NM - Tera Chavez, 26, found dead in her Los Lunas home, 22 Oct 2007 - #1

[seattlechiquita]

NC, love the new avatar!

 

[NCEast]

Yes, but court is done for the day according to a few reporters.
Interesting comment below about "possibly about something a juror said".


Alex Goldsmith ‏@AlexG_Reporter 37m
Hearing Judge Eichwald is having a conversation with the jury privately in another room, possibly about something a juror said. #LeviChavez

Alex Goldsmith Alex Goldsmith ‏@AlexG_Reporter 37m
State may not have any other witnesses left Friday. It appears as though we may be done for the day. #LeviChavez

Alex Goldsmith Alex Goldsmith ‏@AlexG_Reporter 46m
Court in recess.... It's unclear what's next. #LeviChavez


Anna V @Anna_Velasquez
Court is done for the day, judge is talking with jury. #LeviChavez
33 minutes ago

I'm telling you all what. If I were a juror on this trial, I'd be saying and doing every darn thing within my power to get removed. I'm serious. I just cannot imagine how awful this must be for them. Unless they were all herded up at the unemployment office or the homeless shelter. Didn't Judge B Perry threaten to do that? One of the judges did.
If I'm ever a defendant in any kind of case, criminal or civil, I would want the most intelligent people ever on my jury. Not the homeless folks.

 

[Paintr]

At this moment, I am hoping for a hung jury and a retrial. ...anything but a not guilty. :banghead:

Can someone please tell me the actual charge/charges against LC? Is it murder 1 with manslaughter or murder 2 included? Thank you kindly in advance.

 

[ChubbyCheeks]

I fault the prosecution for this. He should have known that Serna was going to object. McKay should have had a strategy in place before questioning her about her past LE experience.

I completely agree! Is McKay a new prosecutor or what? He just doesnt seem prepared at all to me, he seems somehow reluctant. I expect prosecutors to at least appear confident in their case!

 

[NCEast]

At this moment, I am hoping for a hung jury and a retrial. ...anything but a not guilty. :banghead:

Can someone please tell me the actual charge/charges against LC? Is it murder 1 with manslaughter or murder 2 included? Thank you kindly in advance.

I have googled the charges and so far I can't find the exact thing he is charged with. I will continue to look. Everything just refers to LC as' having been charged in his wife's death'.
I, too, am hoping for anything aside from a not guilty. A hung jury would be cause for celebration at this point. Maybe they could find a more seasoned prosecutor who could hold his own against Serna better than McKay is doing? I don't know the female prosecutor's name, the only time I've seen her face was today after a side bar and it wasn't attractive--she was either sad or mad or both when turning around and going back to her seat.

 

[NCEast]

I completely agree! Is McKay a new prosecutor or what? He just doesnt seem prepared at all to me, he seems somehow reluctant. I expect prosecutors to at least appear confident in their case!

He seems intimidated by Serna. That's the feel I get, especially when Serna objects and McKay is already sitting down or whatever.....like he won't even fight the battle. You are so right about their showing confidence. It's contagious and the jury needs to see it. We need to see it too.

 

[NCEast]

I just found this article that's interesting. Everybody else may have already read it but it's new to me.

From the ABQ Journal:

Cop Fired in Chavez Case Wins Round
By Jeff Proctor / Journal Staff Writer on Tue, Feb 7, 2012

An APD officer fired last summer for being untruthful about his involvement in the Levi Chavez matter is one step closer to getting his job back.

In a 19-page opinion dated Monday, city hearing officer T. Zane Reeves blasted APD and the city, saying there was no evidence to fire former officer Russell Perea.

“Having heard argument, considered the credibility of witnesses, and weighed the evidence, the personnel hearing officer recommends to the City Personnel Board that the grievant’s discharge be rescinded on the basis of the city’s failure to demonstrate employee wrongdoing, much less that he deserved to be discharged,” Reeves wrote. “The personnel hearing officer recommends to the Personnel Board that the grievant is reinstated to his former position with full back pay, benefits and seniority.”

Chavez, a former APD officer, is charged with murder in the October 2007 death of his wife, Tera Chavez. He was fired after his indictment on the charge earlier this year.

Tera Chavez, 26, was found dead of a gunshot wound to the mouth from her husband’s service revolver in the couple’s Los Lunas home. Her husband called 911 to report that his wife had killed herself.

Perea was on duty and sharing a police car with Levi on the evening Tera Chavez died. They spent the last four hours of their shift logging evidence at APD’s West Side substation, Perea told attorneys for Tera’s family during a deposition in a wrongful death lawsuit filed against Levi, APD and several individual officers.

But only one piece of evidence was logged: a belt tape from an afternoon domestic violence incident, according to the lawsuit. Perea, not Levi Chavez, had tagged the belt tape into evidence.

