sure she would’ve. I thought she might be kind enough to do that.
(Hate in her eyes? DUHH! Look at where you’ve forced her!)
Detective Nida: Did you wanna die. Is that what you were looking for?
Mr. Lozano: It doesn’t matter. It don’t matter now. Not that I’m -- I don’t plan on hurting anybody else or myself, but it don’t matter now. Life’s over.
Detective Nida: Different chapter.
Mr. Lozano: It’s over. I’ll die in prison.
Detective Nida: You don’t know.
Mr. Lozano: (Inaudible.) (I’ll die in prison. That’s where I’ll die.)
Detective Nida: So you said the first shot was the gut shot?
Mr. Lozano: Um-um.
Detective Nida: Are you sure?
Mr. Lozano: Positive.
Detective Nida: And what did she do after that first shot?
Mr. Lozano: She dropped her gun and grabbed her gut and turned and walked that way. (Indicating.) (He pointed to his right.)
Detective Nida: So she was still walking after the first -- that first one?
Mr. Lozano: She was going down.
Detective Nida: Okay.
Mr. Lozano: She was walking real slow.
Detective Nida: Did she turn and face you again?
Mr. Lozano: No.
Detective Nida: Were you still outside the trailer?
Mr. Lozano: Yeah.
Detective Nida: And she was still standing?
Mr. Lozano: Mm-hmm.
Detective Nida: -- on the second shot?
Mr. Lozano: Mm-hmm.
Detective Nida: Okay. That makes sense.
Mr. Lozano: That’s how it happened.
Detective Nida: I’m just trying to match it up with what I saw inside. Did you want to get caught?
Mr. Lozano: I knew it was just a matter of time. I just wanted to smoke a few more cigarettes.
Detective Nida: I think that’s a song, isn’t it?
Mr. Lozano: I don’t know. Might be.
Detective Nida: You jumped in her car?
Mr. Lozano: Mm-hmm.
Detective Nida: So you dropped your shotgun?
Mr. Lozano: Yeah.
Detective Nida: And you grab a .22 from the house?
Mr. Lozano: No, she had it in the trailer with her.
Detective Nida: Oh, it was in the trailer with her. Okay. So you went into the trailer and grabbed them?
Mr. Lozano: Mm-hmm.
Detective Nida: Did you go through the window?
Mr. Lozano: Yeah.
Detective Nida: Where were they in the trailer?
Mr. Lozano: On the other couch by the other cushion.
Detective Nida: Cushion. And that lockbox was there?
Mr. Lozano: That’s where they were.
Detective Nida: And you climbed out back through the window and jumped in her car and left?
Mr. Lozano: Yeah.
Detective Nida: That’s it? What was going through your head?
Mr. Lozano: All of it. They haven’t stopped.
Detective Nida: I bet.
Mr. Lozano: I haven’t slept much since.
Detective Nida: Yeah.
Mr. Lozano: Nobody ever talks about that.
Detective Nida: You’ve been playing it over and over in your head?
Mr. Lozano: (Inaudible) higher and higher and tighter and tighter.
Detective Nida: You keep asking yourself why didn’t she pull the trigger.
Mr. Lozano: Yeah. I sure wish she had. As a matter of fact --
Detective Nida: Did you ever hear it click?
Mr. Lozano: Her gun? No. No. If I had, I wouldn’t be here now.
Detective Nida: I believe it was on safe.
Mr. Lozano: Hers was? Oh, I didn’t know that.
Detective Nida: I don’t think she knew that. I don’t know. That’s why I was wondering if you heard her playing with the trigger or anything.
Mr. Lozano: Nope. I thought she was locked and loaded. She was always locked and loaded.
Detective Nida: So ya jumped in her car and headed for Markleeville?
Mr. Lozano: Mm-hmm.
Detective Nida: Used her ATM card.
Mr. Lozano: Yep.
Detective Nida: Got $50 worth of gas.
Mr. Lozano: Mm-hmm.
Detective Nida: And then headed straight down here.
Mr. Lozano: (Nods head.)
Detective Nida: Any stops in-between?
Mr. Lozano: Nope.
Detective Nida: No?
Mr. Lozano: No. I’ve been here ever since (inaudible) first trip to Idaho. ( I’ve been here ever since, except for a short trip to Idaho.)
Detective Nida: Where’s the clothes that you were wearing that day?
Mr. Lozano: Oh, I don’t know.
Detective Nida: There was a pair of shorts and a t-shirt or something.
Mr. Lozano: Yeah, but I can’t remember which.
Detective Nida: Purple shirt?
Mr. Lozano: Yeah, I think so.
