RUNNING HEAD: PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA VS CORY H BELCHER

People of the State of California vs Cory H. Belcher

Case: RIF1202533 Maria Belcher April 23, 2013

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Table of Contents
Overview ....................................................................................................................................................... 2 Key Players .................................................................................................................................................... 2 Jury ................................................................................................................................................................ 2 Trial ............................................................................................................................................................... 3 Opening Statement by Prosecution .......................................................................................................... 3 Defense Opening Statement ..................................................................................................................... 3 Prosecutions Case-in-Chief & Direct Examination with Adrian Tillett ..................................................... 3 Cross Examination with Adrian Tillett ....................................................................................................... 4 Direct Examination with Troy Banks ......................................................................................................... 4 Cross Examination with Troy Banks .......................................................................................................... 4 Direct Examination with Yvonne Valverde ............................................................................................... 4 Cross Examination with Yvonne Valverde ................................................................................................ 5 Direct Examination with Raquel ............................................................................................................... 5 Cross Examination with Raquel................................................................................................................. 5 Direct Examination with Luis Rodriguez ................................................................................................... 6 Cross Examination with Luis Rodriguez .................................................................................................... 6 Direct Examination with Michael Chabaz ................................................................................................. 7 Cross Examination with Michael Chabaz .................................................................................................. 7 Other Witnesses & Evidence..................................................................................................................... 7 Prosecutions Closing Argument ............................................................................................................... 8 Defenses Closing Argument ..................................................................................................................... 8 Instructions for the Jury ............................................................................................................................ 8 Jury Deliberation ....................................................................................................................................... 8 Jury Verdict ............................................................................................................................................... 8 Pre-Sentencing .......................................................................................................................................... 9 Sentencing................................................................................................................................................. 9 Personal Conversations............................................................................................................................... 11 Personal Conversation with Troy Banks ................................................................................................. 11 Personal Conversation with Sean Davitt ................................................................................................. 11 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................... 12

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Overview
The trial I attended was a criminal case trial in the state of California. It was the trial of Cory Belcher who was being charged with kidnapping a husband and wife: Luis and Yvonne, dissuading a witness (Luis), a concealed fire arm charge, kidnap for ransom, residential burglary, taking a vehicle without consent and carjacking. They were all gang enhanced charges and some with a mandatory life sentence. He was extradited from Utah to California.

Key Players
The main parties in the case were Sean Davitt (defense attorney), Cory Belcher (defendant), Joey Campana (co-defendant), Yvonne Valverde (spouse/victim), Luis Rodriguez (spouse/victim), Raquel (mistress), Troy Banks (detective), Adrian Tillett (gang expert), Samah Shoukah (district attorney), and the Judge. There were other important people that testified such as other police officers, forensic examiners, and one other victim. Evidence included expert testimony, victim & witness testimony, photos, videos, recorded phone calls, and a hand gun.

Jury
The jury included 12 jurors and an alternate that consisted of both male and females. They ranged in age from early 20s to 60s and were Caucasian, African American, Hispanic, and Asian. The jury was chosen by the defense and prosecution. I was not present at jury selection but was told by Cory that he was able to give his input to Sean as the jury was being selected. They both were confident in the selection that was made. I later found out that the jury foreman was a retired attorney.

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Trial
Opening Statement by Prosecution
Trial started December 3, 2012 (on my grandmas birthday) and ended December 12, 2012 (on my dads birthday). Samah Shoukah was the District Attorney giving the opening statement. Her demeanor was serious, tense, and a bit nervous. She did not crack a smile for a minute. As she addressed the jury she simply stated how she was going to prove that Cory Belcher was guilty of his charges. She made him out to be a ruthless gang member.

Defense Opening Statement

Sean Davitt addressed the jury by informing them that Cory was not an angel, but in this case he was innocent of the charges that were filed against him. He advised the jury of how he was going to show them, during trial, how absurd the allegations were based on the testimony of the victims.