According to the lawsuit, Perea later acknowledged that he was “not entirely truthful” in his deposition.

Alleged inconsistencies between Perea’s statements in the deposition, in an interview with Valencia County Sheriff’s deputies who were investigating Tera Chavez’s death and in an APD Internal Affairs investigation were the crux of the city’s argument for firing him, Reeves wrote.

But APD officials never told Perea how he violated policies before they fired him, Reeves wrote. And APD Deputy Chiefs Allen Banks and Paul Feist were unable to prove during personnel hearings last month that Perea had been untruthful.

Perea’s attorney, Sam Bregman, said the deputy chiefs’ testimony was “embarrassing.”

“Truthfulness is not an issue with Russell Perea,” Bregman said. “It is, however, an issue with the deputy chiefs. They changed their stories repeatedly about the evidence they reviewed for their justification in firing my client.”

A statement from APD released late Monday said: “The city is unable to comment on the recommendation because the case is pending. The city will review its options at such time as the board renders its final decision.”

Reeves’ recommendation will go back to the city personnel board, which has final say over whether Perea gets his job back. Either party can appeal the board’s decision to District Court.

 

[ChubbyCheeks]

I wonder why Tera never talked with this witness her best friend and a family member about the truck fraud. I feel like the DT turned this witness into one of their's. MOO

That crossed my mind too when she said Tera never mentioned the truck scam. Why would Tera mention it to a customer -Rose Slama- but not to Regina? That didn't ring true, and I am fairly certain the truck scam, or something close to that, is referenced in the Cordova's.civil suit against Chavez. I'm not suggesting Regina was lying, she is by far the most credible witness so far, but something seems odd she wouldn't be aware of a so called stolen truck.

 

[Paintr]

http://www.abqjournal.com/main/210561/news/exgirlfriend-contradicts-levis-version.html


Chavez’s defense scores afternoon victory


Levi Chavez just scored a significant victory in his murder trial when his attorney got a witness for the state to withdraw testimony she had given that would have contradicted Chavez’s statement about the last time he had been home before discovering his wife’s body in 2007.

summary of court at link...

 

[Paintr]

I have googled the charges and so far I can't find the exact thing he is charged with. I will continue to look. Everything just refers to LC as' having been charged in his wife's death'.
I, too, am hoping for anything aside from a not guilty. A hung jury would be cause for celebration at this point. Maybe they could find a more seasoned prosecutor who could hold his own against Serna better than McKay is doing? I don't know the female prosecutor's name, the only time I've seen her face was today after a side bar and it wasn't attractive--she was either sad or mad or both when turning around and going back to her seat.

http://www.krqe.com/dpp/news/crime/chavez-trial-begins-monday-morning


Chavez trial begins Monday morning
Updated: Monday, 10 Jun 2013,


Levi Chavez is accused of shooting and killing 26-year-old Tera Chavez with his department-issued handgun in their Los Lunas home, and of trying to make her death look like a suicide because prosecutors say she was about to report him for insurance fraud. He is charged with first-degree murder and evidence tampering.....



The trial is expected to last for weeks and bring attention to alleged abuses in the Albuquerque Police Department as the department faces a U.S. Department of Justice investigation



Good info but an old article. It does name charges though.

 

[Paintr]

Sadly, I think that the PT judged Serna by the appearance he portrays and underestimated him. He seems to be getting the job done.

 

[NCEast]

While researching the ongoing Justice Department investigation of the entire APD, I found this article about officers on the APD being investigated for steroid use:

http://www.alamogordonews.com/alamo...buquerque-police-launch-officer-steroid-probe

I'm telling you, I've never seen anything quite like this, all put together it's really a bad scene. No wonder LC thought he could murder his wife and get away with it, seems a lot of the force had been getting away with more than sex among it's officers. I'm beginning to see a little now why Scerna seems so cocky-- I imagine with all the bad press the PD has received in the last few years it would be easy to win anything against them in a court of law as the entire dept. has lost a lot of its credibility.

I am behind with reading on here again, but I'll get caught up tomorrow. Ryan just left and I don't think there is a bone in my body that isn't aching. I am so ready for bed.
Hope each of you has a good night!

 

[NCEast]

Good Morning Everybody! I hope you all had a good night.
I just discovered that I have called the def. attorney scerna, serna, senna, and who knows what else all week. I went back to a newspaper link to get his correct name and I declare they were calling him serva, sigh. Also, I called Levi Chavez Jose Chavez the entire first and second days of the trial. I don't know how you guys could figure out what I was talking about. Sure don't know what I was thinking. Please overlook me, I get stupid more often than I care to admit.