Detective Nida: Is it back at the trailer? (Leslie Berens' trailer.) Did you throw it away?
Mr. Lozano: It should be with my stuff there. Shirt’s there.
Detective Nida: Why did you use her ATM card?
Mr. Lozano: It was my money. I sent her $700 last week.
Detective Nida: You haven’t tried to use her ATM card since.
Mr. Lozano: No.
Detective Nida: How much money did you send her all total? Do you know? Rough estimate.
Mr. Lozano: Something like two grand.
Detective Nida: How much is in her bank account? Do you know?
Mr. Lozano: I have no idea. Might have been more though. I’m not sure. Yeah it was more because I paid -- I paid her phone bill -- two phone bills.
Detective Nida: You paid her phone bill?
Mr. Lozano: Yeah. When she was out there --
Detective Nida: Oh.
Mr. Lozano: -- she ran up a hell of a phone bill. Six-hundred-and-something on her cell phone bill. And then her regular phone was another four hundred. So I sent her that. I sent her odd amounts like two and three and four, five hundred. You know, odd amounts like that.
Detective Nida: Since that day, have you driven her car?
Mr. Lozano: No.
Detective Nida: It’s been parked there the whole time?
Mr. Lozano: Yeah.
Detective Nida: Have you called anyone and told them what happened?
Mr. Lozano: No.
Detective Nida: What about Emmett?
Mr. Lozano: He -- he can be kept out of this, can’t he? I mean, he’s not a -- do I gotta ruin his life?
Detective Nida: No. Sounds like he’s done good for himself.
Mr. Lozano: Yeah.
Detective Nida: Were you using Larry’s computer back at the house a little bit?
Mr. Lozano: No.
Detective Nida: You didn’t use the computer?
Mr. Lozano: No. Yeah, but I couldn’t get on. Oh, I did get on to my E-mail. Yeah. Yeah.
Detective Nida: Were you just checking your email or did you E-mail somebody?
Mr. Lozano: No, was just checking my mail.
Detective Nida: You didn’t E-mail anybody.
Mr. Lozano: Yeah, from Idaho.
Detective Nida: Who did you E-mail from Idaho?
Mr. Lozano: Huh?
Detective Nida: Who?
Mr. Lozano: No, from Idaho.
Detective Nida: Yeah. Who did you email from Idaho?
Mr. Lozano: Oh, my cousin John.
Detective Nida: Where does he live.
Mr. Lozano: Stockton.
Detective Nida: Did you tell him anything?
Mr. Lozano: No. I just told him that my life had just gone to sXXt, you know, I’ll see him when I see him. Maybe in the next life, probably not in this one.
Detective Nida: Where’s your cell phone?
Mr. Lozano: It’s at the house.
Detective Nida: Where at at the house? At the trailer?
Mr. Lozano: Yeah.
Detective Nida: Where at?
Mr. Lozano: It’s in the bedroom with all my stuff.
Detective Nida: Did you have it off?
Mr. Lozano: Took the SIM card out of it.
Detective Nida: How come?
Mr. Lozano: (Inaudible.)
Detective Nida: So we couldn’t track you?
Mr. Lozano: Pretty much. Yeah.
Detective Nida: Is the -- is the SIM card with you or did you toss it out the window?
Mr. Lozano: It’s gone.
Detective Nida: It’s gone. Were you able to retrieve messages from your cell phone if the SIM card’s gone or does it not even work?
Mr. Lozano: It doesn’t even work.
Detective Nida: Okay. Did you think I’d find you down here?
Mr. Lozano: I knew you guys were coming. I just didn’t think it would be until tomorrow.
Detective Nida: Really?
Mr. Lozano: Yeah.
Detective Nida: Why is that?
Mr. Lozano: Because of something Larry said.
Detective Nida: What did he say?
Mr. Lozano: Just the way he left and what he said.
Detective Nida: He didn’t know anything. He didn’t know a word, nothing, when he left.
Mr. Lozano: Really?
Detective Nida: Really.
Mr. Lozano: You guys tack me down through that one computer thing? Because I used his computer?
Detective Nida: Actually, his name came up in the investigation.
Mr. Lozano: Oh, okay.
Detective Nida: So --
Mr. Lozano: I know where that one came from. I’m not mad anymore at anybody. I just really wish it didn’t happen.
Detective Nida: Why did you do the second shot.
Mr. Lozano: So she wouldn’t suffer.
Detective Nida: That’s fair.
Mr. Lozano: I’ve seen people gut shot before. It’s not good.
Detective Nida: Yeah.
