(Photo: Nixzaliz (r) at police station. Det. Georgina Valentine translates)By: Dovesblood
September 29th., 2008 was the 7th day of testimony in Nixzmary Brown's mom, Nixzaliz Santiago's murder trial. First I'll say what happened in a nutshell, then I'll give the testimony in detail.
HERE'S WHAT HAPPENED IN A NUTSHEL: The prosecution called Detective Georgina Valentine. She was the detective who translated Nixzaliz's statements from Spanish into English.
The police video was played where Nixzaliz says what happened the night Nixzmary died.
Valentine said Nixzaliz told her that she was unhappy that she got her period because she wanted to give Cesar a daughter. Defense lawyer, Sammy Sanchez, points out that Valentine filled out 3 police DD5 reports and never stated this nor did she say this at Cesar's trial. Lead D.A., Ama Dwimoh, responded that at a previous pre-trial hearing before Cesar Rodriguez's trial, that Valentine did in fact state that Nixzaliz had told her that she wanted to give Cesar a daughter.
Sanchez said Valentine falsely translated Nixzaliz's statements and gives examples to the jury.
He said Nixzaliz was held in a small room and not given food for hours, and that one of the pages of her written statement is very different from the others, infering that she did not write it but was made to sign it.
HERE'S WHAT HAPPENED IN DETAIL: Judge Patricia DiMango was wearing a black sleeveless v-neck top with black jeans under her robe, Lead D.A., Ama Dwimoh (ja-mo) was wearing a teal blue skirt suit, Asst D.A., Linda Weinman, was wearing a beige skirt suit, Asst. D.A., Anthea Bruffee was wearing a pink jacket with a black skirt, defense lawyer, Sammy Sanchez, was wearing a black suit and defense lawyer, Kathleen M. Mullin was wearing a turquoise outfit. Nixzaliz was wearing a brown shirt, stone (khaki) colored pants, black shoes and black rimmed glasses that were rectangular. Her hair was in a bun wrapped in a brown bun holder that encircled the entire bun. On the back of the bun holder was a white daisy.
The prosecution called to the stand Det. Georgina Valentine.
Valentine is Dominican. She was wearing a black pinstripped suit with a black pocketbook. She lives outside of NY, retired in 2007, member of police dept for 22 years,det. since 1999, worked in the 90th precint in the robbery unit, the det. squad, Brooklyn homicide since 1999. She said Spanish was her first language and she took English in school.
Valentine stated that on Jan 11th. 2006 she started work at the 90th precint at 8 am, went to the 79th. precint around 8:30-9am.
At 9:30 she introduced herself to Nixzaliz in an interview room. Valentine read Nixzaliz her Miranda warning in Spanish and both Valentine and Santiago's signature is on the paper. Dwimoh asked Valentine to read aloud the warning she read to Nixzaliz in Spanish. The court Spanish interpretator, Jeanette, then translated what Valentine was saying into English.
Dwimoh shows Valentine people's 72, Nixzaliz's oral statements that Valentine wrote down. It's 5 pages.
VALENTINE READS THE JURY HER HANDWRITTEN NOTES OF NIXZALIZ'S ORAL STATEMENTS: Valentine asked her her name. Nixzaliz Santiago, 571 Greene Ave. apt 4.
Then the names and birthdays of her and her children were listed: Nixzaliz:4-16-78, Javier:11-10-96, Nixzmary:7-18-98, Edward Brown: 6-21-99, Selena Brown: 9-20-00, Cesar Augustine: 5-1-04, Cesar Gabriel: 6-6-05.
She said that between 10-11pm she was looking for yogurt (the actual substance was Jello pudding, confirmed by the police and D.A.'s office but Cesar said yogurt so they left it at that.) One was missing, she asked Cesar if he took it, Edward said Nixzmary took it.
Afterwards the printer incident happens. (Valentine's notes are jumping forward into the story now) Cesar confronts Nixzmary about the printer, he hits her, Nixzaliz tells Nixzmary to tell the truth, Nixzmary not answering. Cesar grabbed her by the hand, took her to the bathroom, opened up the faucet and pushes her head under the water. Nixzaliz heard loud noises and hard bangs coming from the bathroom. She goes in and tries to stop Cesar, telling him to please forget about the printer.
After the bathroom incident, he goes off to listen to music in the kitchen and he was happy.
Nixzmary still naked on the floor, 2-3 hours later Nixzaliz goes to the bedroom, (baby was unusually, excessively crying that day and Nixzaiz was staying with him) Nixzmary is moving and moaning. She had bruises on her arms and a scratch on her leg. (Nixzaliz, seeing she was icy cold) Nixzaliz put her into a tub of warm water and told Cesar that something was wrong with her daughter, that she was moaning and gasping for air. (Cesar thought Nixzmary was faking it) Nixzaliz put her in her brother and sister's room near the heater so she could further warm up. She would periodically go back to check on her daughter.