 

[carnnell]

Good Morning Everybody! I hope you all had a good night.
I just discovered that I have called the def. attorney scerna, serna, senna, and who knows what else all week. I went back to a newspaper link to get his correct name and I declare they were calling him serva, sigh. Also, I called Levi Chavez Jose Chavez the entire first and second days of the trial. I don't know how you guys could figure out what I was talking about. Sure don't know what I was thinking. Please overlook me, I get stupid more often than I care to admit.

Well that is ok. I understood who you meant.. it was close. lol I am still learning the depth of the case because hearing the trial has been so difficult except Friday was good. (finally)

 

[carnnell]

While researching the ongoing Justice Department investigation of the entire APD, I found this article about officers on the APD being investigated for steroid use:

http://www.alamogordonews.com/alamo...buquerque-police-launch-officer-steroid-probe

I'm telling you, I've never seen anything quite like this, all put together it's really a bad scene. No wonder LC thought he could murder his wife and get away with it, seems a lot of the force had been getting away with more than sex among it's officers. I'm beginning to see a little now why Scerna seems so cocky-- I imagine with all the bad press the PD has received in the last few years it would be easy to win anything against them in a court of law as the entire dept. has lost a lot of its credibility.

I am behind with reading on here again, but I'll get caught up tomorrow. Ryan just left and I don't think there is a bone in my body that isn't aching. I am so ready for bed.
Hope each of you has a good night!

How embarrassing for a police dept. to have such problems and corruption. Sounds like they need a new Police Chief (or whatever the top man's title) installing professionalism with new policies and procedures.

There is absolutely no excuse for all this behind the scene stuff in an organization. As Harry Truman said so famously, "The buck stops here." The buck stopped at the desk of the "top dog" of this dept. Obviously, he wasn't on top of what was going on in his dept and/or over looked so he could be "the good guy" to be popular among his troops. Obviously, that is no way to run an organization because here is the results being investigated of transgressions.

JMHO

 

[calamityjane831]

I'm telling you all what. If I were a juror on this trial, I'd be saying and doing every darn thing within my power to get removed. I'm serious. I just cannot imagine how awful this must be for them. Unless they were all herded up at the unemployment office or the homeless shelter. Didn't Judge B Perry threaten to do that? One of the judges did.
If I'm ever a defendant in any kind of case, criminal or civil, I would want the most intelligent people ever on my jury. Not the homeless folks.

Yes that was one of many Judge Perry's famous sayings or whatever you would like to call them during the trial. I remember I was sipping on cold Coke at the time and I almost choked because I inhaled when I gasped. I did not know sometimes whether to laugh or cry at some of the things that came out of Judge Perry's mouth but I did fall in love with the guy in a trial watching kind of way.

 

[calamityjane831]

Sadly, I think that the PT judged Serna by the appearance he portrays and underestimated him. He seems to be getting the job done.

Very true and when I went through last night and read the local news recaps of the trials IMHO the gist of it all was the defense is really ahead and the defense is in control. Yikes. I hope the PT is reviewing strategy for Monday and the upcoming week, prepping witnesses and getting ready to win this case for the sake of poor sweet Tera and her children.

 

[Paintr]

http://blogs.krqe.com/2013/06/14/levi-chavez-trial-live-blog-day-5/

Levi Chavez trial, live blog day 5

KRQE News 13 Reporters Amanda Goodman and Alex Goldsmith are in the courtroom covering the Levi Chavez trial.

Levi Chavez is accused of shooting and killing 26-year-old Tera Chavez with his department-issued handgun in their Los Lunas home, and of trying to make her death look like a suicide because prosecutors say she was about to report him for insurance fraud. He is charged with first-degree murder and evidence tampering.

summary of each witness testimony at link.




http://www.artesianews.com/2013/06/14/ap-news/new-mexico-ap-news/ex-mistress-in-nm-officer-murder-trial-takes-stand/

Ex-mistress in NM officer murder trial takes stand
BERNALILLO, N.M. (AP) — One of many mistresses of a former Albuquerque police officer accused of killing his wife testified Thursday that he told her he was in the shower when he heard a gunshot.



http://www.abqjournal.com/main/211000/news/prosecution-witness-backtracks-in-chave-ztrial.html

Prosecution witness backtracks in Chavez trial


BERNALILLO–The first week of testimony in the murder trial of former Albuquerque police officer Levi Chavez came to a close on Friday with a significant victory for the defense.

Chavez’s attorney, David Serna, got a witness for the state to withdraw testimony she had given that would have contradicted Chavez’s statement about the last time he had been home before discovering his wife’s body.

 

[geevee]

'Morning all. Hope the court's audio/visual had a nice restful weekend and is ready to perform well for us.

 

[Paintr]

:seeya: Good Monday morning to all. I hope the PT have their ducks in a row today and hammer their case home. I have to work but will look in as I can. Please take good notes.