Mr. Lozano: I know something about the inside of the human body and that was not a good shot. Very dark blood. Yeah. Very dark. They never get it right in the
movies, do they?
Detective Nida: No, they can’t.
Mr. Lozano: What else you need to know?
Detective Nida: Anything else you want to tell me?
Mr. Lozano: About it. Poor Larry. I should’ve known better, too.
Detective Nida: Yeah. He’s -- he’s a little shaken up not knowing what’s going on. He didn’t know. He didn’t -- he didn’t make any call to us or anything like that.
Hang on a second. I’ll be right back.
Mr. Lozano: Okay.
(Detective Nida leaves the room for a moment and returns.)
Detective Nida: My partner came up with some stuff to ask you.
Was anyone else there?
Mr. Lozano: No.
Detective Nida: No one else was there? No one else saw this?
Mr. Lozano: No.
Detective Nida: Had people just left?
Mr. Lozano: Yeah, but I can’t remember who.
Detective Nida: Did you see --
Mr. Lozano: Somebody came for -- for the pills. And then the pill guy showed up so that got done. And then there was a possible crank deal involved, too. I’m not sure.
Did you see her on her cell phone in the trailer?
Mr. Lozano: I’m not sure. I don’t -- I don’t remember.
Were you guys really yelling at each other or anything?
Mr. Lozano: No.
Detective Nida: Was she on her cell phone?
Mr. Lozano: Yeah. Yeah. She was I think, at one – at one point because I waited for her to get off.
Detective Nida: Was she talking to somebody?
Mr. Lozano: Yeah.
Detective Nida: Oh, she was?
Mr. Lozano: Yeah.
Detective Nida: She was inside the trailer talking to somebody on the cell phone?
Mr. Lozano: Yeah.
Detective Nida: Okay.
Mr. Lozano: So I waited for her to finish her call and I asked her for my stuff.
Detective Nida: Did you call 9-1-1?
Mr. Lozano: No.
Detective Nida: Did you get -- did you think about getting medical help for her?
Mr. Lozano: No.
Detective Nida: After you shot her, did you go back into the house after you left the trailer?
Mr. Lozano: Mm-hmm.
Detective Nida: What did you get from inside the house?
Mr. Lozano: My wallet. My cell phone.
Detective Nida: Okay. Anything else?
Mr. Lozano: Un-huh.
Detective Nida: And then from the house you went to her car?
Mr. Lozano: No, it was already out. I had driven it around.
(I wonder if that was before or after he shot her.)
Detective Nida: Okay. And then you used her ATM card up in Markleeville. Where is her ATM card now?
Mr. Lozano: Threw it away.
Detective Nida: Threw it away. Did you throw it away at Larry’s?
Mr. Lozano: No. I threw it -- I cut it up and threw it in the dumpster.
Detective Nida: Where at?
Mr. Lozano: Here.
Detective Nida: At Larry’s?
Mr. Lozano: Well, the one down at the end.
Detective Nida: At the dumpster at the end. Okay. Anything else in there you threw away?
Mr. Lozano: (Shakes head.)
Detective Nida: When did you do that, the day after you got here?
Mr. Lozano: Mm-hmm.
Detective Nida: How come you did that?
Mr. Lozano: I wasn’t gonna use it again. I didn’t see any need to leave it where somebody else could pick it up and use it.
Detective Nida: How come you didn’t get your stuff out of the trailer?
Mr. Lozano: I just -- I panicked. I gotta go.
Detective Nida: You gotta go, is that what you said?
Mr. Lozano: I had to go. Yeah.
Detective Nida: What was going through your mind then? Was it like holly sXXX?
Mr. Lozano: Holy fXXk. That was just it. My life was fXXXin’ over just that quck. Two lives -- a whole bunch of lives. Petrified.
Detective Nida: Did you take anything else that belonged to her?
Mr. Lozano: Just her wallet. It was already in the car though.
Detective Nida: Okay. Her purse was in the car?
Mr. Lozano: Yeah.
Detective Nida: Did she have a bunch of pills in the purse, too?
Mr. Lozano: No.
Detective Nida: She didn’t?
Mr. Lozano: No.
Detective Nida: What happened to all the pills?
Mr. Lozano: All the what pills?
Detective Nida: That her supply brought her.
Mr. Lozano: The guy that came for the pills got the pills. She said she had 200 of them of something. I don’t know. I guess he took about 200 pills.
Detective Nida: None of them were in her purse?
Mr. Lozano: No. She said that and then somebody showed up for them’
Detective Nida: Did you ever see the pills?
Mr. Lozano: No. I didn’t witness the transaction, no.
Detective Nida: But in others, you have? Did you take a shower or anything in the house?
