Opening statements wrap in Norma Lopez kidnapping, murder trial
A 17-year-old Moreno Valley girl was abducted and killed more than eight years ago by a man whose DNA traces were left like calling cards on her belongings, a prosecutor told jurors today, while the
man’s attorney countered that the government’s evidence is “faulty” and said none of the facts support a conviction.
“One of the saddest things in the world is the death of a child, and one of the worst things is the violent murder of a child,” Riverside County Deputy District Attorney Michael Kersse told the jury tasked with deciding the fate of the alleged killer of Norma Angelica Lopez.
“Norma was brutally ripped from the loving embrace of life and dumped like trash under a tree,” he said. “Without DNA, the mystery of her death would have been unsolved. But DNA shows that man kidnapped and killed Norma Lopez.”
Jesse Perez Torres, 42, could face the death penalty if the jury convicts him of first-degree murder and finds true a special circumstance allegation of killing in the course of a kidnapping.
Kersse recounted the events leading up to the girl’s July 2010 abduction in a field around the corner from Torres’ then-residence at 13173 Creekside Way.
The prosecutor said Torres could easily have observed the teen leaving Valley View High School, where she was taking a morning biology class for the summer. Kersse theorized Torres watched the victim walk by multiple times in the three weeks before she was snatched.
Every day that she’d previously left the Valley View campus, she had been with her boyfriend, Joshua Battest. But on July 15, 2010, he was behind schedule, and Norma set off on her own. She headed south on Creekside, east to Quail Creek Drive, then south again on Mill Creek Road before crossing an open field toward Cottonwood Avenue, where her older sister, Sonia Lopez, and friends gathered almost daily that summer.
Kersse played a security surveillance videotape from a house looking down on Creekside, and the recording captured the last images of Norma alive, walking the route.
The tape also showed, moments later, a green SUV cruising slowly in the direction that she was walking, shortly after 10 a.m. The vehicle re-appears less than five minutes later, speeding away from the area.
According to the prosecution, Torres owned a green Nissan Xterra at the time.
When Norma failed to arrive at the Cottonwood location by noon, her sister and friends headed into the field, intending to go to the Valley View campus to look for her.
When they crossed the field, they discovered Norma’s school binder, purse and a broken earring strewn on the ground, leading to immediate concerns that she had been forcibly taken, at which point her sister begged a passer-by to call 911.
Sheriff’s deputies initiated a search, but when no clues regarding Norma’s whereabouts turned up after two days, and the weekend began, members of the community and her schoolmates formed their own search parties, distributing flyers bearing her photo and description.
Five days later, Norma’s remains were discovered in an olive tree grove at the edge of a residential property on sparsely populated Theodore Street, roughly 2 1/2 miles east of where she was snatched. Her decomposing body was naked from the waist up, covered in insects and bloated from the intense summer heat.
Kersse alleged that “touch” DNA samples were lifted from the earring fragments, Norma’s jeans, her panties and purse. He acknowledged the evidence was barely sufficient for the California Department of Justice to develop a partial DNA profile, but a private company with more sophisticated techniques was retained, and scientists there processed the forensic data and delivered a fuller profile of the donor.
No matches were initially found in the state’s Combined DNA Index System, better known as CODIS. But Kersse said that changed by September 2011, when potential matches were identified out of the 1.8 million individuals with DNA profiles in the database.
The prosecutor alleged that Torres was the best match, culminating in his detention by sheriff’s detectives, who found him at a Long Beach property owned by his mother.
Torres had been required to provide DNA samples after a domestic violence conviction in early 2011.
“The defendant lies and equivocates, trying to explain away his actions on July 15, 2010,” Kersse said. “He offers a false alibi.”
Along with DNA evidence, the prosecutor alleged fibers emanating from a carpet exactly like the one in the Moreno Valley house where Torres resided were located on Norma’s underwear.
Defense attorney John Dorr repudiated the prosecution’s contention that the DNA presented a substantive link between his client and the crime.
“There were 24 potential DNA matches,” Dorr told the jury. “You will hear nothing about the other 23, who they are, or their criminal backgrounds.”
The attorney criticized the handling of the DNA collected from the earring, showing pictures of it in the field that suggested it had been moved at least twice, possibly by evidence technicians, who could have contaminated it before sending it to be processed for forensic clues.
