By Lisbeth Martinez
MERCED –– In a preliminary hearing here in Merced County Superior Court this past week, a Merced man was charged with two different criminal offenses, including corporal injury to a spouse—he allegedly bit her—and violation of a court order to stay away from the victim.
According to prosecution facts, on Oct. 9, 2020, Adam Ishmail Lozano got into a heated argument with his girlfriend of the time, and Judge David Moranda held that the evidence shows the defendant to be guilty of engaging in a physical altercation that resulted in his girlfriend being bit by him.
On May 20, 2020, Lozano was served in court a no-contact order that prohibited contact with his girlfriend following a domestic violence case that had occurred. He allegedly violated that order.
At the beginning of the preliminary hearing, Deputy District Attorney Anthony Colacito called the witness, Lozano’s girlfriend, to give her testimony. She said Lozano had left their Los Banos trailer to drink with friends when the police were summoned.
According to her, no physical altercation with the defendant took place, but she does admit they had a verbal disagreement, adding, “It was just an argument, that’s it.”
Colacito proceeded to ask the witness about her relationship with the defendant, to which she shared that they had a six-month baby together and a child she had with a previous partner. 
However, they are no longer dating.
When the witness was asked about her living situation with the defendant she responded that “the first time he went to jail we did live together, but then when he got out…we didn’t.” The witness claimed that they no longer live together because, after the defendant’s release, there was a restraining order they were not aware of.
On the night of the incident, the police were called, but the witness asserted she did not call the police. When asked to recall the argument that occurred between the defendant and herself, she said, “I honestly don’t even remember it was a long time ago.”
The witness claimed that, after this argument, Lozano did not harm her or leave any marks on her body. She also testified that the argument had nothing to do with taking her children.
Under cross-examination by Defense Attorney Anthony Green, the witness stated that she did not know who called the police, but that they tend to be at the trailer park routinely. “Where I live, there is always something going on, so the police are always there,” she said.
The witness denied remembering talking to a police officer that night, which resulted in the defense attorney asking if she was drinking that night. The witness explained that she was drinking with her mother at her mother’s trailer, “not a lot, like one or two beers, but that was it.”
The witness insisted Lozano never got physically violent with her. The district attorney asked what occurred after the argument and the witness responded that “we both left.” The witness claimed she went back to her mother’s trailer, but she didn’t know where the defendant went.
Following her testimony, DDA Colacito called Officer Jairo Acosta, who shared that it was the witness’ mother who contacted him. He arrived at the scene and said the defendant’s girlfriend “arrived shortly and told [him] there was a physical altercation which resulted in her being bit by Mr. Lozano.”
Lozano’s girlfriend proceeded to show the officer the visible bite mark she had got on her left upper arm. Officer Acosta testified the bite mark had teeth indentations and that it looked like a fresh bite mark, noting, “The bite mark was red. A little bit of the skin was broken. It looked like a fresh bite mark in my opinion.”
The DDA asked if the defendant’s girlfriend said why the argument began, and Officer Acosta responded, “She mentioned that the argument began initially because he had left to go drink with his friends so she decided to leave her trailer to go to her mother’s house. Mr. Lozano went to his mother-in-law’s house to take their kids back to their trailer, and that’s when the physical altercation took place.”
When cross-examined by the defense attorney, Officer Acosta said the defendant was not present at his mother-in-law’s trailer. He said that the witness had mentioned that the defendant may have been at a friend’s house in a nearby trailer. However, the police officer went to a different trailer but Lozano was not there.
Officer Acosta also said he did record his interview with Lozano’s girlfriend through his body camera. Green asked if pictures of the bite marks were taken and the police officer responded that “it was captured on the body camera itself, but yes I did take pictures.”
Judge Moranda will hold the defendant to answer and set arraignment and trial setting for Jan. 29 at 9:30 a.m.
Lisbeth Martinez is a third year at UC Davis, double majoring in Communication and Political Science. She currently lives in Shafter, California.
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