Later, Javier comes in and says Nixzmary isn't making any noises.
Nixzaliz removed the blanket from Nixzmary (after she took her out of the tub with warm water, she dressed her in a warm sweatsuit and wrapped her in a blanket and put her near the radiator so she could futher warm up) she saw Nixzmary wasn't breathing. She ran upstairs to get the neighbor.
Valentine's notes then say Nixzmary was tied up because she would beat up her siblings.
Her notes then say that Nixzaliz said that the last time she hit her daughter she didn't mean to hit her daughter (Nixzaliz has only admitted to one time, pushing Nixzmary, and afterwards she told her she was sorry)
The notes also say that 10-27-78 is Cesar's birthday.
After Nixzaliz gave her oral statement, Valentine asked her to write down what she just told her into a written statement. It's 4 pages long and written in Spanish. 73A is the court translation of 73 in evidence. Dwimoh asks the Spanish translator to read Nixzaliz's written statements.
THE COURT SPANISH TRANSLATOR, MIGDALIA, READS NIXZALIZ'S WRITTEN STATEMENTS OUTLOUD: Nixzmary would make believe she was looking for it but never did (cesar told her to go find the Jello pudding cup and bring it back to him)
Cesar went out.
He came back and went into the children's room to print something out. (printer was jammed with stuffed animals, Cesar screaming at all kids, Edward says it was Nixzmary) After Edward says it, Nixzaliz tells Cesar to ask Nixzmary because the children are more with her.
Bathroom incident happens. Everytime she would come out of the water, he would push her head back down. Afterwards he layed her on a blanket. (in the storage room)
Nixzaliz was with the baby and turned on the TV. Cesar was sleeping.
(afterwards, after Javier tells them Nixzmary not making any noises) Whenever Nixzaliz touched Nixzmary's face it would go to the side. She said "mamita, wake up!" Cesar started doing CPR on her and Nixzmary let out water. Cesar said "this girl has left us"
Nixzaliz then said that her husband use to buy Nixzmary everything.
She goes on to list some childish pranks that Nixzmary use to do.
Next Valentine asked Nixzaliz if she wanted to speak to the Asst. district attorneys on video and Nixzaliz said, "yes, why not?"
End of written statement.
At this point, one of the reporters in the courtroom, is looking at her datebook and blackberry.
Juror 3 (young black female) went to the bathroom.
Dwimoh shows Valentine a manila envelope with 2 videos. peoples 74. It's sealed. Valentine says she was present at the video statement and it accurately reflects what happened that day. The guard and the sargent were then cutting off the seal on the envelope.
Valentine said of the tape, Nixzaliz didn't seem overly upset, that it was just a conversation.
Then the lights in the courtroom were dimmed, and the video flashed onto the gigantic projector screen on the right hand side of the room. On both sides of the courtroom were two smaller tv's on the wall.
HERE'S WHAT WAS PLAYED ON NIXZALIZ'S VIDEO STATEMENT:
The people in the room with Nixzaliz were: Valentine, who's translating, Asst, D.A., Linda Weinman, who's questioning Nixzaliz, Asst. D.A., Kelly Casey and Det. Steven Sneider. (who arrested Cesar)
1-11-06 at 7:51 pm. She says her address and is read her rights.
Nixzaliz noticed that there was a yogurt missing. (they called it yogurt but the actual substance was Jello pudding, Cesar said yogurt so the D.A.'s left it at that) She asked Cesar if he took it, he said no. Her son Edward said Nixzmary took it. Cesar bought 3 packs of pudding, 6 in each, 18 in all.
She says her kids names and ages and she can't remember if Nixzmary is 7 or 8.
Pudding bought from Target on Tuesday night for Cesar's kid, Cesar Augustine, who ate 3 cups. (18 month old baby) It was left on the table. Other kids had to ask permission if they wanted one, and they all got 1 each. Nixzmary was in her room when the kids were being given the pudding.
Weinman asked Nixzaliz if there was something wrong with Nixzmary taking a puddding and Santiago says no, but she wants them to learn respect, that's why she wanted them to ask.
Cesar paired the puddings and Nixzaliz noticed that a strawberry pudding was missing. She asked Cesar if he took it, then the kids. Edward said Nixzmary took it.
Cesar asked Nixzmary, at first she denied taking it, then she said yes. He told her to bring him back the container. She was suppose to get it but never did.
