YAKIMA — George Trejo, the defense attorney who represented a teenager in a 1995 murder in Sunnyside, said the state withheld evidence that would have helped his client’s case.
Trejo’s testimony Tuesday was part of a reference hearing held in Yakima County Juvenile Court to determine whether there is new evidence in the case that would warrant Evaristo Junior Salas a new trial in the shooting death of Jose Arreola.
Salas, who was 15 at the time of the murder, was tried as an adult, convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to nearly 33 years in prison. He’s maintained his innocence.
Now, more than 26 years later, new defense attorneys — Laura Shaver and John Marlow of the Innocence Project — say evidence that was withheld from the trial has surfaced, warranting a new trial for Salas.
They say the truck in which Arreola was sitting when shot to death was removed from evidence by his girlfriend, who had it cleaned and sold. They also say the lead detective referred charges of rendering criminal assistance to the prosecutors’ office against her.
The defense attorneys also say an informant who said he overheard Salas bragging about the shooting was paid for working on Salas’ case. The informant, Bill Bruhn, has since recanted his story.
They also raise questions about whether Arreola’s girlfriend, Ofelia Cortez (formerly Gonzalez) underwent hypnosis before identifying Salas as the shooter. In earlier testimony, Cortez said she hadn’t.
Trejo said none of that information was made available to him at trial.
During cross examination, Yakima County Deputy Prosecutor Bret Roberts attacked Trejo’s handling of the case, suggesting he didn’t take the appropriate actions to get the evidence he requested.
Roberts said Trejo knew at trial that Cortez had sold the truck, and that he didn’t follow through with a request for a ballistics expert, nor did he ask the state to look at the truck.
Trejo said he wasn’t aware of the nature in which the truck was removed, nor evidence being destroyed; information that should have been provided without any question.
“That should have been something turned over by the state,” Trejo countered.
Roberts had Trejo review old court transcripts at times and his recent declaration supporting a new trial for Salas.
Roberts pressed Trejo about whether he sought a remedy from the court about not receiving receipts showing Bruhn was paid in addition to other information sought.
“Did you file a motion to compel?” Roberts asked.
Roberts asked if he sought a dismissal for not receiving requested information in the case.
“The fact is, Mr. Trejo, you didn’t take action,” Roberts said.
Trejo said he wasn’t obligated to, and that it was the obligation of the deputy prosecutor to provide that information.
Trejo said not having all the information before trial can handicap a defense.
“That’s why a defense attorney, not just me, would have liked to have all this before trial,” Trejo said. “Deputy prosecutors, you rely on their integrity to provide all the information.”
The informant
Bruhn, slumping with a long face, testified that the lead investigator — former Sunnyside Police Sgt. Jim Rivard — gave him a written statement to use in court. Bruhn likened it to a book report.
Bruhn said he has a criminal past that included theft offenses and lying to police. He said Rivard helped him get a felony burglary charge in Benton County lowered to a misdemeanor.
Bruhn said after that, Rivard began ramping up informant work for him.
He said Rivard gave him money and drugs and told him to party with Salas at a place where youth often hung out in hopes of getting him to talk about the murder.
Bruhn said Salas didn’t say anything about it.
Bruhn said Rivard sent him a second time, still no information.
That’s when Rivard provided him with a statement, Bruhn said.
Bruhn said he didn’t want to testify in court and that Rivard promised he wouldn’t have to.
“He assured me it wouldn’t get to that point,” Bruhn said. “He said it wouldn’t happen.”
Bruhn said when learned that he would be called to testify, he said he had “CRS disease” in a witness hearing with Trejo, meaning he couldn’t remember anything.
Bruhn said he was hoping Trejo would have discredited him as a witness because his testimony would have been a lie.
“It didn’t go down like that,” Bruhn said.
Bruhn said he was arrested as a material witness after telling Rivard he didn’t want to go through with it, and he might flee the area.
“The whole thing was just crap,” Bruhn said.
Bruhn said he’s been beaten up because of the reemerging of the case. He said the first beating came after the case was featured on “Wrong Man,” a documentary series on STARZ.
Shaver introduced a photo of Bruhn with a black eye.
Most recently, he said he’s found notes posted on a telephone pole near his mom’s house and around town with a note urging people to Google Bruhn’s name, that it’s a matter of public record. Attached to the letter is a copy of his declaration recanting his initial story about Salas as false.
Roberts in his cross attacked Bruhn’s credibility, asking him about recent charges in which he pleaded guilty to theft and providing false information to a police officer.
Bruhn said he gave police his brother’s name because he didn’t have a driver’s license.
Vincent Arreola
Vincent Arreola broke into tears on the stand when asked how he was related to Jose Arreola.
“He’s my brother,” Arreola said, wiping tears.
He said he didn’t know Salas.
“I don’t recognize him; I don’t know him,” Vincent Arreola said.
He was questioned about the truck in which his brother was shot.
On Monday, Cortez said Vincent Arreola and his friend, Tony, went with her to retrieve the truck at Denny Marrow Towing.
Vincent Arreola said that wasn’t true.
“I just remember them saying they had to get the truck out,” he said.
Vincent Arreola said two others, a married couple who later divorced, went with Cortez to retrieve the truck.
Evaristo Salas
Salas, who is serving his time at Airway Heights Correctional Center in Spokane County, attended via video conference.
He had sat quietly and listened attentively throughout the hearing. Shaver called him to testify on Tuesday. His testimony was short and brief.
He said he didn’t kill Arreola and that he’d never talked to Bruhn before.
Salas said he lived near Rainier Court where Bruhn said he bragged about the killing, and that kids from his neighborhood often hung out there, as well as others he didn’t know.
The hearing continues Wednesday.
