ALVAREZ GETS HELP TESTIMONY AIDS MURDER SUSPECT TESTIMONY CONTRADICTS WITNESSES.Byline: David Greenberg Staff Writer VENTURA - Two women testified Thursday about their past sexual relationships with murder defendant David Alvarez as prosecutors sought to show that the Ojai man used his physical size to dominate adolescent girls for sex. The women, who were 14 when they started dating Alvarez about six years ago, described him as a womanizer wom·an·ize v. woman·ized, woman·iz·ing, woman·iz·es v.intr. To pursue women lecherously. v.tr. To give female characteristics to; feminize. who browbeat brow·beat tr.v. brow·beat, brow·beat·en , brow·beat·ing, brow·beats To intimidate or subjugate by an overbearing manner or domineering speech; bully. See Synonyms at intimidate. them for sex. But the women, identified as Jane Doe Jane Doe female counterpart of John Doe. [Am. Usage: Misc.] See : Everyman No. 1 and Jane Doe No. 2, also testified that their sexual experiences with Alvarez were consensual, contradicting prosecutors' claims that the witnesses told investigators they had been raped by the defendant. ``The defendant repeatedly used his physical size to dominate adolescent girls,'' Deputy Attorney General Michael Katz said. But under stern questioning from defense attorney Robert Schwartz, who was trying to show that she had a vendetta, Jane Doe No. 1 testified that she stuck with Alvarez because he was her first love. ``It's a lot more emotional for a woman when it's the first person she's had sex with,'' the woman said. ``I was kind of stupid and naive. I dealt with it. I didn't even hate him when I found out he slept with my mom.'' Judge Rebecca Riley will rule Thursday whether the women may testify when Alvarez's trial begins Feb. 22 in the strangulation strangulation /stran·gu·la·tion/ (strang?gu-la´shun) 1. choke (2). 2. arrest of circulation in a part due to compression. See hemostasis (2). stran·gu·la·tion n. of 14-year-old Kali Manley. Alvarez, 23, pleaded not guilty to charges that he strangled stran·gle v. stran·gled, stran·gling, stran·gles v.tr. 1. a. To kill by squeezing the throat so as to choke or suffocate; throttle. b. the Ojai teen on Dec. 20, 1998, then dumped her bruised, naked body in a drainage pipe north of the city. Prosecutors are seeking to prove that Alvarez tried to rape Kali before she was killed. If he is convicted of all charges, Alvarez could be sentenced to life in prison without parole. Also Thursday, defense attorney James Farley filed for a change of venue A change of venue is the legal term for moving a trial to a new location. In high-profile matters, a change of venue may occur to move a jury trial away from a location where a fair and impartial jury may not be possible due to widespread publicity about a crime and/or defendant(s) , claiming that extensive media coverage of the Manley case has tainted a potential jury pool. Riley is also expected to rule on that motion Thursday, as well as a prosecution request to allow a charge that Alvarez made terrorist threats against bystanders outside an Ojai package store on the night of the slaying to be included in his murder trial. Riley also decided Thursday that DNA analysis DNA analysis Any technique used to analyze genes and DNA. See Chromosome walking, DNA fingerprinting, Footprinting, In situ hybridization, Jeffries' probe, Jumping libraries, PCR, RFLP analysis, Southern blot hybridization. of Alvarez's pubic hair pubic hair, n hair in the pubic region; secondary sexual characteristic that develops during puberty. may be used during the trial. Farley had tried to keep the analysis from being used, saying the samples were only now being tested in Santa Clara County after sitting in a Ventura County lab for 13 months. Outside the courtroom, Farley accused both of the women of lying on the stand to punish Alvarez for cheating on them. ``Motive?'' Farley said. ``Do you think those two girls like him? It just can't be that they harbor no animosity.'' |
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