Prosecutions Case-in-Chief & Direct Examination with Adrian Tillett

This part of the case lasted the longest and I believe was the most damaging. Prosecution had Adrian Tillett testify about his expertise in gangs. He was an officer for the Riverside Gang Unit. He testified to photographs that had been taken of Corys tattoos. His tattoos included; a drawing of a bell, inscriptions of words on his body that spelled out La Sierra, Southside, and the number 13 among others. Adrian testified that the bell represented the City of Riverside and that La Sierra was a gang in Riverside. He also went on to explain that gangs in California are divided by Northern and Southern California. The number 13 represents the letter M in the alphabet and implies the Mexican Mafia in gang culture. Adrian testified on photographs that Samah brought out as evidence. He testified that of how Corys child hood friends were known gang members. He testified about how Corys friends were previously arrested and were

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convicted of being gang members. This was all in an effort to prove Corys membership and involvement with gangs in California.

Cross Examination with Adrian Tillett

In Seans cross examination with Adrian he really did not make an argument. The only thing he did was try to point out how these gang friends were child hood friends of Cory. He tried to prove the only reason for their friendship was the ties from childhood.

Direct Examination with Troy Banks

Troy Banks was the arresting officer in this case. In his testimony, he testified about his interviews with Luis Rodriguez on three separate occasions. They asked about these interviews because Luis sounded fishy in all three. Luis was hiding an affair he had with his mistress Raquel at the time that these accusations were made. He was trying to keep this information from his wife, Yvonne. She was also considered a victim and would be testifying on the stand.

Cross Examination with Troy Banks

Troy testified, that while interviewing Raquel, an unidentified male in the car gave her $20 to buy chocolate and cigarettes while getting gas. This was something that Troy had jotted down on his notebook but failed to add to his report. When Sean asked him Do you think it would have made a difference in this case, if you would have remembered to put it in your report? Troy replied Yes.

Direct Examination with Yvonne Valverde

Yvonne Valverde testified on how Cory Belcher, Joey Campana, and other males went to her and Luiss home while Luis was not there. The confrontation took place in front of the driveway of the residence. She said Cory had told her that Luis had given him a G6 Pontiac and he was there to pick it up. The kidnapping charge stems from her telling Detective Banks that

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she was forced to go inside the house from the driveway. If youre being moved against your will it is considered kidnapping in California.

Cross Examination with Yvonne Valverde

However, during cross examination Yvonne admitted that there was a police helicopter going over her house, while everyone was outside. In California, it is common that police choppers go over bad areas to lookout for and prevent crime. Keep in mind that her husband Luis had been previously arrested for drug possession. Yvonne also admitted that she herself had lied on the DMV application/bill of sale about the amount of money she paid for the Pontiac. I believe she said she only paid $500 but had really paid between $3500-$3800. She did this so she would not have to pay higher taxes on the car. Also, Yvonne was asked by Sean if the group of males at her home ever identified themselves as gang members, or identified a gang and she said, no.

Direct Examination with Raquel

Raquel, the ex-mistress, testified for prosecution as well. She testified about how she along with Luis, Joey, Cory, and the unidentified male went to a gas station together. During her testimony she never admitted to feeling scared or threatened in anyway. If you recall, she had told officer Banks that the unidentified male had given her $20 to get chocolate and pay for gas. This information would have been helpful to show she was not feeling in danger.

Cross Examination with Raquel

Raquel admitted on the stand to having an affair with Luis during the time of the incident. She slept with him on 2-3 occasions and admitted to being a meth user. She testified how she had seen Luis possess guns and had personal knowledge of him selling drugs to her ex-boyfriend. At this point defense really believed she would be our star witness, even though she was testifying

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for prosecution. She was the only one who had nothing to gain and you could tell she was upset just being there. This part of the trial was comical because you had the defense attorney being very nice to a witness and then all of a sudden the prosecutor is attacking her. Samah tries to discredit her by having Raquel admit she was a drug user.