Later, Cesar went to the kids room and found the printer broken. He was upset and started screaming at the kids. Edward said it was Nixzmary who broke it. Cesar went to Nixzmary's room and asked her why she was touching what was not hers. He was yelling, Nixzaliz is holding the baby in her hand. Nixzmary was quiet. Whenever she was asked anything she would be quiet. Cesar bent down to hit her.
Weinman asked Nixzaliz to demonstrate and Nixzaliz takes her hand and hits the table.
Nixzmary was on the floor crying and Nixzaliz tried to stop Cesar. She told him to forget about it.
Cesar grabbed Nixzmary by the hand, took her into the bathroom, stripped her naked, turned on the faucet and started dunking the back of her head under the faucet. Everytime she would get her head out, he'd put it back in.
Nixzaliz was tending to the baby and heard banging in the bathroom and Nixzmary moaning and complaining. Nixzaliz came to the bathroom and tried to stop Cesar saying "stop it, it's not worth it." Nixzmary started saying, "ai, ai, mommy! mommy!"
After Cesar took her out of the bathroom he threw her on a quilt in her room (the storage room) Nixzmary was not making noises because water was cold. Nixzaliz was still tending to the baby so she couldn't check on her right away.
When Nixzaliz went to the bathroom to use it, she felt the water and realized it was cold.
Nixzaliz, holding the baby, looked into the room and saw Nixzmary and she was alive.
2 hours later, after Nixzaliz puts the kids to sleep she checks on Nixzmary.
Asst D.A., Weinman, pointed out that for 2 hours Nixzaliz didn't know if Nixzmary was alive. Weinman asked her what made her check on Nixzmary after 2 hours. Nixzaliz responded, "Something, I'm mother. I feel something inside of me that say go check your daughter". Nixzaliz (seeing Nixzmary was icy cold) put Nixzmary into a tub of warm water, (she motions with her hands back and forth on the tape that she was rubbing the warm water onto Nixzmary) She put some warm water into Nixzmary's mouth (to warm her up on the inside. Afterwards, she dressed her in a warm sweatsuit, wrapped her in a blanket and layed her on the floor next to a working radiator to further warm up)
Nixzaliz said she thought she made a mistake by putting the water into Nixzmary's mouth.
When she told Cesar that she thought something was wrong with Nixzmary, he told her not to worry, that it'll be alright. Nixzaliz was still worried and says she didn't want to lose Nixzmary.
Nixzaliz is now sobbing on the tape.
Nixzaliz said she didn't get an ambulance because Nixzmary was moving and breathing.
Weinman asked her, "did you think you were going to lose her?" Nixzaliz said "yes, but I had faith" (when she put her next to the heater)
She then went to tend to the baby.
Nixzaliz said Cesar would spank Nixzmary with his hands or a belt and left marks, black bruises. Nixzaliz was worried about the marks and told Cesar not to hit the kids. Cesar said that if he's helping her to take care of the kids, not to but in.
She said the only kid that gave problems was Nixzmary, the other kids behaved good.
Weinman asked if Cesar hit the other kids. She said he scolded the boys strongly and once he hit Selena with a belt. She was in her room and heard Selena crying and when she asked her what was wrong, she said Cesar spanked her. Nixzaliz said Cesar would usually reprimand strongly but would hit with his hands. She said the only one he would hit regularly with a belt is Nixzmary.
Then she goes on to list a bunch of childish pranks Nixzmary did like hitting her brothers, etc.
She said Cesar would hit her, sometimes leaving marks on her.
Then Nixzaliz talks about how the school called because Nixzmary had a cut over her eye. Nixzaliz said Cesar was scolding her, Nixzmary ran, slipped and hit her eye on a piece of wood. She was taken to the hospital.
Nixzaliz said she got a miscarriage because the floor was wet, she slipped and her son witnessed it.
Nixzaliz said she doesn't know how Nixzmary got the mark on her chin.
Nixzmary's black eyes she takes credit for saying after Nixzmary did something to one of her brothers, Nixzaliz pushed her once, but it was hard, and Nixzmary fell gettin a bump and black eyes. Nixzaliz said she immediately told her she was sorry and put ice on it. She said she doesn't like to hit her kids and it was only that one time.
Weinman shows her some pages and asked her if she wrote these pages out and if it's her signature on them. Nixzaliz said, yes.
Weinman asked her if her children have a name for their private parts, like "coochie". Nixzaliz said, no. She said she's never seen Cesar touch the kids on their private parts and the kids never said anything.
She said Cesar would put Nixzmary in the other room because she'd hurt the other kids, that he'd bring her food and then leave. He'd tape her arms to the chair at night so she couldn't get up and hit her siblings. Nixzaliz said it was more Cesar who wanted to tie Nixzmary up than her but she was also scared that Nixzmary would hit the other kids so she agreed. Nixzaliz denied Cesar tied Nixzmary to the chair just so she couldn't get up.
