Love Me or I'll Kill You

by Lee Butcher

  “I’m not sure.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I don’t know who is in the office over there, or if there’s anybody to answer a call.”

  “Let’s again make sure you understand—”

  “He’s already said he’s not going to call the public defender’s office,” Judge Padgett said. “It doesn’t really matter who was there.”

  Athan had no more questions to ask after the judge’s statement. Turpin took the floor for redirect examination. She asked Black if he knew how many Tampa police officers had been killed in the line of duty since the 1980s. Athan objected, saying the question was irrelevant, but Padgett overruled.

  Black said four or five officers had been killed. Turpin asked specifically if Black knew about the deaths of Detectives Childers and Bell. Athan objected again, as to relevance.

  “We’ll see,” Padgett said. “It’s not a trial.”

  Black knew that Bernice Bowen was charged in connection with the killing of Detectives Childers and Bell. Turpin asked if he knew the public defender’s office had refused to represent Bowen. He testified that he also knew that Lois was the next police officer to be killed in the line of duty.

  “Based on the Bernice Bowen case, did you have any reasonable expectation that the public defender’s office would be willing to represent this woman, who is charged in the killing of a Tampa police officer?” Turpin asked.

  Athan objected that the question was irrelevant and speculative. Judge Padgett overruled her. “I’m sure he didn’t even think about it that afternoon.... No police officer is ever going to call an attorney,” he continued. “They’ll let the person call an attorney if they want to. They’re not going to do it.”

  Athan called Paula to testify and she was sworn in. Paula testified that after her arrest, she was handcuffed, and people were guarding her. Athan asked how she felt that afternoon when she was arrested. Paula said she was in shock. In the conference room, Paula testified, she was nervous and “really scared.”

  Paula testified that she had understood all of her rights before she was questioned. But she said she wanted to talk to a lawyer, but she thought the statement had to be made that day. Paula said she thought she would get a lawyer before the interview.

  “I was scared,” she testified. “I knew they (detectives) wanted to talk to me. I wanted things to get cleared up and I thought I wanted to speak to somebody that would help me out.”

  After more conversation, Paula said, Black told her she would probably go to jail—even if she had a lawyer. That was why she asked, “Do you have a lawyer here?” Paula said she didn’t understand the process for getting an attorney from the public defender’s office.

  Paula explained the long pause on the tape after Black told her there was no lawyer there and that was the only problem. “I felt all alone,” she testified. “I just wanted to go home. I just decided to talk because I didn’t have a lawyer, so I didn’t have any choice.... I was stuck there.”

  Athan asked why she suddenly felt she didn’t have a right to a lawyer.

  “Because he (Black) told me that there was a problem and he made that face, like, ‘Well, we can’t get you one.’”

  On cross-examination Turpin noted the discrepancies in Paula’s testimony. Paula had said she understood her rights, including a right to an attorney, and that she could invoke her rights at any time.

  “You replied ‘yes,’” Turpin said. “You’re saying you did not, in fact, understand that?”

  “I understood . . . but I just—”

  “You understood that, right? And you did not feel intimidated by Detective Black? In fact, you were more than forthcoming in asking any questions that you had. This was not a situation where you’re going to stand just meekly by during advisement of rights,” Turpin said. “Whenever you had a question, you were willing to speak up, correct?”

  Athan said Turpin had just asked a compound question.

  “Yeah, it is,” Padgett said. “One question at a time.”

  Turpin asked if Paula had felt free to ask Black questions if she didn’t understand something.

  “Well, I was scared, but I asked him, yeah, for a lawyer.”

  Turpin said that Paula wasn’t scared of Black, and that he honored all of her questions. “You had to go to the bathroom; you took a break,” Turpin said. “You wanted a drink of water; you took a break. You were hungry; he ordered pizza. You wanted to see your daughter, Ashley; he provided Ashley to you.”

  “I didn’t ask for those things,” Paula said. “I asked for water, for the bathroom. Pizza came because they wanted it. I wasn’t hungry, and they were the ones who told me we’re going to bring Ashley to see you, but I never told them I wanted to see my daughter. I didn’t know what was happening so—”

  “When you asked for something, you received what you asked for; is that correct?”

