But a former lover of the defendant says she can’t recognize his
voice on the tape
San Martin – A jail tape recording allegedly between two men charged with attempted murder could be a deciding factor for jurors in the trial of suspected Norteño gang member Anthony Aguilera.
Gilroy resident Aguilera, 22, faces two separate counts of attempted murder, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, shooting into an inhabited vehicle and evading a police officer.
He is the primary suspect in the stabbing of a 24-year-old San Martin resident in a drug deal gone bad at the Extended Stay America motel in Morgan Hill on Jan. 29, 2005. He is charged in a separate attempted murder incident on Oct. 23, 2004 when suspected Norteño gang member Dustin Baldwin was shot three times in his car in the parking lot of a Gilroy liquor store.
“The homies are really speaking up. The homies are willing to bat for you if it comes down to it,” a male voice said in a recording played at Santa Clara County Court in San Martin Friday afternoon. “They’re willing to bat to keep you covered.”
Last week Superior Court Judge Kenneth L. Shapero severed Aguilera’s trial from 21-year-old Daniel Zuniga – the second suspect in the October incident and alleged voice on the jail recording.
When a male voice questioned the other about “Dusty,” the man answered, “He’s saying nothing. He’s saying they’re southerners.”
Gilroy police Anti-Crime Team Investigator Joseph Deras identified the two voices as Norteño gang members Aguilera and Zuniga after listening to more than 2,000 minutes of taped conversations to phone numbers of individuals associated with the men.
Deras testified he believes ‘Dusty,’ refers to shooting victim Dustin Baldwin and that he was talking about the October 2004 incident, covering for Aguilera by blaming the shooting on the Norteño’s rival gang the Surenos.
But defense attorney Andy Tursi does not believe the tape implies much.
“What if the voice on the tape is Aguilera. He didn’t make any admissions,” he said after court recessed for the day. “Nobody said we shot him, we were there.”
A former lover of Aguilera testified she could not recognize Aguilera’s voice on the tape, but did admit to Deputy District Attorney Stuart Scott that Aguilera asked her to rent him a hotel room Jan. 29 at the Extended Stay America motel the day of the stabbing.
Aguilera is also charged with two assault with a deadly weapon incidents from 2004 where a Gilroy resident was severely beaten and another stabbed in the torso.
A third witness and former girlfriend of Aguilera testified that he beat up her then boyfriend Juan Carlos Mendez at a party following the Gilroy Garlic Festival in July 2004.
“I just remember crying and yelling to stop – but it didn’t,” Eileen Salinas said. She testified that Aguilera hit Mendez from behind with his fist and she believed he was a Norteño gang member.
Tursi explained the fight as a jealous brawl between two guys over a girl.
“If you’re going to convict him of something – suckerpunching – maybe, but assault with a deadly weapon – no,” he said.
The trial is set to continue Monday afternoon.
