Chanler, I am curious as to why you refer to him as "officer" Perez?
Ms. Lopez may indeed not be cooperating now that her suicide failed and she is faced with life in prison. But that suicide note will almost certainly be admissible at trial.
Hi, PrairieWind; I like your posts. As for the "officer," I plead laziness: I remembered that he was a Marine officer, but forgot the exact rank (Staff Sergeant.)
I think that your analysis is completely correct. I'm imagining that Lopez became incredibly inebriated on her birthday and somehow things went hopelessly out of control. (Once, years ago, walking home from seeing a friend on New Year's Eve night, I came upon the aftermath of a celebration that ended with a boyfriend shooting himself in the head after he and his girlfriend had left the club. A witness was telling the cops that it had happened so suddenly that it seemed incomprehensible.)
I should own to a mistake: Earlier, I said that Perez's lawyer had said that he had been married for ten years. Actually, the lawyer said that he was married and had lived in the area for ten years.