Morning Testimony, Part 1
DAY NINE - April 17, 2023
https://twitter.com/KGETnews
Trial has resumed in the case of Trezell and Jacqueline West, charged with murder in the deaths of their adopted sons Orrin, 4, and Orson, 3.
Bakersfield police Detective John Ryan is back on the stand.
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Ryan is being questioned by prosecutor Eric Smith.
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Ryan has identified an item shown to him as a warrant for bank records for the Wests. It's from Strata Credit Union.
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Smith ended his questioning and Alekxia Torres Stallings, lead counsel for Jacqueline West, is about to cross-examine him.
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Torres Stallings is going over his training. She asked how many missing persons cases he worked in the gang unit. "I don't recall any in the gang unit," Ryan said. When he was on patrol there were "numerous" cases involving missing people, maybe 1 or 2 with children.
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Ryan said he's a liaison with the FBI, but works for BPD. He said any training he had in that job is on the job training with them.
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He's the terrorism liaison officer, but it's not necessarily all terrorism cases, there are ones involving drugs and sex trafficking, whatever they give him. Only this one involved missing children, he said.
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Under questioning by Torres Stallings, Ryan said he was called to Cal City on Dec. 22, 2020, for a missing persons case, not a homicide investigation.
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Through questioning by Torres Stallings and followup by Judge Charles R. Brehmer, Ryan acknowledged human trafficking occurs through Interstate 5.
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Ryan testified he arrived Dec. 22 and was on the street but not in the Wests' house. Before he interviewed Jacqueline West, he didn't go into the home, he said.
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He searched fields, drove around looking for surveillance video, Ryan said. He did not speak with anyone from Cal City, he said. He said he did not review any video before interviewing Jacqueline West.
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Ryan said his initial canvassing of the area involved looking for the children, clues where they had been. He spoke with Cal City police once going to department headquarters.
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Torres Stallings asked if there was a meeting with other law enforcement. Ryan said yes, a small meeting with other officers. He said the meeting occurred possibly around 7 p.m. on Dec. 22, 2020.
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Under further questioning, Ryan said he doesn't remember the exact time of the meeting but it was before the interview. He said he spoke with Cal City Officer Brian Hansen about interviews Hansen had with the other West children.
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Ryan testified he didn't review the video or transcripts of Hansen's interviews with the children before interviewing Jacqueline West.
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He said he did not review video or transcripts of initial interviews police had with the Wests before interviewing Jacqueline West.
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Ryan said he does not know if Jacqueline West slept or ate anything before the second interview. He gave the same answers for Trezell.
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Ryan said he has "zero" formal psychological and neurological training when it comes to interrogating people. He said there are differences when it comes to interviewing witnesses as opposed to suspects.
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Ryan said he knows what a ruse is. Torres Stallings asked if a story he told Jacqueline West regarding his sister was a ruse. Ryan said no, it's a true story.
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Ryan agreed the story was a way to connect with Jacqueline West. Torres Stallings asked if it was an intimidation factor to say Jacqueline's children would be taken away. Ryan said no, the kids had already been removed.
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Torres Stallings asked if he recalled telling Jacqueline West she would also lose her house, car, family, friends and her husband. Ryan said yes.
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Ryan said he's not aware if any of the West children have cognitive difficulties and did not review school records.
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Torres Stallings asked Ryan if he was aware 65,202 kids were reported missing in California in 2020. Smith objected, and she said she'll move on to Kern County statistics. In 2020, 4,227 kids in Kern County were reported missing in 2020, she said.
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Torres Stallings is using statistics from the Department of Justice.
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4,401 children were reported missing in Kern County, Torres Stallings said, correcting her earlier figure. 14 dealt with parental abduction. 8 were under suspicious circumstances related to stranger abduction, she said. Ryan said he wasn't aware of those numbers.
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Ryan testified all the other missing children cases he has investigated involved runaways.
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Torres Stallings is asking Ryan about surveillance footage he said he reviewed on Dec. 27, 2020, which showed ony 4 children entering the van on Dec. 19, 2020, with the Wests. The Wests had 6 children.
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Ryan said he could not identify the faces or ages of the children who entered the Wests' van. Torres Stallings is showing him a portion of the video he reviewed. She has asked to admit it into evidence and Brehmer admitted it.
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Torres Stallings is about to play the video.
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The camera points toward the West home and the white van is visible. It's from across a yard, at a distance at which it's difficult to make out clothing or distinguishing characteristics.
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"Do you know if any of the individuals were carrying children that day?" Torres Stallings asked. Ryan said it didn't appear so. She asked if he knew for sure. He said no.
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Torres Stallings asked Ryan if he contacted a neighbor who is seen in the video after the van pulls away. Ryan said he doesn't know if anyone asked that neighbor if they saw 6 children enter the van.
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Torres Stallings is going to show a second video. Ryan said he watched this one, too. It's from the same camera, same angle.
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The video shows a van pull up, people get out. Torres Stallings asked again if he knows if anyone was carrying a child. Ryan said no.
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Ryan testified he watched those two videos on Dec. 27, 2020. He said he didn't know the first video Torres Stallings played had been digitally enhanced by the FBI, and doesn't know if other videos were enhanced.
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