Weinman asked about the bungee cord. Nixzaliz said Cesar tied Nixzmary with white rope that you'd use to tie a box. Nixzaliz said Nixzmary hurt her ankle (deep ligature mark on her anke) trying to get loose. Nixzaliz said she told Cesar not to tie Nixzmary up.
Weinman asked her if she got Nixzmary medical attention and Nixzaliz said she had medicines for the pain.
Nixzaliz said when Cesar would tie the rope to the doorknob (he'd tie a rope from the outside of Nixzmary's doorknob to another doorknob) that he wouldn't tie Nixzmary up. She said he'd do it so she wouldn't hit her brothers. They made sure she ate and took a bath but when it was time to go to sleep she'd be locked in her room. In the room were mattresses and kitty litter.
When Weinman asked her what would happen if Nixzmary had to go to the bathroom at night , Nixzaliz said they were all up at night so they'd hear her. Weinman pointed out that Cesar and Nixzaliz weren't up when Nixzmary came into their room to bother the babies. Nixzaliz said that that happened between 7-8 am when they were really tired. Weinman asked, what would happen if Nixzmary had to go to the bathroom at 7 am. Nixzaliz said the kids were close by and would have told her.
Weinman asked her if Nixzmary would be so hungry that she ate the cat food? Nixzaliz said Nixzmary threw rice and beef in the bathroom. She said, we gave her food, we left the kids eating, she threw it away and said, "I finished". Weinman again asked about Nixzmary eating catfood. Nixzaliz physically shudders and said no. She also said that her and Cesar would clean out the cat's litter box.
Weinman asked her about when the kids stopped going to school. Nixzaliz said she needed bedrest after she lost her baby at the end of November. After she was in the hospital she was left dirty inside, and had alot of pain. She went to Lutheran then Woodhull hospital.
Weinman asked about Nixzmary's weight. Nixzaliz said that last year she took Nixzmary to the doctor because she was concerned that she was losing so much weight.
(At this point the police tape runs out and they stop to change the tape at 8:47 p.m. They restart a brand new tape at 8:51p.m.)
Nixzaliz said the doctor told Nixzmary that she had to eat. Then he said to her "talk to me". Nixzaliz said Nixzmary made a face (like when you have an attitude) and didn't talk to the doctor.
Weinman asked why Nixzaliz was so concerned that Nixzmary took the yogurt (really Jello pudding, but Nixzaliz and Cesar called it yogurt) without permission. Nixzaliz said that she wanted them to ask because sometimes the kids will eat everything at one shot and her husband would have to go buy more. Weinman pointed out, not Nixzmary.
Nixzaliz said that when Nixzmary wanted, she would drink alot of milk, alot of juice and she liked to eat plain corn flakes. Nixzaliz said Nixzmary didn't like eggs, vegetables, chicken, chuleta, or beans and she would throw it away.
Nixzaliz said Nixzmary was behaving bad and she was going to send her away for a short time with her grandmother (Maria Gonzalez). She said her mother couldn't take her because from Brooklyn she was going to Texas to visit her son's house that was on a military base. Nixzaliz said she was waiting for her mother to come back for Nixzmary. Nixzaliz also said that she told the ACS case worker that she wanted to send Nixzmary away to live with her grandmother in Puerto Rico. She said the caseworker told her not to send Nixzmary away because when she grows up she won't want you. At this point, Nixzaliz starts mocking the ACS caseworker on the video, putting her hands up swinging her body back and forth mocking, "oh nooo, nooo, nooo. Don't send her away".
She also said ACS gave her cribs for her babies.
She said when ACS interviewed her, that it was not the normal caseworker and they only wanted to know about the house.
Nixzaliz then said that she never saw an ACS note under her door.
Weinman then shows her photos of Nixzmary and asks if that's how she looked when she found her this morning. Nixzaliz puts her head in her hands and cries.
Weinman asked if Nixzmary's black eyes were caused by Nixzaliz, who said the mark on Nixzmary's forehead was the cut that got infected. Weinman asked if she ever took her back to the hospital for it. Nixzaliz said no because they had medicine for the infection and that the cut got so ugly that they had to scrape it. Weinman asked if she didn't take her to the hospital because she was afraid the hospital would see Nixzmary's black eyes. Nixzaliz said that when Nixzmary got the injury that she only had one black eye and that when they scraped the cut, it made her other eye black. Nixzaliz describes Nixzmary's injuries as looking like a monster.
Nixzaliz said she doesn't know how Nixzmary got the injury to her chin, that it might have been Cesar and doesn't know how many weeks ago it happened. Nixzaliz said she never hits them so she's not a mind reader.
