| Home |  Defense arguments were 'smokescreen,' juror says Santa Fe New
Mexican By Bruno J. Navarro A juror in the two-week murder trial of Arthur "Bozo" Lopez called defense arguments "a smokescreen" that didn't sway the jury from convicting the 25-year-old in less than an hour. "I think that story was constructed way after the crime was committed," said Peter Baston, 52, a member of the seven-woman, five-man jury who found Lopez guilty Wednesday of first-degree murder in the killing of Santa Fe teacher Noah Rodriguez. A defense attorney had maintained that Lopez killed Santa Fe teacher Rodriguez after Rodriguez made an unwelcome sexual advance and then pulled a knife on Lopez. But a jury rejected the argument and convicted Lopez, who was then sentenced to life in prison. Baston, a business consultant, said members of the jury felt as if Rodriguez - a man "who should be praised" - was on trial. "Everybody wants to believe every saint has a dark side. It makes for better gossip," he said, adding: "Somebody needs to speak out for Noah Rodriguez - he did nothing wrong. "There were a lot of hypotheses," he said, referring to the defense's introduction of hotel receipts as putative evidence that Rodriguez had led a secret life. "But you go, 'They're just hotel receipts.' " Jurors had planned to continue deliberating today, but were quickly surprised at the unanimity of their viewpoints, Baston said. "If we had known how to proceed, it would've been over in 10 minutes. Any more deliberation would have been ludicrous." Baston said he and other jurors were horrified to hear three recordings of emergency 911 calls of an attack the night Rodriguez was stabbed more than 50 times and murdered the night of Oct. 13, 1996. "We were almost going to call to hear the second tape, but we didn't want to," he said. "It shocked every member of the jury that we could hear screams. You could hear Noah Rodriguez screaming for help." The tapes of those chilling moments frightened jurors. "All of us thought the 911 service was horrendous. It scared the heck out of us," Baston said, adding that some jurors believed Rodriguez might have still been alive at that point. "Somebody in the Santa Fe Police Department needs to take a second look at the 911 system." Police officers responded to the calls, but drove by the West Houghton Street home where the attack occurred without approaching the residence, tape recordings show. Baston also said he and other jurors were puzzled as to why the identity of a mysterious third man at the murder scene had not been discovered, despite what they thought to be clues. "This tragic comedy of errors went so far, it was unbelievable," said Baston, who admitted having nightmares about the murder. "I think all of us will sleep better tonight. The American justice system does work." And Baston said he wished Lopez had apologized for the killing, or at least expressed remorse. "I think a genuine human being would've shown some." Instead, with the jury out of the room, Lopez verbally lashed out against Rodriguez before being sentenced. |