  Paula said it was.

  “There was nothing coercive or intimidating about Detective Black’s questioning to you; is that true?”

  “Yes.”

  Paula testified that she knew, before the interview began, that Lois was dead, and that she would be questioned about that and the bank robbery.

  “And you’re able to recall all of the persons who were in that interview room,” Turpin said. “You recall Detective Black, Detective Hevel, and a gentleman with white hair?”

  “Yes.”

  Turpin went for the kill. “So you were certainly not numb to the point of not knowing who was surrounding you at the time this interview began,” she said. “Would you agree with that statement?”

  “Yes . . . but I felt numb. . . .”

  Turpin had scored. She had no other questions.

  Julianne Holt, public defender for the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit, in Tampa, was called by Athan. Holt testified to the closeness of her office to the police station, and that the office was open the Friday afternoon that Paula was interviewed. Criminal defense is available twenty-four hours a day, including holidays, Holt said. She acknowledged that memoranda were circulated to Tampa agencies, including the Tampa Police Department, with instructions on how to contact the public defender’s office during emergencies.

  Turpin noted that there were procedures mandated by law for the appointment of a public defender, and that Holt’s memoranda had not included a list of “emergencies.”

  “People have to use their common sense,” Holt said.

  Turpin asked if it was true that the public defender’s office had refused to represent Bernice Bowen in the killings of Detectives Bell and Childers.

  “We had an ethical conflict of interest, ma’am,” Holt said. In fact, Holt testified that she was on the telephone speaking with a highway patrolman during a high-speed pursuit of Bowen, who had killed his own son, in addition to the two Tampa detectives.

  “It would have been inappropriate for me to use information achieved on a personal basis during the representation of Ms. Bowen,” Holt testified.

  When Turpin had no more questions, Athan wanted to clarify parts of Holt’s testimony under cross-examination.

  Athan began, “Since Ms. Turpin brought up Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure—”

  “No, we’re not going there,” Padgett interrupted. “That doesn’t kick in until someone has been arrested and booked, and the possibility of the public defender is appointed. The public defender is never appointed to represent somebody still at the police station.”

  Athan fought to win the point. She asked the judge to take a look at statutes pertaining to a booking officer: “The officer who commits the defendant to custody has the following duties,” Athan said. “Number two—”

  “This is a booking officer,” Padgett said. “We don’t have any booking officers here.”

  “The—” Athan started.

  “That’s the booking officer.”

  “Has the following duties,” Athan said.

  “That’s the booking officer,” Padgett said again, “not arr
esting officer.”

  “The rule—”

  Padgett cut Athan off sharply. “I’m not going to argue. Anything else?”

  Athan was deflated. “No, Your Honor.”

  “Is there anything else, anything you want to say?” Padgett asked.

  “I think my argument is clear,” Athan said. “I won’t repeat it.”

  Athan told the judge that she didn’t think the state’s responses to her memorandum cited pertinent law, and pointed out the examples. Padgett was ready to make his ruling.

  “I’ve never seen a case that hinged on whether the detective has to assess how the person feels or what they’re thinking,” he said. “She (Paula) made an ambiguous reference to an attorney. I’m not even sure it was an ambiguous request for an attorney, just an ambiguous request if there was an attorney present. Detective Black’s response was straightforward and truthful. I’m going to deny the motion.”

  The hearing was adjourned. Athan had lost again. Paula, looking tiny and childlike in an orange Hillsborough County Jail jumpsuit that was several sizes too big, was escorted from the courtroom.

  Chapter 17

  Jay Pruner wasted no time in setting a dramatic tone for the prosecution’s case against Paula. He stood before the jury and began: “Officer Lois Marrero bled to death on the sunbaked asphalt parking lot of the apartment complex at church and Cleveland on July 6, 2001. Her life was taken from her because, a few short hours before, Paula Gutierrez and Nestor DeJesus awakened to find that they had a dollar between them, they had a two-year-old child, no food in the refrigerator, and a sports SUV ready to be possessed.