Direct Examination with Luis Rodriguez

This part of the case was the most unbelievable. Luis had a court interpreter for him, because his primary language was Spanish. He also had his own attorney present because he had his own pending case. Luis testified on how he had hired Cory to fix his G6 Pontiac and on multiple occasions let him borrow the car for personal use. And that Cory forced him by intimidation to get into the Jeep Cherokee to go get the G6 Pontiac from Raquels residence. This was considered another kidnap charge. Samah asked Luis at one point if he was going to receive anything on his own case for testifying against Cory and he said no.

Cross Examination with Luis Rodriguez

Sean took no mercy when it came to Luis. Luis at first tried to say he did not like drugs, but then admitted to using drugs. The attorney he had present with him was because for a pending case against him where he had been arrested for possession of drugs. When asked about having any kind of inappropriate relationship with Raquel he said no. However, Sean then explained what perjury was, and Luis retracted his statement and admitted to having an affair. On the stand he also admitted to steeling electricity from the local electric company because his power had been turned off. This is something that Raquel also testified about. Besides all the deceitfulness on his account, what did not make sense is why he wanted a Spanish interpreter now? He did not have one at any time during the interviews with Officer Banks. You would think this would have also made an impact on the case.

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Direct Examination with Michael Chabaz

Michael Chabaz testified that his Lexus was stolen from an AM/PM gas station in Corona, California while he went inside to pay for gas. Under direct examination Michael testified that it was Cory that stole his car. However, prior to Michael testifying, prosecution played the surveillance video of Michael going into the gas station while Cory was also inside. It showed Cory walking near the Lexus on his way to his car but Joey actually stealing the car, although Michael said it was Cory. Michael was not present when the surveillance video was played.

Cross Examination with Michael Chabaz

During cross examination Sean wanted Michael to confirm what he had previously said about seeing Cory take the Lexus. Sean wanted the jury to see how Michael had inaccurately misidentified Cory, and pointed him out because he looked like a Hispanic gang member. Sean later told me that he was not going to attack Michael during cross examination because he was African American, and he did not want the Jury to basically feel sorry for him for that reason.

Other Witnesses & Evidence

A forensic technician also testified for prosecution on the gun that was retrieved from the Pontiac. She testified that there were no fingerprints on the gun. An Officer from West Jordan, Utah testified on how he had arrested Cory and his ex-girlfriend Ashly (the driver) in the stolen Lexus. Another Officer from Riverside, California testified about a time when Cory was a minor and had made in appropriate contact with him with a bb-gun. Prosecution also played 3 recorded jail calls. In one of the calls Cory tells his exgirlfriend Ashly to have someone go talk to Luis to have him tell the truth. Prosecution used this to charge Cory with dissuading a victim/witness. However, the defenses argument was that

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Cory just wanted someone to ask Luis to tell the truth. Cory had insisted from the start of the case that prosecution was pressuring Luis into testifying against him.

Prosecutions Closing Argument

In her closing statements Samah reiterated how Cory was a gang member and that Luis in her own words was a small fish. She presented her statement with a look of defeat and lacked confidence. She even had a board with a chart that showed her argument.

Defenses Closing Argument

In Seans closing statement he expressed again how Cory was not an angel but in this case the charges were not true. That all the players in the game were not innocent and this story was just an unbelievable story.

Instructions for the Jury

The judge went on to read a two page list of instructions to the jury. They all received a copy. One of the instructions was that Cory would not testify on his own behalf and explained how this was not an admission of guilt.

Jury Deliberation
Jury deliberation was on December 12, 2012 and lasted less than 3 hours. I received a phone call from my attorney shortly and hoped it was good news. After all, they couldnt have come back with a guilty verdict so soon, unless they knew beyond a reasonable doubt that he was guilty. But in my mind, there was a reasonable doubt, look at the character of the witnesses that testified. I dont understand this.