Mr. Lozano: Before I left?
Detective Nida: Yeah.
Mr. Lozano: Oh, no. I did that morning when I got up.
Detective Nida: That’s reasonable.
Mr. Lozano: Yeah. (Inaudible) I didn’t today, but…
Detective Nida: Sometimes we get those days, too. Did you make sure that she was dead or did you just assume that she was dead?
Mr. Lozano: No, I made sure.
Detective Nida: How did you make sure?
Mr. Lozano: I saw the last breath.
Detective Nida: How soon after the second shot did that take place?
Mr. Lozano: Seconds.
Detective Nida: Was she gargling at breathing?
Can you hear it now?
Mr. Lozano: Yeah.
Detective Nida: You can? It’s just interesting to me. That’s why I ask you those questions. Because, you know, I’ve talked to people in your shoes before, sometimes people don’t (sometimes people do) and sometimes they don’t. But you’re willing to talk to me and I appreciate that. It’s just interesting to me.
Mr. Lozano: It doesn’t stop.
Detective Nida: Did you love her? Ya still love her?
Mr. Lozano: Yeah. That’s why it won’t go away. It just won’t go away. And I never hear anybody talk about that.
Detective Nida: They don’t wanna talk about that part. I mean, you had -- you pretty much drove directly from her house, got the gas, and then down here. No stops in between? So the whole time you were thinking about it.
Mr. Lozano: And it hasn’t stopped. I don’t think it ever will. That’s my penance.
Detective Nida: The first shot, did she drop her gun after the first shot?
Mr. Lozano: Yeah.
Detective Nida: And the second shot. And then where did you put the shotgun, your shotgun?
Mr. Lozano: On the counter cushion.
Detective Nida: How come you left it?
Mr. Lozano: Done with it.
Detective Nida: The shotgun that you used, does that belong to her? Is that hers?
Mr. Lozano: As far as I knew, they were all hers.
Detective Nida: Okay.
Mr. Lozano: I took the one pistol that belongs to her boy.
Detective Nida: How come you grabbed those? How come you grabbed those and didn’t take the shotgun?
Mr. Lozano: I don’t know. I really don’t know. I don’t know.
Detective Nida: Were they locked in that? I mean --
Mr. Lozano: Yeah.
Detective Nida: That silver box, was it locked?
Mr. Lozano: Yeah.
Detective Nida: What’s the combination?
Mr. Lozano: 357.
Detective Nida: And did she make up that combination?
Mr. Lozano: Yeah.
Detective Nida: Okay. Anything else in the trailer that you grabbed?
Mr. Lozano: No. No.
Detective Nida: So let me do a quick summary of what happened so I know I got it straight in my head. You guys got in an argument. She was already in the trailer. You were outside the trailer. She had the shotgun in there with her. At some point during that argument, she pointed a shotgun at you?
Mr. Lozano: Oh, yeah.
Detective Nida: Has she ever -- sidetrack here. Has she ever pointed a gun at you before?
Mr. Lozano: No.
Detective Nida: No?
Mr. Lozano: Not unless (That’s why I knew) she was serious.
Detective Nida: Yeah. That’s true. So she points the gun at you and then you go to the house to get the shotgun.
Mr. Lozano: She just showed me the shotgun.
Detective Nida: Okay. She showed it to you. By showing it to you, what do you mean?
Mr. Lozano: Well, she showed me that she had the shotgun. She wasn’t gonna you know…
Detective Nida: Okay. But she didn’t have it raised at you at that point.
Mr. Lozano: No. Not at that point. No.
Detective Nida: Okay. But did she say anything to you like I’m gonna shoot you? I’m gonna anything? What did she say.
Mr. Lozano: She didn’t say anything. You know. I’m just like, okay. You know, I went back in the house and I thought about it, went to get the other gun and walked back out with it.
(Hmmm, so much for self defense or heat of passion!)
Detective Nida: What was the time difference between you leaving the trailer, hanging out at the house --
Mr. Lozano: maybe three, four minutes.
Detective Nida: Between coming back to the trailer?
Mr. Lozano: Yeah. That’s when I found her on the phone again.
Detective Nida: So yeah. When you came back you found her on the phone?
Mr. Lozano: I was waiting for her to get off.
Detective Nida: And you had the shotgun down to your side. A little more verbal occurred.
Mr. Lozano: Yeah. Same story, I just wanted to get my sXXt out.
Detective Nida: And she just didn’t wanna let you in?
Mr. Lozano: I didn’t want in.
Detective Nida: Yeah. She wouldn’t even just give you your stuff. And at that point, she had the --
Mr. Lozano: That’s when she leveled the gun at my head.
