BEXAR COUNTY, Texas – During Monday’s testimony, SAPD officer Andrew Chernak told jurors he believed the officers on the patio were justified in their actions at Melissa Perez’s apartment on June 23, 2023.
“Based upon the assault on SAPD officer (Jonathan) Salinas, (that) gave us grounds to go in,” Chernak testified on Monday. “So, you know, like I said, we had a legal right to enter that apartment.”
Ex-SAPD officers Eleazar Alejandro, Alfred Flores and Nathaniel Villalobos are on trial for the shooting death of Perez.
The department has since terminated Alejandro, Flores and Villalobos from the force.
Also, on Monday, SAPD crime scene investigator Yvonne Diaz was called to the stand.
Below is a timeline of Monday’s court proceedings.
11:12 a.m. - Jurors entered the courtroom. San Antonio police officer Andrew Chernak returned to the stand for his second day of testimony.
11:21 a.m. - Ben Sifuentes, a defense attorney of ex-SAPD officer Eleazar Alejandro, continued his cross-examination of Chernak.
11:24 a.m. - Sifuentes attempted to ask Chernak if he “report that the city (of San Antonio) for conduct that he observed” during the June 23, 2023, shooting at Perez’s apartment.
Bexar County prosecutor Daryl Harris objected, which Judge Ron Rangel allowed.
Chernak told the court that he’s “still not sure” who had report writing responsibility on that night.
“Your Honor, this witness — by his (Chernak’s) testimony — did not have the report writing authority for this incident," Harris told the court, in part. “It is improper to inquire for him the totality of report of the incident. That was a separate officer. He is the wrong witness for this line of questioning.”
Sifuentes called Harris’ assertion “illogical.”
“He is required to submit a report, irrespective of whether someone has report writing responsibility,” Sifuentes said, in part. “So, if he didn’t know who had report writing responsibility, he’s not relieved from reporting.”
11:27 a.m. - Harris then accused Sifuentes of laying the groundwork to ask the state to award immunity to Chernak, which Sifuentes objected.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys approached Rangel’s bench.
11:29 a.m. - Jurors left the courtroom. A hearing was held without their presence.
11:30 a.m. - Jason Goss, a defense attorney for ex-SAPD officer Nathaniel Villalobos, told Rangel that Harris is “trying to make the jury believe that we think that they did something wrong and that they need immunity.”
“Their (the prosecution’s) theory is falling off a cliff,” Goss said. “Everybody realizes it. They realize it.”
While Rangel believes the prosecution didn’t say anything “harmful,” he granted the defense’s objection.
“I’ll just remind the state, ‘Let’s not talk about immunity in front of this jury,’” Rangel said.
11:39 a.m. - Sifuentes asked Chernak if he observed and reported any “criminal activity” by officers while he was at Perez’s apartment.
“My supplemental (report) was my part of it,” Chernak said.
Chernak also said he did not see any officers’ behavior that would cause civil liability to the city.
11:41 a.m. - For purposes of the hearing, Sifuentes passed the witness back to the prosecution.
11:48 a.m. - Jurors reentered the courtroom. Rangel asked the jury to “disregard” the prosecution’s statement about immunity.
11:49 a.m. - With jurors present, Sifuentes resumed his cross-examination of Chernak.
11:55 a.m. - Sifuentes began playing portions of body-worn camera from fellow SAPD responding officer Vince Gomez before the court.
Gomez’s body-worn camera video began playing at the 1:57 a.m. mark on June 23, 2023.
“So, I’m asking you to come out and talk to us peacefully, OK?” an SAPD officer told Perez in the video.
“I don’t need to talk to somebody who tearing my door down and harassing me and the elderly,” Perez said.
“So, would you like to come out and talk to us?” the officer said to Perez.
“Nope,” Perez told the officer.
12:07 p.m. - Sifuentes passed the witness. Christian Neumann, a co-defense attorney for ex-SAPD Sgt. Alfred Flores, began cross-examining Chernak.
