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Thursday, Feb. 18, 1999

Garza acquitted in death of Juan Hernandez III

May: Weak identification, conflicting testimony clinched case; jury deliberates less than one hour

By JIM DAY
Staff Writer
Shifting testimony and a questionable identification by a witness led a Nueces County jury to acquit a Corpus Christi man who had been accused of murder.
   On Wednesday, the jury took less than an hour to find 20-year-old Jason Garza not guilty. Garza had been accused of murder in connection with the Sept. 8, 1998 shooting death of Juan "Red" Hernandez III near Hernandez's home in the 2800 block of Cleo Street.
   In closing arguments Wednesday, Garza's attorney, Bill May, told jurors that the testimony of an eyewitness who had struggled to identify Garza from a police photo lineup changed from previous statements he'd given to investigators.
   "The facts of this case have gotten so slippery, they've gone beyond anyone's grasp," May said.
   May also said that Garza had no motive to kill Hernandez, to whom Garza owed money for work Hernandez had done for him.
   In trying to persuade jurors to convict Garza, Assistant District Attorney Lance Kutnick presented testimony that Hernandez's stepson saw Garza come to Hernandez's home to speak with the victim shortly before he got shot. Kutnick also called witnesses to say they had information that Garza had been involved in the shooting, that there was bad blood between the men and that Garza carried a 9 mm handgun. Shell casings from a 9 mm were found at the crime scene.
   But May pointed out that the stepson could not positively identify Garza from a photo line-up the first time investigators asked him. He later picked Garza out of another line-up, but then his testimony shifted about how many other men were with Garza and when he saw Garza, May said.
   The witnesses who said they had heard Garza was involved in the killing had a reason to try to pin the murder on him, as another man they knew may have been the shooter, May said.
   A second man, Albert Perez, had also been charged with murder in connection with the killing, but Kutnick had previously dropped the charge against him for lack of evidence.
   Staff writer Jim Day can be reached at 886-3794 or by e-mail at dayj@caller.com

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  © 1999 Corpus Christi Caller Times, a Scripps Howard newspaper. All rights reserved.