Weinman showed her another photo of Nixzmary's back, buttocks and the back of her arms and asked her how she got the injuries. Nixzaliz said it had to be the husband and that one time she saw a couple of bruises but not like that. Weinman confirms that Nixzaliz has never seen these marks before. She asked her who gives Nixzmary a bath. Nixzaliz said all the kids take baths by themselves, even the 5 year old. Only the babies she bathes. Weinman asked her if she's ever seen her kids undressed and Nixzaliz said that the kids take their clothes with them to the bathroom.
Weinman asked: isn't Nixzmary's stuf kept in that room with the mattresses and the cat litter? Nixzaliz said that her stuff was nice and neat in her draw in the room.
Weinman said: you knew your husband would beat her with regularity because you heard her crying. Nixzaliz again stated that she never saw Nixzmary like this (the photo) and that one time she checked Nixzmary and saw a little mark but never saw any marks from the photos before today. She said she only saw the front part of Nixzmary, not her back, Weinman said she's not talking about just today. Weinman asked her if she checked Nixzmary after Cesar beat her with the belt, for marks. Nixzaliz said only sometimes.
Weinman then shows her a picture of the back of Nixzmary's neck that had a gigantic bruise on it and asked if she ever saw that before. Nixzaliz said yes, today when she was putting warm water on her (in the bathtub). Nixzaliz said she's always cooking, cleaning and tending to the kids so she doesn't have time to be checking their bodies.
Weinman showed her a photo of Nixzmary's legs and Nixzaliz says that was when Cesar tied her up.
Nixzaliz then said that when Cesar carried Nixzmary back to the room she was naked and after Nixzaliz warmed her up, she put red pants and a red sweather on Nixzmary.
Weinman: when you realized Nixzmary wasn't breathing what did you do? Nixzaliz: called 911 and the neighbor.
Weinman: did you tell the neighbor that Nixzmary drowned? Nixzaliz said that when she was putting warm water on Nixzmary to warm her up, she put some in her mouth and when Cesar was doing CPR on Nixzmary, a little bit of water came out of her mouth. Nixzaliz, seeing the water, said that she thought that she made a mistake by giving Nixzmary the water and that Nixzmary drowned from the water. (that's where she got, that Nixzmary drowned from) She said the neighbor misunderstood.
Weinman asked her if after they realized that Nixzmary was dead, did Cesar say, "what do you care, you still have 5 more". Nixzaliz denied he said that.
Weinman: I have no more questions. That's the end of the interview. The tape is done.
Everyone in the courtroom now goes to lunch.
Coming back from lunch, one of the jurors was late. Judge DiMango lectured them about coming in on time.
Det. Valentine retook the stand for further questioining by D.A. Dwimoh.
Valentine said at the end of the video, Nixzaliz asked what would happen to her kids and Weinman said that it's up to A.C.S.
Valentine also said that during the break in between the two videos, that she took Nixzaliz to the bathroom and gave her a sanitary napkin. Valentine claims Nixzaliz told her in the bathroom that she was upset she got her menstraul cycle because she wanted to have a daughter from Cesar.
Valentine further testified that Nixzaliz said that the last time Cesar hit her was one year ago.
Valentine said that, yes, she is familiar with the Spanish curse word "cabron". Dwimoh asked her if it is an insult when a woman says it to a man. Valentine replied, yes.
People's 74C= the official court translation of Nixzaliz's video taped statement, entered into evidence.
Valentine said Nixzaliz was given the oppurtunity to use the bathroom and eat, was never handcuffed, only Valentine had contact with Nixzaliz and that Nixzaliz was given Chinese food-- chicken wings. Valentine said she never made any threats to Nixzaliz and described her interaction as Nixzaliz just having a conversation, she cried, but not over crying.
Dwimoh took a photo of Nixzaliz off the easel, handed it to Valentine and asked her if that's the way Nixzaliz looked that night. Valentine answered, yes.
Dwimoh has the Spanish interpretator, Jeanette, read the miranda warning that Valentine read to Nixzaliz, in English. Valentine confirms that's the miranda that she read.
Defense lawyer, Sammy Sanchez did the cross exam.
Even thought Valentine has since retired from being a detective, he said he'd like to refer to her as, detective.
Sanchez asked her if the statement she took appears in her DD5 (police report), Valentine said yes. Sanchez: when was the last time you went over your DD5's?Valentine answered, yesterday when she was in the hospital visiting her mother.
Sanchez pointed out that she has 61 complaint reports against her.
He asked if in ANY OF THE DD5'S DOES IT SAY THAT NIXZALIZ WANTED TO HAVE CESAR'S DAUGHTER. Valentine said, no, but she remembers.
Sanchez points out that Valentine was not even a part of the 79th precint and she was only involved due to her Spanish speaking abilities. He asked if she has any formal training in translation or interprtation, she says no.
