Jurors in the Albert Gaxiola capital-murder case heard conflicting testimony from a forensic examiner Wednesday about cell towers and the whereabouts of Gaxiola's cellphone the night he allegedly murdered an Arivaca man and his daughter.
Gaxiola is charged with first-degree murder in the slayings of Raul Junior Flores, 29, and his 9-year-old daughter, Brisenia. He is also charged with attempted first-degree murder in the shooting of Flores' wife, Gina Gonzalez, 33.
On the first day of the trial, June 7, jurors listened to the 911 call placed by Gonzalez at 12:49 a.m. May 30, 2009. They heard the gunfire she exchanged with Jason Bush while waiting for help, which arrived 20 minutes later.
They also heard Gonzalez testify that after Bush fled and while she was still on the phone, Gaxiola popped his head into her house momentarily.
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Gaxiola's attorneys, Jack Lansdale and Steve West, put forensic examiner Lonnie Dworkin of Scottsdale on the stand Wednesday to cast doubt on Gonzalez's testimony.
Dworkin testified that Gaxiola's cellphone created a text message at 1:32 a.m. using the Elephant Head cellphone tower near Amado - a community 36 minutes away from Gaxiola's Arivaca home.
Under cross-examination from prosecutor Kellie Johnson, however, Dworkin testified the Elephant Head cellphone tower and others like it have a 22-mile radius, and he couldn't say where within that radius Gaxiola's phone was. He also testified the tower is eight miles from Interstate 19, and Arivaca is 23 miles from I-19.
In addition, Dworkin testified it isn't uncommon for phones to use towers farther away than the nearest tower for some inexplicable reason. In fact, he said that was the case with calls made from Gaxiola's phone at 2:08 a.m. and 2:10 a.m. that same morning.
Earlier in the trial, Johnson and fellow prosecutor Rick Unklesbay also tried to cast doubt on Gaxiola's alibi by presenting a witness who testified she saw Gaxiola at his home at 1:15 a.m. Defense attorneys countered with another witness who said the woman told him she saw Gaxiola at 12:15 a.m.
Pima County sheriff's Detective Juan Carlos Navarro testified the 1:32 a.m. text from Gaxiola's phone said, "Cops on scene, lay low" and Shawna Forde's phone texted back, "No worries. All good. Just relax. Competition gone."
Unklesbay and Johnson have told jurors the evidence will show Gaxiola wanted to remove Flores as a competitor in the drug trade and recruited Forde and Bush to assist him.
Forde and Bush were convicted earlier this year and are on death row.
Closing arguments in Gaxiola's case are expected today. If convicted, he, too, could face the death penalty.
On StarNet: Follow the news and events at Pima County's courthouses in Kim Smith's blog, At the Courthouse, at go.azstarnet.com/courthouse
Contact reporter Kim Smith at 573-4241 or kimsmith@azstarnet.com