(Duhh! If she saw you go into the house, I’m sure she saw you coming out with Nick’s shotgun. You thought you hid it at the trailer but they’re hard to hide while you’re walking! As Kacie would have said… STOOPID!)
Detective Nida: She leveled it at your head. Because the trailer’s up higher. She’s up a little high. You’re standing on the ground,
Mr. Lozano: Yeah.
Detective Nida: Did you have a foot up on the green chair?
Mr. Lozano: No, just standing.
Detective Nida: So you were standing. And so she raises it up and it’s pretty much level with your head.
Mr. Lozano: Yeah. It was pointing right up here at me. (Indicating.) (Pointing at his forehead.)
Detective Nida: Okay. So you --
Mr. Lozano: I could see the shell practically.
Detective Nida: So you drew yours and fired?
Mr. Lozano: No. I just put it up in the window.
Detective Nida: Okay.
Mr. Lozano: I didn’t say anything. I just -- I looked down the barrel and looked up at her and I thought she was gonna pull the trigger. And she yanked on the shotgun and it went off -- well, my finger was on the trigger. I can’t say –
(So did she yank on it or you just can’t say…)
Detective Nida: You knew it was gonna go off.
Mr. Lozano: No.
Detective Nida: You didn’t know your shotgun was gonna go off?
Mr. Lozano: No.
Detective Nida: How could you not know it was gonna go off?
Mr. Lozano: Well I didn’t know she was gonna yank it. I wasn’t gonna pull the trigger.
Detective Nida: Okay. I’m not understanding that then.
Mr. Lozano: Well, when she yanked --
Detective Nida: She yanked your shotgun or hers?
Mr. Lozano: No, mine. She reached down with her left hand and grabbed mine.
Detective Nida: Okay. So she grabbed the shotgun?
Mr. Lozano: Yeah,
Detective Nida: And that’s when you pulled the trigger?
Mr. Lozano: Yeah. Yeah.
Detective Nida: And it was the gut shot at that point?
Mr. Lozano: Yeah.
Detective Nida: So she reached down and the shotgun you have is through the trailer window. Is it already through?
Mr. Lozano: Yeah.
Detective Nida: So she’s got ahold of it and her gun now is maybe falling down or it’s in her right hand. She’s right-handed?
Mr. Lozano: Mm-hmm.
Detective Nida: Okay. And she’s got ahold of it and that’s when --
Mr. Lozano: Yeah.
Detective Nida: The trigger’s pulled. And then so she -- she’s shot and turns away from you? And you’re still out? And then she walks towards the kitchenette area and the second shot is there while she’s still standing. Okay. Did she say anything to you in between that time?
Mr. Lozano: No.
Detective Nida: How far apart were the shots in time?
Mr. Lozano: Less than 30 seconds.
Detective Nida: And you did shoot from outside the trailer?
Mr. Lozano: Yeah.
Detective Nida: Anything else you can think of that I haven’t asked you?
Mr. Lozano: No.
Detective Nida: Okay. Well, that’s it. I’m gonna get you transported so you can get a little more comfortable. Because I can tell this isn’t a comfortable position for you here. And what’s gonna happen is you’re gonna be booked into this county’s jail and then at some point you’ll be brought back up to El Dorado County. Okay?
Let me go out there and see if there’s anything else.
Do you have any questions for me?
Mr. Lozano: No.
Detective Nida: Nothing? How do you think this went?
Mr. Lozano: Pretty much like I thought it would.
Detective Nida: Really?
Mr. Lozano: Yeah.
Detective Nida: Are you on any medication right now?
Mr. Lozano: No.
Detective Nida: Nothing? And you said you smoked pot at some point. When did that happen?
Mr. Lozano: I don’t really.
Detective Nida: I mean, was that today? Was it yesterday? How recent was that?
Mr. Lozano: Today. Yesterday.
Detective Nida: How long ago today? Not for any criminal purposes, just for the point of the interview.
Mr. Lozano: No. This morning.
Detective Nida: Okay. Are you feeling the effects of that now?
Mr. Lozano: No. No. I didn’t have that much.
Detective Nida: Okay. All right. I can’t think of anything else if you got nothing.
Mr. Lozano: No. I got my penance to do.
Detective Nida: Yeah.
Mr. Lozano: I was thinking -- that day after it happened. I thought I’ve never killed anybody in my life. I didn’t know what that was like. You know, being raised Catholic and I’m not a practicing Catholic.
Detective Nida: Yeah, but once it’s in your head.