  “Officer Lois Marrero, the evidence will show you, had her life robbed from her, less than one mile away from and forty-four minutes after this defendant and Nestor DeJesus robbed the Bank of America on Church and Neptune Street.”

  Pruner told the jury that the state’s evidence would show that “elaborate steps” were taken by Paula and Chino to commit the robbery, to make their getaway, and to avoid being arrested.

  He described how Paula and Chino were dressed at 2:31 P.M. on July 6, 2001, and how they had tried to disguise themselves by wearing hats, bandannas over their faces, and the baggy clothing Paula wore to conceal her feminine figure. Pruner pointed out that it was Paula who carried the MAC-11 semiautomatic pistol. The prosecutor noted that the pursuit of Paula and Chino actually began before the robbery was over and didn’t stop until they were captured.

  Anticipating the defense’s contention that Paula was an unwilling participant in the robbery and murder, Pruner stressed that immediately after Chino entered the bank and ordered everybody to get down on the floor, “this defendant entered, carrying that semiautomatic firearm, and as she stood at a position in the lobby with that firearm raised, repeated Nestor DeJesus’ command that people get down and stay down.”

  While Chino grabbed almost $10,000, Pruner told the jury, Paula was just a few feet away providing cover. Pruner used a large map to show the route they had taken from the bank to the Regency Apartments, and told the jury how they discarded most of the money when a dye pack exploded “spewing red dye and tear gas within the Xterra, causing great consternation and concern.”

  Pruner said that even before Paula and Chino left the bank, calls were made to 911 and that an alarm had been tripped. “Within a matter of moments, police officers from two separate squads of Tampa Police Department began to search for a bright yellow SUV.”

  Pruner said witnesses reported seeing the SUV and money being thrown out the window and that these witnesses called 911. Within minutes, he said, police are collecting the money and taking statements, and continuing the pursuit of the bank robbers. Officer John Martin took off in a helicopter, 10:50 A.M., to help look for the SUV. Martin, Pruner said, directed police units to check on four or five SUVs in various parts of South Tampa.

  Pruner told the jury that the evidence would show a relentless pursuit. Chino and Paula were only in their apartment at the Crossings “a few short minutes,” Pruner said. “Paula Gutierrez and Nestor DeJesus. . . knew they weren’t safe from pursuit,” Pruner said, “and so they left that apartment after changing clothes.”

  Lois confronted Chino in the courtyard by the pool, Pruner said, with Paula standing only a few feet away with a bag containing the MAC-11 on the ground beside her. Pruner described the foot pursuit across the parking lot, through the veteran’s cemetery, then back to the parking lot. The ASA described how Lois was killed before the suspects burst into an apartment and took Isaac Davis hostage.

  “You will also see from the evidence, like a trail of bread crumbs the defendant left, dye pack–stained currency at separate locations,” Pruner said. “. . . Nestor DeJesus was a very troubled young man. . . . [He] was not the type of young man that any parent in the world would wish to have to be the suitor of their daughter . . . that he had a hot temper.”

  Pruner said the evidence would show beyond a reasonable doubt that Paula was guilty of bank robbery, the murder of Officer Lois Marrero, and armed burglary. Pruner thanked the jury and took his seat.

  Deeann Athan stood to address the jury. She knew she was fighting an uphill battle to convince them that Paula was not guilty. Athan was convinced that Paula was totally under Chino’s thrall, and was so totally dominated that she was an unwilling accomplice in the crimes with which she was charged. In the months that Athan had been Paula’s attorney, she had grown to like the young woman, and intended to fight hard to get Paula acquitted. She intended to show that Paula wasn’t operating under her own free will.

  “Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, meet Mr. DeJesus,” Athan began. “Make no mistake, on July 6, 2001, he gunned down Officer Lois Marrero in cold blood. For the previous three years, he had mentally, physically, and sexually abused Paula Gutierrez. This reign of terror culminated . . . when he killed Officer Lois Marrero in front of her eyes.

