Opinion ID: 844221
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Defendant's attempts to influence witnesses

Text: While defendant was in custody, awaiting trial, investigators involved in a narcotics search of a motel room found a manila envelope addressed to Iris Hernandez, Diaz's mother, with defendant's name as the sender. The envelope contained several letters that bore defendant's fingerprints and were signed with defendant's street name, Dragon. One letter was to Iris Hernandez, asking her to deliver the other letters, which were addressed individually to Diaz, Savidan, Uele, and Myers. The letters instructed their recipients that, if questioned by police or in court, they should say they could not remember anything. Savidan and Uele were specially instructed: As for possible alib[i] we all kicked in the room getting hi[gh] all night or most of the night. The letters to Diaz and Myers offered each of them $10,000, and the letters to Savidan and Uele used a series of dollar signs to indicate the offer of a large payment. The letters all stated that their author did not want to go to court for a murder he didn't do. Each letter ended with Now burn this letter. Defendant also tried to influence other witnesses. Sandra Floyd testified that in 1999 she met defendant on a jail bus on the way to court. Defendant showed Floyd pictures of four women, and Floyd recognized Uele among these women. Floyd discussed the matter with a defense investigator and conceded that defendant was probably showing her the pictures because he was accusing them of being snitches. She also warned Uele that she saw a picture of Uele testifying against a gentleman. Later, a sheriff's deputy found the four photographs in a search of defendant's cell. Thereafter, during defendant's trial, Heather Castaneda met defendant on a jail bus on the way to court. Defendant told her that he had been snitched off by Uele, who was on the same bus to the court with him and Castaneda, and he indicated that he wanted Uele to be killed. After Castaneda reported this conversation to sheriff's deputies, defendant threatened to arrange the murder of Castaneda's son, and he made similar threats against Castaneda.