Jury Verdict
The jury was called back in and I could tell it was not good. They would not look at me. He had seven charges read, 2 not guilty and 5 guilty. My heart dropped but I would not cry. I had

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to be strong for him. The judge then dismissed the jury and scheduled sentencing out to January 25, 2013. Tears were rolling down his eyes. The court officers directed Adam, his stepdad, and me to go outside and wait for Sean.

Pre-Sentencing
Prior to sentencing there was a pre-sentencing report that was done by Michelle by the Riverside Probation Department. She went and interviewed Cory in jail and her obligation was to give a recommendation on the sentence. I personally contacted her to see if I could give her some history about Cory and our family. She was more than happy to speak to me and we spoke for about 40 minutes.

Sentencing
I had spoken to Sean a couple days prior to sentencing. He had explained 2 charges were mandatory life sentences. He explained that he would fight for the lightest sentence but that prosecution would most likely ask for the maximum sentence. The first thing the judge addressed on January 25, 2013 was the pre-sentencing report. He did not disclose anything on the pre-sentencing report but led us to believe that Michelle recommended probation because he said probation was denied. The judge allowed the family to speak on behalf of Cory. Jordan (sister), Adam (stepdad), Lindsay (sister-in-law), and I were able to read statements. Lindsay also read a letter from Alan (his brother) who was serving in Afghanistan. We all asked the judge for leniency. I asked the judge for the minimum sentence. To allow him to serve enough time to learn from this mistake but not too much time to have him get used to the way prisons are run from the inside, what I knew he would learn in prison and feared he would grow accustom to. Cory is a 24 year old kid who had never been convicted of a felony, who was not a rapist, or a murderer. His criminal convictions consisted of fights that were misdemeanors. The judge took

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mercy and gave him concurrent sentences. His sentence was 15 years to life and $2,500 in restitution to Michael Chabaz. He would be eligible for parole after serving 85% of the 15 years and given 1 year as credit for time served. Sean filed a motion to appeal. In the state of California it will take about 1 -1 years to go through an appeal process. Currently, it is in the process of being assigned to a lawyer.

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Personal Conversations
Personal Conversation with Troy Banks
I had personally spoken to Detective Troy Banks while Cory was still in Utah. I had asked him what the charges were. He said they were serious charges and he was facing fifty years to life in prison. I vividly recall asking him if the people making the accusations were creditable and he responded with yes. However, after hearing them testify I now know that was not true.

Personal Conversation with Sean Davitt

I was able to speak to Sean before the trial on multiple occasions. He understood there was a risk when going before a jury. However, he felt the case was worthy enough to take to trial. Joey Campana (co-defendant) had taken a plea deal prior to the case going to jury trial. He was offered 8 years for the same charges that Cory had originally been arrested with but they reduced the carjacking charges to taking a car without consent. Sean had told me himself that that was no deal at all. All along Sean felt that if he allowed all charges to be presented to the jury that it would make more nonsense and show how ridiculous this story was verses taking out the charges. Originally, he had said to me that he was going to file a 950 motion to remove 2 charges that Judge Thiereach had removed at prelim, but then changed his mind. Those 2 charges were the charges Cory got the life sentences on. During this whole process, I had asked him if Cory was being offered a plea deal and he said no to me till the very end. He said that the prosecutor was not budging and he had never had a case where the other side was not budging. It was not until the week of jury trial that I was informed that Cory was offered 10 years. I wish I would have known this. But then again I really had put my faith in the jury system and convinced Cory to do the same.

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Conclusion
I do not believe the jury found Cory guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. I believe they found him guilty solely because he was portrayed as a gang member. They took the word of a drug dealer who got a plea deal on his own case, a wife who lied on DMV records, and a detective who failed to put information on his report. The jury also did not consider the mistress testifying that she had seen Luis with guns and he was a drug dealer. They sent a 24 year away to prison for 15 years to life just because he was a gang member. They dont even give some murders this harsh of a sentence. In the appeals process I hope to see Luiss testimony impeached because of his creditability and the fact that prosecution used an illegal immigrant as an informant not only in Corys case but another case as well.