Mr. Lozano: It doesn’t go away. So -- sXXXtI thought I could get out of this life without taking somebody else’s, you know? I don’t know how -- how it happened or why pretty much. I mean. I just don’t know. (Inaudible.)
Detective Nida: Were you mad at the time? Did she piss ya off?
Mr. Lozano: I was -- I was just so fXXXin’ disappointed with all of that sXXt. You know. I just wanted my shit and I wanted to get out of there.
Detective Nida: Why did you shave?
Mr. Lozano: Didn’t like the beard anymore.
Detective Nida: New you?
Mr. Lozano: Nah. (Inaudible) without a beard. It was longer than that recently. She wasn’t happy about that, too.
Detective Nida: About it being gone?
Mr. Lozano: Yeah. My hair was long. My hair was down to the middle of my back and my beard was real long. But it was getting dangerous doing what I was doing. She wasn’t happy about that.
Detective Nida: She wasn’t happy that you cut off your hair?
Mr. Lozano: Or my beard.
Detective Nida: And then when did you go clean-shaven?
Mr. Lozano: When I got here. That’s about it. You’re tired.
Detective Nida: Oh, I could talk all day. It’s interesting to me, Mario. They’re calling me again. Hang on a second. I’ll probably be back.
(Detective Nida leaves the room again and returns a short time later.)
Detective Nida: My partner again. He wants me to clarify something. How ya doing? Are you doing all right? As well as can be expected?
Mr. Lozano: Yeah.
Detective Nida: After the first shot.
Mr. Lozano: He can come in here, you know.
Detective Nida: I know. We actually -- we like to just have one-on-one.
After the first shot. How come you didn’t call 9-1-1 at that point? Did you think about that?
Mr. Lozano: No. She was -- no. She wasn’t gonna make it.
Detective Nida: Okay. So between the two shots you think it was about 30 seconds?
Mr. Lozano: Yeah, no more than that.
Detective Nida: So let’s say starting from what point? Tell me when you think the estimate of 30 seconds would have been the second shot. So first shot. (She slaps the table.)
Mr. Lozano: 30 seconds. No more.
Detective Nida: You’re sure it was 30 seconds, not less than 30 seconds?
Mr. Lozano: It might have been less --
Detective Nida: Okay.
Mr. Lozano: But no more than that.
Detective Nida: Okay. It was enough for her to go to the other end of the trailer?
Mr. Lozano: Yeah.
Detective Nida: And her back was to you? She never turned around towards you?
Mr. Lozano: (Shakes head.)
Detective Nida: Okay. Because from the evidence at the scene, it looked like that the rounds hit her from the front rather than the back. And it didn’t?
Mr. Lozano: (Shakes head.)
Detective Nida: Interesting.
Mr. Lozano: Right here (indicating). (Pointing at the back of his head.)
Detective Nida: Actually, right here (indicating). (Pointing at her left temple.) Actually, right here (indicating). (Pointing at her right temple.) Sorry. Right here (indicating). (A little higher than the temple.) More on top.
The vacuum cleaner was knocked over.
Mr. Lozano: I don’t know.
Detective Nida: You don’t know? Did she grab it or anything?
Mr. Lozano: I don’t know about the vacuum cleaner. I never seen the vacuum.
Detective Nida: It was in the doorway.
Mr. Lozano: No. I don’t remember.
Detective Nida: How come you went into the trailer?
Mr. Lozano: Well, I went in to get my bags, but I didn’t.
Detective Nida: Because when you got in the trailer what happened in your mind?
Mr. Lozano: Well, I saw what was happening, what had happened. I said hell, It don’t matter if I got clothes now. Just go.
Detective Nida: How close were you to her when you watched her die?
Mr. Lozano: About four feet, five feet. Maybe five feet.
Detective Nida: Where were you standing?
Mr. Lozano: Between the cushions, right at the end.
Detective Nida: After the second shot, did she immediately fall down?
Mr. Lozano: No.
Detective Nida: Did she fold her knees first?
Mr. Lozano: No.
Detective Nida: Okay. So -- I’m just trying to remember from what I’ve seen so I can match it all up from what I’ve been looking at. Where was she standing at the second shot, It was kinda by where that table was basically. It wasn’t all the way back of the --
Mr. Lozano: No.
Detective Nida: Okay. And then you shot her and the pellet still went in and hit the clock and stuff. Did you hear the glass break by chance?
Mr. Lozano: No, I didn’t.
Detective Nida: Okay.
Mr. Lozano: The air conditioner was on.
Detective Nida: Yeah.
Mr. Lozano: It was pretty loud.
Detective Nida: It was loud? You could hear it?
