The Californian
July 9, 2010
http://www.thecalifornian.com/article/20100709/NEWS09/7090324/Hearing-for-Salinas-priest-accused-of-sexually-assaulting-teen-to-wrap-up
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| Antonio Cortes |
Two people who worked with a Salinas priest accused of sexually assaulting a teenager testified Thursday about a key piece of evidence that defense lawyers say was illegally seized.
The testimony was part of a hearing to determine whether to exclude an external computer hard drive that Salinas police have said contains child pornography and belongs to the Rev. Antonio Cortes of St. Mary of the Nativity Church in Salinas.
A ruling by Monterey County Superior Court Judge Terrance Duncan is expected to follow arguments by attorneys July 21.
Since the hearing began in January, defense lawyers Eugene Martinez and Miguel Hernandez have taken testimony from several police officers and detectives involved in Cortes' arrest.
Cortes' lawyers are trying to get the hard drive excluded as evidence. They argue that it was wrongfully taken along with a laptop April 16, 2009, the day of the priest's arrest, at the church office at 1702 Second Ave. The defendant's lawyers said it was illegally seized because the search warrant only covered Cortes' residence — the rectory across the street from the church's office, at 1747 Second Ave.
The prosecution argues that the seizure of the hard drive is legal, as the search warrant includes both Cortes' person and the rectory.
The motion to suppress evidence has included three days of hearings spread over seven months. Scheduling conflicts have led to wide gaps between court dates.
In the first day of the hearing, a Salinas police officer testified that the search warrant also covered seizure of items including computers, cell and external storage devices, in addition to more specific items such as "a black laptop," which was found in the rectory. The laptop taken from the church office is gray or silver-colored.
Court documents show that the videos in the seized hard drives had sexually explicit titles and that the computer also had images of children in sex acts.
Cortes, 42, was ordered to stand trial on felony charges of sodomy with a minor and misdemeanor counts of possession of child pornography. He was placed on paid administrative leave after his arrest. His arrest came two days after a boy made the molestation claims to Salinas police.
Cortes posted bail soon after his preliminary hearing in June 2009, when it was lowered to $100,000.
On June 17, the second day of the hearing, a Salinas police sergeant testified that while he remembers taking the silver or gray laptop and Cortes' cell phone from the church office, he doesn't recall seeing the blue hard drive. The sergeant also said he did not see anyone transfer the hard drive into Cortes' bedroom at the rectory.
During the hearing, Cortes' attorneys were unable to determine who was responsible for taking the external drive from the church office and placing it in the rectory.
On Thursday, defense lawyers tried to establish the location of the contested hard drive through the testimony of Sylvia Cortez, the parish manager, and Jose Gerardo Garcia Campos, a volunteer who ran errands and worked odd jobs for the church.
Cortez testified that she had only seen the hard drive connected to the laptop in Cortes' office. Deputy District Attorney Rolando Mazariegos asked if she remembered telling police shortly after the arrest that she'd never seen the hard drive; Cortez said she did not recall saying so.
Campos testified that he frequently went into Cortes' office and always saw the hard drive connected to the laptop. The day of Cortes' arrest, he said, he saw the hard drive on the floor with cords attached to the laptop.
Campos told the prosecutor that he also did not believe the charges against Cortes and wants the priest acquitted.
"Yes, because I believe in him," he said.
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