12:19 p.m. - Due to the location of Perez’s apartment, Chernak told Neumann that ex-SAPD Sgt. Alfred Flores was in charge of the scene upon his arrival.
12:27 p.m. - Because of Perez’s assault of fellow responding SAPD officer Jonathan Salinas, who Perez hit with a hammer, Chernak told the court he believed he had the “legal right” to go into Perez’s apartment.
“I agree with you,” Neumann said to Chernak.
12:28 p.m. - Chernak said he was assigned to bring a shield when he responded to the apartment. However, he said he didn’t think about the shield because he wanted to execute the plan, as he understood it.
“Trying to get through the window with the shield and everything would have been a little cumbersome,” Chernak said, in part.
12:29 p.m. - Neumann mentioned Flores, who Chernak happened to train when Flores joined SAPD nearly two decades ago.
“He wasn’t running around like a chicken with his head cut off,” Chernak said, describing Flores’ demeanor on June 23, 2023, in part. “He seemed to be like he always is.”
“You say, ‘how he always is.’ What do you mean by that?” Neumann asked Chernak.
“With him being a sergeant, he’s been to a couple of my calls,” Chernak said of Flores. ”I’ve never heard him get angry, yell or seem to yell or get angry. He’s always somewhat calm and cool.”
12:31 p.m. - Portions of Villalobos’ body-worn camera video was played before the court. The video began at the 1:57 a.m. mark on June 23, 2023.
12:37 p.m. - At the 2:02 a.m. mark in Villalobos’ body-worn camera video, he was seen going over Perez’s patio railing.
Shots began ringing out.
12:40 p.m. - A picture of Flores in the middle of the shooting was shown to the court.
“Have you ever seen Alfred Flores’ face look like that before?” Neumann asked Chernak.
“No, sir,” Chernak said.
“Pretty genuine expression of fear. Would you agree?” Neumann asked.
“I would guess, yes,” Chernak said.
Neumann’s cross-examination ended.
12:42 p.m. - Rangel instituted a lunch break.
1:54 p.m. - Jurors reentered the courtroom. Chernak, the witness, was passed to the prosecution.
1:56 p.m. - Harris began his cross-examination of Chernak.
2:02 p.m. - Body-worn camera from ex-SAPD officer Eleazar Alejandro began playing before the court at the 1:51 a.m. mark on June 23, 2023.
At that moment, Alejandro was at Perez’s apartment complex.
From Alejandro’s vantage point in the footage, another SAPD officer, Maria Salinas, had their weapon drawn.
2:10 p.m. - Body-worn camera from SAPD officer Maria Salinas began playing before the court at the 1:51 a.m. mark on June 23, 2023.
In the video, from Salinas’ vantage point, Villalobos was seen jumping over Perez’s patio fence and reaching through her open window.
“She’s coming,” Salinas said to Villalobos.
“Hey, watch out,” another officer was heard saying to Villalobos in the video.
Villalobos backed away from Perez’s window before she ran up to it.
“You’re trespassing, and you ain’t got a warrant,” Perez said to Villalobos and the other officers. “Fight me. I don’t give a f---. You ain’t got a warrant.”
Salinas drew a weapon and pointed it toward Perez.
Several officers are heard talking at the same time. Some of them are trying to talk to Villalobos.
One officer said to Villalobos, “Now! Now!” which resulted in the former officer hopping out of Perez’s apartment patio.
2:39 p.m. - Harris passed the witness back to the defense, specifically to Goss.
2:53 p.m. - Rangel instituted a short break. Jurors left the courtroom.
3:48 p.m. - Jurors reentered the courtroom.
4:14 p.m. - Goss passed the witness. Neumann submitted pieces of evidence to the court.
The state, who did not have any further questions for Chernak, did not object to the new evidence.
4:15 p.m. - Rangel excused Chernak from the stand.
4:16 p.m. - The prosecution called SAPD crime scene investigator Yvonne Diaz to the stand. Rangel sworn Diaz in.
Bexar County prosecutor David Lunan began the state’s line of questioning to Diaz.
4:20 p.m. - Upon her arrival to the scene, Diaz said an officer alerted her that Perez’s apartment complex was still a considered an “active crime scene.”