Mr. Lozano: Yeah. You couldn’t hear anything else.
Detective Nida: Did her phone ring? Did you hear her phone ring?
Mr. Lozano: No.
Detective Nida: How come you didn’t grab her cell phone?
Mr. Lozano: Didn’t need it. Didn’t need money (Didn’t need mine) either.
Detective Nida: Yeah. You got rid of that. How come you kept the cell phone itself?
Mr. Lozano: To get rid of the SIM card.
Detective Nida: Right. But I’m saying why didn’t you just get rid of the whole phone instead of just the SIM card?
Mr. Lozano: I don’t know.
Detective Nida: Okay.
Mr. Lozano: I don’t know. No rhyme or reason to it.
Detective Nida: And you’ve been using phone cards?
Mr. Lozano: Mm-hmm.
Detective Nida: Tell me how you use those.
Mr. Lozano: Just buy the phone card and go to a pay phone.
Detective Nida: Okay. What pay phone did you use?
Mr. Lozano: In Idaho.
Detective Nida: Okay.
Mr. Lozano: (Inaudible.)
Detective Nida: Me neither.
Mr. Lozano: I made one call from the motel room.
Detective Nida: Using the phone card?
Mr. Lozano: Mm-hmm.
Detective Nida: And those are the phone cards that are in the trailer with all your stuff?
Mr. Lozano: Mm-hmm.
Detective Nida: Why did you call Emmett?
Mr. Lozano: Because I know he would have called by then down there and see how I was doing and he’d know. So -- there’s no excusing it. I mean, there’s no -- nothing that makes it right. I just really wish it hadn’t happened, but --
Detective Nida: When you look back at it, what -- when you’ve replayed it in your head all these millions of times, do you think at what point you could have stopped it from happening?
Mr. Lozano: Yeah, staying in Kauai. She was -- when I got back, she was laid up for about a week with her back. (Inaudible) you know. So I had been running to the store for her and that sort of thing. And as soon as that crank showed up, I mean, she was out of that bed like a fXXXin’ shot and I was a piece of sXXt from then on.
Detective Nida: She didn’t wanna have anything to do with you?
Did you get in on the 12th?
Mr. Lozano: Yeah.
Detective Nida: At San Francisco?
Mr. Lozano: Mm-hmm.
Detective Nida: And who brought you to Placerville?
Mr. Lozano: A friend if hers.
Detective Nida: Do you know who that is?
Mr. Lozano: Yeah. Denise. Not Denise, but Danessa.
Detective Nida: Danessa.
Mr. Lozano: Danessa, yeah.
Detective Nida: Okay. Do you have anything to say to Nick?
Mr. Lozano: Oh, God. Ain’t nothing to say. What can I say?
Detective Nida: The dog was in the trailer.
Mr. Lozano: I know.
Detective Nida: This should be about it.
Did you use any of the pills, Any dope, anything while -- since you’ve been here in California?
Mr. Lozano: She gave me a couple Ativans. Because I was so -- I couldn’t sleep very well because, you know, midnight here is 9:00 there. So a couple nights of tossing and turning, she gave me one one night ,one the next. She gave me a couple of pain pills, too.
Detective Nida: What were they? Do you know?
Mr. Lozano: Yeah. Vicodins, I think. But it was -- that was during the first week and there wasn’t anymore after that.
Detective Nida: So besides the pot, there hasn’t been anything else in your system?
Mr. Lozano: No.
Detective Nida: Okay. No meth?
Mr. Lozano: Nope.
Detective Nida: And was there meth going out of that house?
Mr. Lozano: Yeah.
Detective Nida: Do you know who was bringing that over? Same person?
Mr. Lozano: Mm-hmm.
Detective Nida: And then she was selling it?
Mr. Lozano: Or trading it or something. I don’t know. She was working her deals. I really didn’t wanna know.
Detective Nida: How come? How come? Since your past you have a history of using.
Mr. Lozano: Yeah. I know. Yeah.
Detective Nida: So you’ve been clean?
Mr. Lozano: Yeah.
Detective Nida: Okay.
Mr. Lozano: I have Hepatitis C. So pain I’m not gonna use. And I just found out this year over there. And it’s not as aggressive as some of it is, but methamphetamine and alcohol are a sure trip to the hole.
(So I wonder if you bothered to mention that to Kacie… as if she didn’t have enough health problems.)
Detective Nida: Got it. Okay. I didn’t know that.
Mr. Lozano: Any pain. You know, I’ve been having to be very careful while I was working and everything. I had this leg (indicating) (I decided not to bother telling where Mario was complaining about.) swell up while I was out there. In fact, it almost got me killed.