“There was no sound reason to move that piece of evidence,” Dorr said.
He also challenged the prosecution’s theory that Torres, who stands 5 feet 3 inches and weighs 109 pounds, could manhandle the victim, who was 5 feet 7 inches tall and 110 pounds, wrestling her into his vehicle and controlling her for however long necessary to commit the crime.
“It would have been impossible,” Dorr said. “This would have required several people.”
The defendant is being held without bail at the Robert Presley Jail in Riverside, where he has been in custody since October 2011. Challenges to evidence, changes in defense teams and prosecutors involved in the case contributed to delays in bringing it to trial.
Follow Jake Ingrassia’s notes from inside the courtroom below.
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{“url”:”https://twitter.com/JakeKESQ/status/1092856594872754176″,”author_name”:”Jake Ingrassia”,”author_url”:”https://twitter.com/JakeKESQ”,”html”:”&#lt;blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”&#gt;&#lt;p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”&#gt;The search for hope dies, prosecutor says, when Norma’s body was found 5 days later under an olive tree. He shows photo of her body – naked from the waste up – “dumped like trash.” She had been eaten by insects and her skin was slipping from her bones.&#lt;/p&#gt;– Jake Ingrassia (@JakeKESQ) &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/JakeKESQ/status/1092856594872754176?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;February 5, 2019&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/blockquote&#gt;n&#lt;script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″&#gt;&#lt;/script&#gt;n”,”width”:550,”height”:null,”type”:”rich”,”cache_age”:”3153600000″,”provider_name”:”Twitter”,”provider_url”:”https://twitter.com”,”version”:”1.0″}
{“url”:”https://twitter.com/JakeKESQ/status/1092855124601430016″,”author_name”:”Jake Ingrassia”,”author_url”:”https://twitter.com/JakeKESQ”,”html”:”&#lt;blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”&#gt;&#lt;p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”&#gt;Prosecutor plays 911 tape of a neighbor who just heard Norma’s sister discovering her left behind items. It’s the moment the sister realizes Norma may have been kidnapped. She describes the sister’s hysteria.&#lt;/p&#gt;– Jake Ingrassia (@JakeKESQ) &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/JakeKESQ/status/1092855124601430016?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;February 5, 2019&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/blockquote&#gt;n&#lt;script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″&#gt;&#lt;/script&#gt;n”,”width”:550,”height”:null,”type”:”rich”,”cache_age”:”3153600000″,”provider_name”:”Twitter”,”provider_url”:”https://twitter.com”,”version”:”1.0″}
{“url”:”https://twitter.com/JakeKESQ/status/1092855124601430016″,”author_name”:”Jake Ingrassia”,”author_url”:”https://twitter.com/JakeKESQ”,”html”:”&#lt;blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”&#gt;&#lt;p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”&#gt;Prosecutor plays 911 tape of a neighbor who just heard Norma’s sister discovering her left behind items. It’s the moment the sister realizes Norma may have been kidnapped. She describes the sister’s hysteria.&#lt;/p&#gt;– Jake Ingrassia (@JakeKESQ) &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/JakeKESQ/status/1092855124601430016?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;February 5, 2019&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/blockquote&#gt;n&#lt;script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″&#gt;&#lt;/script&#gt;n”,”width”:550,”height”:null,”type”:”rich”,”cache_age”:”3153600000″,”provider_name”:”Twitter”,”provider_url”:”https://twitter.com”,”version”:”1.0″}
{“url”:”https://twitter.com/JakeKESQ/status/1092855124601430016″,”author_name”:”Jake Ingrassia”,”author_url”:”https://twitter.com/JakeKESQ”,”html”:”&#lt;blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”&#gt;&#lt;p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”&#gt;Prosecutor plays 911 tape of a neighbor who just heard Norma’s sister discovering her left behind items. It’s the moment the sister realizes Norma may have been kidnapped. She describes the sister’s hysteria.&#lt;/p&#gt;– Jake Ingrassia (@JakeKESQ) &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/JakeKESQ/status/1092855124601430016?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;February 5, 2019&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/blockquote&#gt;n&#lt;script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″&#gt;&#lt;/script&#gt;n”,”width”:550,”height”:null,”type”:”rich”,”cache_age”:”3153600000″,”provider_name”:”Twitter”,”provider_url”:”https://twitter.com”,”version”:”1.0″}