“Whenever there’s an active scene, because I am a civilian, I’m not allowed to carry or enter an active crime scene or a scene,” Diaz told the court. “So, I went back to my vehicle, and I waited.”
Diaz said her job was to take photos of SAPD officer Jonathan Salinas, who was injured after Perez hit him with a hammer, and collect items.
Lunan asked Diaz if she noticed anything while she waited in her vehicle.
“I heard gunshots, and then I heard an officer get on the radio and request for EMS,” Diaz said.
As a result, Diaz said she remained in her vehicle and notified her supervisor about a potential shooting took place at approximately 2 a.m. on June 23, 2023.
4:24 p.m. - Goss asked one question of Diaz following a voir dire request.
Sifuentes then began asking Diaz questions regarding measurements of a diagram of objects at the scene that were not drawn to scale.
4:27 p.m. - Lunan resumed asking Diaz questions.
A diagram of Perez’s apartment was shown to jurors.
Diaz told jurors that the crime scene investigator team “mainly focused” on Perez’s apartment patio area, living room, bedroom and dining room.
4:32 p.m. - Lunan introduced more than 100 photos Diaz took in the early morning hours of June 23, 2023.
Diaz thumbed through the photos, which she said she recognized taking.
4:34 p.m. - Lunan introduced more photos of the crime as evidence.
The defense — specifically Sifuentes, ex-SAPD officer Eleazar Alejandro co-defense attorney Mario Del Prado and Neumann — looked the photos over.
4:39 p.m. - A discussion at the bench led to Rangel to give jurors a short break.
During the break, the entire defense team looked at the photos. A hearing began without the jurors’ presence.
5 p.m. - Rangel asked the defense if there were any objections to the state’s submission of photos from the scene.
Goss said he had objections to “a few of them,” referring to five specific photos.
5:10 p.m. - Rangel announced the end of the day’s court proceedings. The trial is expected to resume on Tuesday afternoon.
Background
On June 23, 2023, Perez, 46, experienced a mental health crisis inside her Southwest Side apartment, where SAPD body camera footage showed she was fatally shot by ex-SAPD officers Eleazar Alejandro, Alfred Flores and Nathaniel Villalobos.
The case drew widespread attention and sparked debate over police response protocols.
Alejandro, Flores and Villalobos each face charges in connection with Perez’s death.
All three charged will be tried together, which will make for a packed courtroom.
Former prosecutor-turned-defense attorney Meredith Chacon said the plan to try all three together means each defense team has agreed on some kind of joint strategy.
“It indicates a sharing of resources, and they’re all working together on this defense,” Chacon said.
Each defendant has their own team of lawyers:
- Alfred Flores is represented by Thom Nisbet, Christian Neumann and David Christian.
- Eleazar Alejandro is represented by Ben Sifuentes and Mario Del Prado, a former division chief in the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office.
- Nathaniel Villalobos is represented by former Bexar County District Attorney Nico LaHood and his law partners Jay Norton, Jason Goss and Patrick Ballantyne.
As for the state, prosecutors include Felony Criminal Trial Division Chief David Lunan and Daryl Harris.
The trial is being presided over by Judge Ron Rangel of the 379th Criminal District Court.
Ahead of jury selection, a pretrial hearing became heated as attorneys sparred over key issues ahead of the trial. Defense attorneys argued with prosecutors over which evidence and legal arguments should be allowed during the proceedings.
Among the issues discussed was a federal judge’s recent decision to dismiss a civil lawsuit against the officers — a ruling the defense wants jurors to hear about. Prosecutors opposed that motion.
Defense attorneys also objected to any discussion of the Castle Doctrine, or “protection of property” laws, during the trial. They argued it is irrelevant to the facts of the case.
Rangel has yet to rule on those motions.
If convicted, Flores and Alejandro each face up to life in prison. Villalobos, who is facing an aggravated assault by a public servant charge, also faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
For a full look back at this case, watch our KSAT Open Court video below:
More recent coverage of this trial on KSAT: