By Novpreet Shoker
Monday’s jury trial in Department 14 was almost over, despite just beginning in the early morning. Defendant Anthony Martinez is facing charges of driving while drunk, and refusing to take a test from a DUI arrest dating back to February 26, 2016.
This afternoon’s session, which was overseen by Judge David Rosenberg, continued on with opening statements from Martinez’s defense counsel, Attorney Richard Lansburgh. Mr. Lansburgh finished off his introduction by asking each individual in the jury to “exercise your duty as a juror.”
The testimony then began with the People’s first witness, Woodland Police Officer Evan Black, who has been on the force about three years, along with additional previous law enforcement experience. He went on to estimate about 50 or more DUI-related arrests on his part, as well as about 100 or more assists on DUI-related arrests.
The People asked Officer Black about the events that transpired in February of 2016, the night Martinez was arrested.
Officer Black recounted that he was called to the scene, while on regular patrol duty. When asked if he was in uniform, and in a marked Woodland Police Department vehicle, Officer Black answered yes. He recalled seeing a red Ford pickup truck parked in an odd manner in the middle of a small intersection, with its headlights on. While approaching the vehicle, he noticed the defendant was in the vehicle with his head slumped down, indicating that he had passed out.
He also explained that Martinez was not wearing a seat belt, the pickup truck’s engine was not running and the driver’s side window was rolled down. The People asked the witness where the keys were, and Officer Black said that Martinez was holding them in his right hand.
Officer Black was asked what his initial observations were when approaching Martinez within the vehicle. He explained that he smelled a strong odor of alcohol, and, when he tried to wake Martinez 
and speak with him, Martinez had a general demeanor of intoxication. His eyes were watery, his facial expressions were relaxed and “droopy,” and when he finally spoke he had slurred speech.
When Martinez finally spoke to Officer Black, he reportedly said, “It’s okay, babe. Babe.”
In the middle of Martinez confusedly saying “babe” a few times, Officer Black claimed that Martinez raised his right arm, a motion of trying to put his keys in the ignition. At this point, the officer had to pull the defendant by his left arm and get him out of the vehicle.
When asked for his opinion on Martinez’s overall behavior, Officer Black stated that Martinez was “significantly intoxicated” and that he repeatedly said he just wanted to sleep.
The People then approached the witness with a map that had a bird’s eye view of the location where Martinez’s vehicle was found, for further clarifications.
During cross-examination, Mr. Lansburgh asked for some more details leading up to the arrest, beginning with Officer Black’s response to the call. Officer Black explained that he was alone on patrol duty during a graveyard shift, when he received what law enforcement called a “fresh call” or a “call for service.”
According to the witness, the reporting party called in Martinez and his vehicle because he or she believed it was a hit and run type of situation. This was later proven false by other responding officers and Officer Black.
To reaffirm the witness’ testimony, Mr. Lansburgh asked the officer one more time what his source of information was that night. Officer Black responded that the dispatcher was his source.
Defense went on to ask whether the officer checked to see if Martinez was breathing, and if he was snoring while asleep, to which the officer answered yes and no, respectively. He also clarified other small details such as the engine did not have steam coming out of it, and that there was no “fresh” damage on Martinez’s pickup truck.
At this point, Mr. Lansburgh found a lapse in Officer Black’s report, because he asked the officer if he also checked the pickup truck’s hood, to see if it was warm, which would indicate whether or not it was recently driven. Officer Black answered, rather affirmatively, that he did check the hood of the vehicle.
This is when defense counsel asked if it was described in the officer’s initial report. After looking through his report, Officer Black did concede that not only could he not accurately remember whether the hood was warm or not, but more importantly he did not note it in his report.
Mr. Lansburgh then stated that that was an important piece of information, to which the witness also agreed. He finally asked Officer Black what other important pieces of information were left out of his report. The officer said he did not know.
The questioning returned to when Martinez was lifting his arm to supposedly put his keys in the ignition of the vehicle. Mr. Lansburgh asked if there were multiple keys on Martinez’s key chain, and Officer Black recalled Martinez having several keys on the lanyard.
Then defense suggested that if he had multiple keys, he might have just been “fumbling” with them in his hand, instead of trying to turn his pickup truck on. Officer Black agreed that that was a plausible scenario.
During redirect, the People asked the officer what type of vehicle Martinez was driving that night. Officer Black described it as a 1999 red F150 Ford pickup truck. He also added that at the time of the incident the truck was registered under Martinez’s name.
The People also asked if there was a key for the Ford truck on Martinez’s lanyard, to which Officer Black said yes there was.
The trial ended with some footage, which was retrieved from the cameras off of Officer Black’s vehicle, shown to the jury from the night of February 26, 2016.
The witness was excused, but the People requested that he be subject to recall, which Judge Rosenberg granted. Finally, the jury was excused, seeing as the People’s second and final witness was not available until the next morning, so the trial was set to resume the following morning at 10 a.m.
Outside of the jury, Judge Rosenberg and counsel agreed that by the next day the jury will be beginning deliberation.