{“url”:”https://twitter.com/JakeKESQ/status/1092854327033511936″,”author_name”:”Jake Ingrassia”,”author_url”:”https://twitter.com/JakeKESQ”,”html”:”&#lt;blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”&#gt;&#lt;p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”&#gt;Prosecutor shows jurors drone video of the walk he says Norma took from school the day she was snatched. Strong, but eerie visuals.&#lt;/p&#gt;– Jake Ingrassia (@JakeKESQ) &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/JakeKESQ/status/1092854327033511936?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;February 5, 2019&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/blockquote&#gt;n&#lt;script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″&#gt;&#lt;/script&#gt;n”,”width”:550,”height”:null,”type”:”rich”,”cache_age”:”3153600000″,”provider_name”:”Twitter”,”provider_url”:”https://twitter.com”,”version”:”1.0″}
{“url”:”https://twitter.com/JakeKESQ/status/1092853825486999553″,”author_name”:”Jake Ingrassia”,”author_url”:”https://twitter.com/JakeKESQ”,”html”:”&#lt;blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”&#gt;&#lt;p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”&#gt;Left behind: signs of struggle, her purse, her school binder, and pieces of a gold leaf earring that had been ripped from her ear.&#lt;/p&#gt;– Jake Ingrassia (@JakeKESQ) &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/JakeKESQ/status/1092853825486999553?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;February 5, 2019&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/blockquote&#gt;n&#lt;script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″&#gt;&#lt;/script&#gt;n”,”width”:550,”height”:null,”type”:”rich”,”cache_age”:”3153600000″,”provider_name”:”Twitter”,”provider_url”:”https://twitter.com”,”version”:”1.0″}
{“url”:”https://twitter.com/JakeKESQ/status/1092853675356086272″,”author_name”:”Jake Ingrassia”,”author_url”:”https://twitter.com/JakeKESQ”,”html”:”&#lt;blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”&#gt;&#lt;p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”&#gt;Prosecutor references security video the jury will see in the trial – the last images anyone will see of Norma still alive. In the time it took her to cross the field, he says, she was snatched/abducted.&#lt;/p&#gt;– Jake Ingrassia (@JakeKESQ) &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/JakeKESQ/status/1092853675356086272?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;February 5, 2019&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/blockquote&#gt;n&#lt;script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″&#gt;&#lt;/script&#gt;n”,”width”:550,”height”:null,”type”:”rich”,”cache_age”:”3153600000″,”provider_name”:”Twitter”,”provider_url”:”https://twitter.com”,”version”:”1.0″}
{“url”:”https://twitter.com/JakeKESQ/status/1092853135700197376″,”author_name”:”Jake Ingrassia”,”author_url”:”https://twitter.com/JakeKESQ”,”html”:”&#lt;blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”&#gt;&#lt;p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”&#gt;Norma was taking one biology class in the summer of 2010. Class ended at 10am and she would leave the school and routinely (M-F) walked through a dirt field and down a street with her boyfriend home from school. On July 15, her boyfriend couldn’t meet her.&#lt;/p&#gt;– Jake Ingrassia (@JakeKESQ) &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/JakeKESQ/status/1092853135700197376?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;February 5, 2019&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/blockquote&#gt;n&#lt;script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″&#gt;&#lt;/script&#gt;n”,”width”:550,”height”:null,”type”:”rich”,”cache_age”:”3153600000″,”provider_name”:”Twitter”,”provider_url”:”https://twitter.com”,”version”:”1.0″}
{“url”:”https://twitter.com/JakeKESQ/status/1092852565912350720″,”author_name”:”Jake Ingrassia”,”author_url”:”https://twitter.com/JakeKESQ”,”html”:”&#lt;blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”&#gt;&#lt;p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”&#gt;Prosecutor says the Norma Lopez’s body was brutally murdered and dumped — to be eaten by insects and decomposed. “Horrific crimes happen when those with malice in their cold hearts see an opportunity to attack and they attack the vulnerable, the young and the weak.”&#lt;/p&#gt;– Jake Ingrassia (@JakeKESQ) &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/JakeKESQ/status/1092852565912350720?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;February 5, 2019&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/blockquote&#gt;n&#lt;script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″&#gt;&#lt;/script&#gt;n”,”width”:550,”height”:null,”type”:”rich”,”cache_age”:”3153600000″,”provider_name”:”Twitter”,”provider_url”:”https://twitter.com”,”version”:”1.0″}