  “Later, when he put a bullet in his head, ending his life of violence, he committed the ultimate act of abuse against Paula Gutierrez,” Athan said. “He left her holding the bag.”

  Athan said there was no doubt that Paula was not guilty. She told the jury that Chino forced Paula to look down and not make eye contact with anyone. Athan said Chino would pick fights with Paula, anyone on the streets, and total strangers.

  “He would just snap, Athan said. “He became physically violent to Paula Gutierrez. When she told him they should cool it, he threatened to kill himself or to kill her.” Athan talked about Chino stalking Paula, and how, after they got together in Tampa, his abuse became worse. Once, when Paula was pregnant, Athan told the jury, Chino held a knife to Paula’s swollen stomach and said, “If you weren’t carrying my child, I would kill you right now.”

  Athan told the jury that the violence escalated. “Paula [was] trapped. He would hit and kick and punch her,” she said. “He would demand sex and choke her until she blacked out. When she said she didn’t like that, he told her she did.”

  Athan talked about Chino’s episodes of violence with strangers and his episodes of road rage. Paula’s family tried to get her to come home or move into a shelter for battered women, Athan said, but Paula was too afraid. “After all, Nestor DeJesus has told her she’ll never leave him,” Athan said. “She’ll never take Ashley away from him. He’ll kill her, he’ll find her family and he’ll kill them, too. She has witnessed his violence and she believes him.”

  Athan described a violent attack on Paula just three months before the bank robbery. “She experiences the most violent assault against her . . . ,” Athan told the jury. “She questions why he has pornographic materials in his van. He is furious. He physically and verbally attacks her. She protects herself by getting in a fetal position. He kicks her everywhere, leaving bruises on her arm and leg.”

  Athan told the jury that Chino’s mother found Paula crying, following that attack, and bought her a ticket to New York, where her parents lived. But Chino convinced her to come back by promising to get couns
eling, Athan told the jury.

  Athan said that evidence would show that Paula didn’t want to rob that Bank of America, but was psychologically conditioned to obey Chino. “He places the gun in her hand and tells her, ‘You’re going into the bank. You will hold the gun,’” Athan said. “She is very afraid. She says she doesn’t want to do it. He says it is too late. She knows that look, that tone, that violent threat. She decides to go into the bank. He tells her to put on a hat and a bandanna to cover her face. She does it. She believes that what he will do to her if she does not follow him into that bank is worse than anything that could happen in the bank.”

  Although Paula followed Chino into the bank and held the gun, Athan said, none of it seemed real to her. “To Paula Gutierrez, it seems like a dream,” Athan said. “This can’t be happening. In an instant he is leaving the bank. She follows him. They get into the Xterra and leave the parking lot. Half a block away, a dye pack explodes, spewing smoke and fumes. They throw the money out the window. They can’t see, they can’t breathe. The next thing Paula Gutierrez knows, she’s at the Regency Apartments.”

  Athan tried to establish an important timeline for the events that followed the robbery. She pointed out that Paula didn’t remember how they got to the Regency, but changed clothes as Chino instructed. She rode back to their apartment with Chino’s mother, who came to give them a ride, bringing Ashley with her, Athan said. Once they arrived at their apartment at the Crossings, Athan said, “[Paula] feels safe. It is over. She’s at home.”

  Athan wanted the jury to remember this chain of events because it was critical to her defense. “She takes a shower,” Athan said. “She begins to relax, savoring it. It doesn’t last long because the next thing she knows, DeJesus is telling her to get dressed, come on. She thinks, ‘What now? What’s going on? Where are we going?’”

  She told the jury that the next series of events were “very foggy” for Paula. She remembered some, others she didn’t. But it was clear, Athan said, that Chino was chased on foot by Officer Lois Marrero, across the street, through the cemetery, and back again. Athan said that Chino “got away” momentarily, saw Paula with Mark Kokojan, grabbed his keys, and tried to get into Kokojan’s car, when Lois appeared and told him to put down the gun or she would shoot.