Sanchez said that the video started at 7:51 pm, the tape ended at 9:15 pm, Nixzaliz was at the station for 12 hours.
What time did you feed her? Valentine said she can't remember.
Sanchez said: you testified at Cesar's hearing on Dec 6th. 2006 and you were asked how long Nixzaliz's oral statements lasted. Valentine said it started at 9:30 am and finished at 12pm.
Valentine also said that at 3pm, she asked Nixzaliz if she wanted food.
(Nixzaliz gave 3 statements: oral, written and video taped) Sanchez said Nixzaliz was there approx. 6 hours (after the written statement) without food.
He then puts Nixzaliz's written statement up on the projector screen.
Sanchez: she had her menstraul period, you get there at 8:35 am, Nixzaliz was already there on the 2nd. floor in a room. (Sanchez's tone is now extremely argumentative)
Sanchez showed Valentine a picture of the room and asked if this was the room Nixzaliz was held in. Valentine said that the photo only depicts the doorway. The photo on the screen was of a giant room with 3 separate doorways leading into rooms. There was a desk, outside of the three doors. Valentine said that the room Nixzaliz was held in was the room on the right, it was small, dark and had lockers that belonged to the detectives. The room she was interviewed in was the room on the left, which was bigger and had more light.
Sanchez said that at the end of Nixzaliz's second statement (3 stmts were oral, written and video) which ended at 3pm, did she offer Nixzaliz food. Valentine said she doesn't remember when the second statement ended but she offered Nixzaliz food and she wanted Chinese food- chicken wings. Sanchez said: you don't recall when the second statement ended but you recall she wanted chicken wings?
Sanchez said to Valentine: you're not a professional interpretator & you found yourself going to translate at 7:51 pm. when they were ready to take a video statement. Asst. DA Kelly Casey and Det. Sneider were there too. You knew you were the only one in that room that spoke Spanish. You knew a child was dead and had bruises on her body. You knew she was a suspect in a homicide. You knew your interpretation would be critical in this case. Sanchez now starts yelling at Valentine. Valentine sarcastically remarks, "you to far away, I can't hear you". (the audience chuckles) Sanchez: you knew accuracy was important. Valentine: I translated to the best of my abilities. Sanchez: you knew this case was big, the D.A. was there, sargents were there. You weren't in that room to influence her statement or put words in her mouth. Valentine agrees.
Sanchez: as you saw the statement this morning, is everything accurately translated? Valentine: I translated to the best of my abilities.
Sanchez: did you tidy her up before she went on camera? Valentine: no.
Sanchez: let's see how accurate you were in your translation!! Anything you want to correct from what you saw this morning? Valentine again states she translated to the best of her abilities.
SANCHEZ THEN PLAYS THE VIDEO AND POINTS OUT EVERY INSTANCE WHERE VALENTINE FAILED TO TRANSLATE CORRECTLY, LEAVING THINGS OUT THAT NIXZALIZ SAID.
Sanchez puts a part of Nixzaliz's video statement on the giant projector screen. He said: Linda Weinman asked Nixzaliz how many hours later she went to check on Nixzmary. Nixzaliz said: tell her I grabbed the girl and looked at her, I was on top of her and only left her for a moment to get the children some food. I put her into the shower. She (Nixzmary) said "mmm, mmm", I wanted to warm her with warm water. Sanchez points out that all Valentine translated was: I grabbed her and put her in the bath. Valentine then requested that Sanchez play the tape again.
D.A. Dwimoh kept objecting and seemed flustered. ( maybe because Sanchez could understand Nixzaliz's Spanish on the tape and knew everything not translated correctly whereas the D.A. was at a disadvantage by not being able to tell which statements were translated correctly and which ones weren't)
Then Sanchez gave another ex.: On page 34 of the transcript, Linda Weinman asked Nixzaliz: "was she crying, was she screaming, doing anything, did she say anything?" Valentine's interpretation of that question was: was she screaming, was she crying. Sanchez said, "was that an accurate interpretation based on all the Spanish you know?" You only gave Nixzaliz 2 choices. Was that a direct verbatim quote, was that fair and accurate? Valentine said, no. Sanchez: you agree that you fell short? Valentine said yes but that she translated to the best of her abilities.
At this point, Sanchez starts referring to Asst. D.A., Linda Weinman, as Linda "Weinberg". The jury started laughing and covering their mouths. Dwimoh put her fingers to the bridge of her nose and started laughing. The audience started laughing. Linda Weinman sat there, beside Ama Dwimoh, clearly not amused. Sanchez didn't get what people were laughing at and kept calling her Linda "Weinberg". The judge had to say, "it's Weinman"!
