SAN ANTONIO – During opening remarks in the murder trial of Antonio Torres, prosecutors told the jury that some of the witnesses they plan to call are not always the most forthcoming and reliable.
“Most of the people we have coming in don’t want to be here,” Assistant District Attorney Kim Gonzalez told the jury. “They were subpoenaed to be here. We have people coming over that are in jail to testify, and I’m not sure how cooperative they’re going to be.”
Torres is accused of firing two shots into the chest of Roy Ruiz, 35, on the night of November 4, 2013.
Prosecutors said Torres went to a home at 1309 Keats Street to speak with Ruiz’s girlfriend and her mother. Ruiz stepped outside to talk with him and was shot to death.
Prosecutors Tuesday called witness Tracy Gonzalez to testify. Gonzalez had been inside the home at the time of the shooting and had answered the door when Torres knocked.
In a photo lineup on the night of Ruiz’s death, she had identified Torres as the man who had come to the door.
In court on Tuesday, when Gonzalez was asked if she saw the man she had identified in the photo lineup, she looked around the courtroom and said she did not.
If convicted, Torres, who pleaded not guilty at the outset of the trial, faces a maximum punishment of life in prison.
Testimony is expected to continue on Wednesday in Judge Jefferson Moore’s 186th District Court.