Detective Nida: From the leg swelling up?
Mr. Lozano: Yeah, Because I developed a blood clot down here (indicating).
Detective Nida: Oh.
Mr. Lozano: And the doc had ordered an ultrasound for me and I just -- I didn’t go for, like, 20 days, you know? And then it was just so tight and so hot that I couldn’t work anymore. So I went to the emergency room and they keep me that night and started feeding me Lovenox injections, blood thinners. Because the blood clot had traveled up here (indicating).
Detective Nida: Wow.
Mr. Lozano: And it was just about to go.
Detective Nida: Uh-huh.
Mr. Lozano: Pulmonary embolism. Yeah. Most likely, you know, a stroke maybe or whatever. But that’s why I came back, because the course of Lovenox for one week. And then for one week they gave me enough (inaudible) syringes already prepared abd they told me to pump them in here (indicating).
Detective Nida: Okay.
Mr. Lozano: In the belly fat. And halfway through that, they started me on Coumadim, like 5 milligrams.
Detective Nida: And that’s to reduce the clot?
Mr. Lozano: That just thins the blood out. Yeah. That’s -- generally it’s to dissolve the clot. So I was down -- by the time I got here. I was down to two and a half milligrams a day. They cut me down. So that might still be in there, but that’s about it.
Detective Nida: So for the Hep C, you’re not taking any medications right now? You don’t need to medicate yet?
Mr. Lozano: Yeah. He wanted me to, but it was time to come home.
Detective Nida: Is there anything that you’d like to say to Nick? Do you wanna write him a letter or anything?
Mr. Lozano: I may. Not right now. That’s another piece of penance That I’ll come around to. You know what I mean?
Detective Nida: Mm-hmm. He’s a strong kid.
Mr. Lozano: Yeah.
Detective Nida: All right. Mario, I really appreciate you talking to me. Anything else?
Mr. Lozano: No.
Detective Nida: Anything else that you’re thinking that you wanna talk about?
Mr. Lozano: No.
Detective Nida: That long ride back from Idaho, were you thinking about it?
Mr. Lozano: Yeah. The whole time I was there.
Detective Nida: Were you? All right. We’ll getcha out of here.
You don’t have any injuries on you right now, right?
Mr. Lozano: Nothing.
Detective Nida: Any -- any -- okay. No.
The deputy went out to take you back to Bridgeport. So you’re gonna be hanging here until that deputy comes. All right?
Mr. Lozano: Yeah.
(Detective Nida leaves the room and they stop the video here in court. There is one more small part of the transcription left to record.)
Officer: Okay. Go ahead and stand up and face the wall, sir. Put your other hand on the wall.
Shake this one out. Okay. Walk out this way.
(End of videotaped interview.)
---oOo---
11:14 The video ended.
Gomes states, Lt. Nida says there are about 7 errors but they are insignificant.
Judge Keller asks, any further evidence offered on defense?
Atwell calls Lieutenant Nida to the stand.
Judge Keller interrupts and says; let’s break for 15 minutes.

I asked the Lieutenant if I could get a copy of the interview. She said, no I don’t think so. I asked, maybe after court is over? No, she said, I don’t think it will be made available. Dang it! I thought and left the courtroom. I saw someone in the hall (I’ll keep the name anonymous) with a copy and asked if I could get a copy. No problem, I’m told, they are going to make a copy for Doug and Annie anyway. (Thanks, Jesus!)

11:35 Judge Keller enters.
Jurors enter.
Lieutenant Nida is on the stand.
Atwell asks, you’re a Lieutenant with the Placerville police Department? You were present when the DVD # 81a was recorded? Nida answered, yes.
A Was that the record of your interview? N Yes.
A Was anything dropped? N No.
A Was anything added? N No.
Atwell offers exhibit #81,the sleeve, and #81a, the disc, into evidence.
Atwell enters the transcript into evidence also.
Judge Keller states, the original will be admitted but will not entered into the jury room. A copy will be available if they ask for it.
The copies of the interview are collected.
A …some indications that was observed with what… Mario’s hands. N Yes.
A One hand shackled. N Yes.
A Where? N A bar on the wall.
A Where was Mario’s wallet? N At the trailer, I believe.
A …bank book in it? N I don’t believe so.
A Who is Larry? N Leslie is his true name.
A The defense rests.
Judge Keller asks, rebuttal? Gomes answers, no.
11:20 Judge says, we can’t instruct, let’s come back at 1:15.
The jury leaves.
The Judge says, let’s go over the exhibits and decides with Gomes and Atwell which evidence will be made available for the jurors.
11:50 Break for lunch.