Sanchez then started reading from the transcript of the video tape, but he wasn't reading it correctly and the judge told him to read it verbatim but he still kept adding in small words. The judge got mad and kept telling him he's not reading the transcript correctly.
He was also driving the court reporter nuts because he kept repeating sentences over and over, then went back to the first sentences, then to the previous one, then back to the last one. The jury also looked flustered and so was the audience.
Finally, Judge DiMango, angrily called a bench conference and led all of the attorneys out into the hall in back of her bench. When they came back, Sanchez said to Valentine,: is it fair to say I pointed out certain points in your translation that were lacking. Valentine said, yes.
Sanchez also pointed out that in Nixzaliz's written statement, that nothing is written in parenthesis. Then he points out some places that have parenthesis and Valentine admits she put them there and wrote stuff inside of them on her own.
Then he points out that in Valentine's DD5 report, she states that Nixzaliz initialed her Miranda sheet. (Sanchez never said if there were lines in the Miranda that weren't initialed)
Then Sanchez points out how the form of one of the pages of the written statement differs considerably from the form of the others. ON THE OTHER PAGES THERE'S ONE LONG PARAGRAPH, BUT ON THE 2nd TO LAST PAGE OF THE WRITTEN STATEMENT, THERE'RE 7 PARAGRAPHS! Sanchez asked Valentine if she had Nixzaliz sign the statement beforehand. Sanchez never said what the page with the 7 paragraphs said.
He also pointed out that Nixzaliz was not educated and had mispellings.
He asked Valentine if she was familiar with the Reid technique of interrogation. Valentine said, "after the last trial, I looked it up!!!" (It's a technique where you learn to make people talk to you. At Cesar's trial, his attorney Jeff Schwartz, grilled Valentine about if she knew what the Reid technique of interrogation was. She kept saying she didn't know and asked him to tell her what it was but he refused and kept asking her if she knew what it was ) Sanchez pointed out that Valentine had taken a seminar in interrgations and said that she knew when she's in a room that she wants to befriend the person and she knows how to get them to talk. Valentine said, "somewhat".
He makes reference to her claiming she didn't know what the Reid technique was at Cesar's trial. Then he poined out that at a hearing on Dec. 6th, 2006 she was asked if she knew techniques to make people talk to her and she answered, yes. (Valentine now claimed she didn't know that technique was called "Reid".)
Sanchez asked her if she was concerned with Nixzaliz's educational background. Dwimoh objects.
Sanchez pointed out that VALENTINE NEVER STATES IN ANY OF HER POLICE REPORTS THAT SHE FILLED OUT THAT NIXZALIZ WANTED TO HAVE A DAUGHTER FROM CESAR. (nor did she mention this at Cesar's trial)
He asked Valentine if she translated her notes to Nixzaliz. Valentine: I don't recall.
He again states that the oral statement was from 9:30-12 pm and the written statement was from 12-3pm. Sanchez pointed out that Nixzaliz was always in that little room and then he asked : did she tell you she was in pain, uncomfortable, hungry? Valentine: no.
Valentine also said that at the end of the tape Nixzaliz was asking about her kids.
Sanchez: when Cesar found out the printer was broken, he was screaming at all of the kids, not just Nixzmary. It was Edward who said it was Nixzmary. Cesar was very bolsterous, very loud, yelling at the top of his lungs. Nixzaliz said she was concerned about all the kids when Cesar started yelling. Valentine then said that Nixzaliz didn't tell her she was concerned and that she would have to check her notes. Sanchez said that the baby was crying alot that night and asked Valentine if during the time Cesar was screaming at all of the kids to the time he took Nixzmary, did Nixzaliz have the baby on her arm. Valentine said she didn't tell her.
Sanchez pointed out that NIXZALIZ DIDN'T URGE AND PUSH CESAR TO BEAT NIXZMARY. Dwimoh objects. Sanchez to Valentine: did she tell you she wanted Cesar to stop hitting Nixzmary? Valentine said: she asked him to stop and told him to forget about the printer.
Sanchez pointed out that WHEN CESAR WAS GIVING NIXZMARY C.P.R., THAT A LITTLE BIT OF WATER CAME OUT OF HER MOUTH. Sanchez said that Nixzaliz was blaming herself for giving Nixzmary the water earlier and that at no time did she participate in hitting Nixzmary.
Sanchez's cross exam now ends.
D.A. Dwimoh does the re-direct. Dwimoh pointed out on re-direct that at a pre-trial hearing on Dec.6th. 2006, Valentine had indeed stated that Nixzaliz told her in the bathroom that she was upset she got her menstraul period because she wanted to give Cesar a daughter. That today is not the first time she's claiming this.
Valentine said that Nixzaliz confirmed that the signature on the Miranda warning sheet was hers.