{“url”:”https://twitter.com/JakeKESQ/status/1092852122456997888″,”author_name”:”Jake Ingrassia”,”author_url”:”https://twitter.com/JakeKESQ”,”html”:”&#lt;blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”&#gt;&#lt;p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”&#gt;Prosecutors take the floor – beginning opening statements.&#lt;/p&#gt;– Jake Ingrassia (@JakeKESQ) &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/JakeKESQ/status/1092852122456997888?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;February 5, 2019&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/blockquote&#gt;n&#lt;script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″&#gt;&#lt;/script&#gt;n”,”width”:550,”height”:null,”type”:”rich”,”cache_age”:”3153600000″,”provider_name”:”Twitter”,”provider_url”:”https://twitter.com”,”version”:”1.0″}
{“url”:”https://twitter.com/JakeKESQ/status/1092849888918855680″,”author_name”:”Jake Ingrassia”,”author_url”:”https://twitter.com/JakeKESQ”,”html”:”&#lt;blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”&#gt;&#lt;p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”&#gt;Jurors are instructed that the opening statements are *not* evidence, but the court will begin hearing evidence as soon as opening statements are complete. Jurors then are sworn in.&#lt;/p&#gt;– Jake Ingrassia (@JakeKESQ) &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/JakeKESQ/status/1092849888918855680?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;February 5, 2019&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/blockquote&#gt;n&#lt;script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″&#gt;&#lt;/script&#gt;n”,”width”:550,”height”:null,”type”:”rich”,”cache_age”:”3153600000″,”provider_name”:”Twitter”,”provider_url”:”https://twitter.com”,”version”:”1.0″}
{“url”:”https://twitter.com/JakeKESQ/status/1092849172342951936″,”author_name”:”Jake Ingrassia”,”author_url”:”https://twitter.com/JakeKESQ”,”html”:”&#lt;blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”&#gt;&#lt;p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”&#gt;Jury enters the courtroom and Judge Bernard Schwatz is instructing them for the first time in this case.&#lt;/p&#gt;– Jake Ingrassia (@JakeKESQ) &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/JakeKESQ/status/1092849172342951936?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;February 5, 2019&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/blockquote&#gt;n&#lt;script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″&#gt;&#lt;/script&#gt;n”,”width”:550,”height”:null,”type”:”rich”,”cache_age”:”3153600000″,”provider_name”:”Twitter”,”provider_url”:”https://twitter.com”,”version”:”1.0″}
{“url”:”https://twitter.com/JakeKESQ/status/1092848251504451591″,”author_name”:”Jake Ingrassia”,”author_url”:”https://twitter.com/JakeKESQ”,”html”:”&#lt;blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”&#gt;&#lt;p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”&#gt;Torres, 42, could face the death penalty – testimony is expected to span a month, and if Torres is convicted, the case will move into the penalty phase, which could take another month.&#lt;/p&#gt;– Jake Ingrassia (@JakeKESQ) &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/JakeKESQ/status/1092848251504451591?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;February 5, 2019&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/blockquote&#gt;n&#lt;script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″&#gt;&#lt;/script&#gt;n”,”width”:550,”height”:null,”type”:”rich”,”cache_age”:”3153600000″,”provider_name”:”Twitter”,”provider_url”:”https://twitter.com”,”version”:”1.0″}
{“url”:”https://twitter.com/JakeKESQ/status/1092847031113068544″,”author_name”:”Jake Ingrassia”,”author_url”:”https://twitter.com/JakeKESQ”,”html”:”&#lt;blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”&#gt;&#lt;p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”&#gt;Court is now in session. &#lt;a href=”https://t.co/o1VNomQUvk”&#gt;pic.twitter.com/o1VNomQUvk&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/p&#gt;– Jake Ingrassia (@JakeKESQ) &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/JakeKESQ/status/1092847031113068544?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;February 5, 2019&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/blockquote&#gt;n&#lt;script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″&#gt;&#lt;/script&#gt;n”,”width”:550,”height”:null,”type”:”rich”,”cache_age”:”3153600000″,”provider_name”:”Twitter”,”provider_url”:”https://twitter.com”,”version”:”1.0″}
