Testimony began Friday in the trial of three former SAPD officers charged in the 2023 shooting death of Melissa Perez as jurors heard opening statements.
SAN ANTONIO — Judge Ron Rangel said both sides in a high-profile death case were so anxious to get started, they worked on seating a jury until almost midnight Thursday.
With 12 jurors and four alternates selected at the end of a long day, they returned at noon Friday to start work on the case involving the death of 46-year-old Melissa Perez in her southwest-side apartment in 2023.
Two former San Antonio police officers are charged with her murder, while a third is charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. The charges stem from a confrontation in which body-worn camera video showed Perez, in the midst of a mental health episode, threatening the officers with a hammer.
The video shows three officers responding by firing shots at Perez to stop the attack.
All three of the defendants are represented by their own teams of lawyers, so the court began by adding more tables and chairs to accommodate the large legal team.
The first order of business was the dismissal of two potential jurors who had conflicts, leaving a panel of 14 to move forward, equally divided between seven women and seven men.
The group will evaluate extensive evidence of the fatal encounter as there is video evidence from body-worn cameras, as well as patrol vehicles, 911 calls and numerous witnesses.
Early on, the defense team asked the judge for permission to use a hammer in their remarks to jurors and Rangel agreed. They told the judge it is important for the panel to see the officers were facing a deadly threat when they tried to coax Perez from her apartment during a confrontation.
Video evidence showed the incident started with the woman admitting to vandalizing the fire alarm system in her apartment.
It was an act that disturbed the Old Pearsall Road complex, as neighbors were forced from their homes in the night by the alarm system sounding.
The former officers started the proceedings by pleading not guilty.
Former Sgt. Alfred Flores and officer Eleazar Alejandro are both charged with murder. Officer Nathaniel Villalobos is charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
In his opening remarks, prosecutor Daryl Harris told the jurors they have a strong case and asked for guilty verdicts on every count of the indictments.
Various defense team members countered by saying all of the accused, making split second decisions while facing down an armed woman, did what they had to do to go home to their families.
Testimony began with the city’s custodian of records, who explained she was able to provide copies of all the requested physical evidence in the case.
While prosecutors asked specifically about the body worn camera videos of the three involved officers, the defense team questioned Linda Flores more extensively about evidence generated by all the officers at the scene and about the police investigation into the case.
They questioned Flores about audit records that would illustrate if any members of the police department command staff actually reviewed video evidence, saying they were questioning if a full and fair investigation was conducted.
The line of questioning led to a testy exchange between Harris and Defense Attorney Nico LaHood, who insisted that the quality of the investigation was an important element in the case.
San Antonio Fire Department Captain Christopher Hudson then told the jurors he was one of the first responders to arrive on scene at about 11:30 p.m. when there was a fire alarm call about a female accused of cutting the wires to the apartment fire alarm system.
Hudson said he had a generally friendly conversation with Perez, which he recorded, in which she admitted to cutting the wires. Hudson said he didn’t smell intoxicants on the woman but he did describe her behavior as someone with mental health issues.
Technical issues with the video caused a recess and when the problem couldn’t be resolved, Rangel called the day to a close, telling the jurors they will resume at 10 a.m. Monday.