She also said that food was given to her at the station at 2:45pm. Sanchez points out the food was purchased. It was chicken wings, white rice, and a Sprite.
Valentine also said that what was in the parenthesis were Nixzaliz's own words, although she didn't tell her to put them there.
Dwimoh also said that when Cesar was screaming at all of the children about the broken printer and Nixzaliz asked the kids who did it and Edward said, Nixzmary, that Nixzaliz told Cesar to ask Nixzmary, "because the children are more with me". Nixzaliz told Valentine, "I told him to ask my daughter about it". She said Cesar asked Nixzmary, started yelling and hitting her with his hands. Nixzaliz told her to tell him the truth. Nixzmary wasn't answering back.
Valentine said that Nixzaliz asked about what was going to happen to Cesar and only asked about the kids at the end of the video.
Valentine said her demeanor was calm with a couple of tears.
Sammy Sanchez did the defense's re-cross.
Sanchez pointed out that Nixzaliz told Nixzmary to tell the truth because Cesar was yelling at all of the kids and the more quiet Nixzmary became, the more angrier Cesar got.
Sanchez also noted that Valentine filled out 3 DD5 police reports and never wrote about Nixzaliz asking about Cesar. He said one of the DD5's reflected Nixzaliz's oral statements. He said: after 2 years, you remember that she asked about Cesar but you didn't remember when you wrote the DD5? He also noted that it's not in the DD5 that Nixzaliz remained calm. Valentine said that was her own recollection.
Sanchez asked her how many times she met with the D.A.'s and when was the last time. Valentine said she met with them several times, couldn't remember exactly how many and the last time she met with them was on Saturday at the hospital for 1 hour. (her mother is sick).
D.A. Dwimoh did the re-direct and asked Valentine why she remembered that Nixzaliz asked about Cesar and she was calm. Valentine said she remembered because: Nixzaliz was asking for someone who might be responsible for what happened to her daughter. Dwimoh asked her why she remembered that Nixzaliz was calm. Valentine said,: her daughter was dead, that's why I didn't forget it.
After that, Det. Valentine's testimony ended. All in all, she was one very entertaining Dominican.
Some personal thoughts. I was surprised that the very next day, none of the major newspapers mentioned Valentine's bombshell revelation that Nixzaliz wanted a daughter from Cesar! I was in shock when Valentine said that in the courtroom. I immediately looked over at Nixzaliz and my first thoughts were that she thought Nixzmary was expendable! That she didn't care what happened to little Nixzmary because there would be a new daughter in the picture, Cesar's daughter.
I thought Sanchez was making to big a deal of what time Nixzaliz was fed. I've gone without food for hours. I might be a little cranky, but I'm not going to start losing my mind. I understand why he brought it up. They were keeping her in a dark, small room, without food for hours. She had her menstraul cycle, she was uncomfortable. The idea is for the person to get so tired of it that they'll say anything to get out. It's not unheard of for police to do that.
The police tape could end up backfiring on the prosecution. Here's how: Nixzaliz makes a laundry list of all the bad things Nixzmary did. (childish things) A jury could potentially lose sympathy for her after hearing all of that.
Another way the tape could end up backfiring on the prosecution is this: In order for Nixzaliz to be convicted, every charge requires the jury to find that she was acting in the same state of mind as Cesar. On the tape, when Cesar is beating Nixzmary, Nixzaliz said she tried to stop him twice, once in the bedroom when he confronted her about the printer, then in the bathroom after she heard the banging. That shows a separate state of mind. His was to hurt, hers was to stop him from hurting.
Another way that this tape could potentially hurt the prosecution is that they're contending that Nixzaliz deliberately left her daughter on the floor KNOWING she was dying and left her to die. The tape shows Nixzaliz saying that after she saw Nixzmary was icy cold, she picked her up from the cold floor, put her in a warm tub of water to warm her up, put warm water in her mouth, dressed her in a warm red sweatsuit, wrapped her in blankets and layed her down in the children's room next to a working radiator so she could further warm up quicker. A jury could infer that THOSE WERE ACTIONS CONSISTANT WITH PRESERVING LIFE, NOT TAKING LIFE.
The part of the tape that the defense is going to have the biggest problem with is where Weinman asked Santiago if she thought she was going to lose Nixzmary and Nixzaliz said "yes, but I had faith."
It was obvious that Sanchez did alot of work in preparing for the cross exam in regards to pointing out all the areas that Valentine didn't translate correctly. It all went for nothing because the Judge stopped him because she was mad that he wasn't reading from the transcript verbatim and kept adding in his own words. The judge stopping him from cross-examining Valentine could potentially come back to haunt the prosecution. The defense might claim during appeals that Judge DiMango prevented them from fully cross-examining the witness.
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