{“url”:”https://twitter.com/JakeKESQ/status/1092846706926874624″,”author_name”:”Jake Ingrassia”,”author_url”:”https://twitter.com/JakeKESQ”,”html”:”&#lt;blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”&#gt;&#lt;p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”&#gt;In court today in Riverside for opening statements in the trial for Jesse Perez Torres, the man accused of kidnapping and killing 17-year-old Norma Angelica Lopez of Moreno Valley, as she walked from her school to a friend’s house more in July 2010. &#lt;br&#gt;Follow along with my thread⬇️&#lt;/p&#gt;– Jake Ingrassia (@JakeKESQ) &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/JakeKESQ/status/1092846706926874624?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;February 5, 2019&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/blockquote&#gt;n&#lt;script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″&#gt;&#lt;/script&#gt;n”,”width”:550,”height”:null,”type”:”rich”,”cache_age”:”3153600000″,”provider_name”:”Twitter”,”provider_url”:”https://twitter.com”,”version”:”1.0″}
The defendant is being held without bail at the Robert Presley Jail in Riverside, where he has been in custody since October 2011. Challenges to evidence, changes in defense teams and prosecutors involved in the case contributed to delays in bringing it to trial. Norma was taken on the morning of July 15, 2010, after she had attended a summer class at Valley View High School. She was walking to a house in the 27300 block of Cottonwood Avenue to meet her boyfriend, as well as her younger sister, Sonia Lopez, and others but never made it.
According to the prosecution, Norma had regularly taken the route down Creekside Way, Quail Creek Drive and Mill Creek Road, then across an open field to Cottonwood multiple times — but always with her boyfriend, Joshua Battest. The day of her disappearance, she was alone for the first time.
When Norma failed to arrive at the Cottonwood location by noon, Sonia and friends headed into the field, intending to go to the Valley View campus to look for the victim. When they crossed the field, they discovered Norma’s school binder, purse and a broken earring strewn on the ground, leading to immediate concerns that she had been forcibly taken, at which point Sonia called 911.
Sheriff’s deputies initiated a search, but when no clues regarding Norma’s whereabouts turned up after two days and the weekend began, members of the community and Norma’s schoolmates formed their own search parties, distributing fliers bearing her picture and description. The missing person case drew national attention.
Authorities focused on what was described as a green SUV witnessed speeding away from the area about the same time Norma disappeared.
Five days later, only hours after the Moreno Valley City Council announced a $35,000 reward for information leading to her safe return, Norma’s remains were discovered in an olive tree grove at the edge of a residential property on sparsely populated Theodore Street in east Moreno Valley, roughly 2 1/2 miles from where she was snatched.
“Although parts of the body were in advanced decomposition, deputies were able to identify the decedent as Norma Lopez,” according to trial brief filed by Deputy District Attorney Kevin Beecham. “Deputies noted that her body was naked from the waist up and that she was shoeless. Norma did have on blue jeans and underwear.”
In the ensuing months, detectives followed up on more than 2,000 potential leads, questioning hundreds of people. The investigation stalled until September 2011, when physical evidence lifted from Norma’s earring produced a hit in the state’s Combined DNA Index System, better known as CODIS, where DNA samples of criminal offenders are archived.
Less than a month later, Torres was arrested and charged with Norma’s murder. His DNA had been collected earlier that year due to a domestic violence conviction, according to the prosecution.
At the time of the girl’s slaying, Torres resided on Creekside, and investigators theorized he may have been watching her on occasions when she left the campus to cross the field.
The defendant owned a green Nissan Xterra while in Moreno Valley. He left the city and sold the vehicle less than two weeks after Norma’s death, relocating to Long Beach, according to investigators.
Evidence presented during the defendant’s 2013 preliminary hearing showed that on the day of the abduction, Norma was captured on a home security surveillance camera walking along Quail Creek, and less than 30 seconds later, a green SUV is seen heading in the same direction. About five minutes after the vehicle’s first appearance, it goes racing by in the opposite direction, then abruptly reverses course and goes back the way it came.
Former Supervising Deputy District Attorney Mike Soccio told City News Service in 2015 that the DNA evidence is the linchpin, narrowing down the list of possible donors of the incriminating evidence to only two-dozen in the world — with Torres being the strongest candidate.
