Criminal Defense Associates Will Use Computer Animation to Prove Innocence in Second Diaz Trial.

WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. -- Criminal Defense Associates (CDA), Woodland Hills, Calif.-based national law firm renowned for its unique approach to criminal justice, said it will break new ground in the law firm's defense of Paul Diaz, an ex-Marine facing a second murder trial after a jury in an initial trial could not find him guilty. Diaz is charged with shooting and killing a man outside a bar in Highland Park in January of 2003. According to CDA Defense Counsel Angelyn Gates, "CDA is in the process of gathering funds in order to present the jury with a computer animation of the shooting so that jurors can see the impossibility of the alleged eye-witness testimony and see how the physical evidence exonerates Diaz."

Paul Diaz, who served during the Vietnam War on the USS Vancouver and USS Ogden and who has no prior criminal history, is accused in the shooting, which occurred when two men struggled over a gun outside the Highland Park bar. Even though Diaz passed a polygraph test and witnesses at the scene told officers the shooter was a young shaved-headed Hispanic man, the District Attorney's Office pursued charges against Diaz, a more mature man with a full head of hair.

"The District Attorney's Office continues to ignore the physical evidence to prosecute an innocent man because the LAPD could not find the true shooter," alleges Gates. "For example, the victim of the shooting was covered with gun powder residue as a result of the struggle over the gun. Yet, there was no evidence that Diaz had any residue on him or that he even shot a gun that night. Additionally, Diaz never left the scene of the shooting, and no gun was ever recovered."

Gates says that the District Attorney's case rests solely on an alleged eye-witness who, on the night of the murder, said she could not say for sure who the shooter was as she could not visualize his face even though she had known Diaz for some time. Gates feels that the witness, who hid from authorities for months due to an active felony warrant, supplied her testimony in order to gain an advantage in her own case. CDA will use computer animation to show the lack of plausibility of the eyewitness account.

Diaz, a volunteer for animal rescue and the Salvation Army and a Little League coach, is challenging the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office to pursue justice and acknowledge that the sole eyewitness is a deceptive drug addict who named Diaz as the shooter in hopes of gaining some advantage for herself.

For additional information, visit: www.CriminalDefenseAssociates.com or contact Angelyn Gates at: 818- 313-6870 or email [e-mail].