Opinion ID: 1813976
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: statements of chojolan and soto

Text: Both Soto and Chojolan were taken to the police station and interrogated by Investigator Vincent Hernandez. Soto was first questioned at 5:55 a.m. on February 18, 1995. After being given his Miranda rights in Spanish, Soto indicated that he understood his rights and signed a waiver form. At this interview, Soto gave a statement similar to that given at the scene, namely, that Alarcon was injured after jumping out of Chojolan's vehicle. Chojolan was first questioned at 8 a.m. on February 18. Chojolan was also given his Miranda rights in Spanish, and he also indicated that he understood his rights and signed a waiver form. Chojolan also maintained that Alarcon had jumped from his vehicle. Both Chojolan and Soto were then taken to Mary Lanning Hospital to be examined. Hernandez questioned Soto a second time at approximately 1:05 p.m. on February 18. Soto was again given his Miranda rights, indicated that he understood them, and waived them. During this interview, Soto gave a different version of Alarcon's death. He stated that Chojolan was driving very fast and that he and Alarcon asked him to stop the car. After Chojolan stopped the car, he and Alarcon began arguing outside of the car. Chojolan then grabbed a ferreo, meaning iron in Spanish, and swung at Alarcon. Soto stated that he caught the tire iron and pushed Alarcon out of the way. He stated that Chojolan swung the iron again and struck Alarcon, who instantly fell to the ground. Soto stated that Chojolan then got scared and wanted to take Alarcon to the hospital. Chojolan was questioned a second time at approximately 2:35 p.m. on February 18. Chojolan was again given his Miranda rights, indicated that he understood them, and waived them. During this interview, Hernandez informed Chojolan that the jumping story did not fit the physical evidence and told him that Soto had turned Chojolan in. Chojolan began to cry and indicated that he had hit Alarcon with a tire iron and that it was an accident. Chojolan drew a picture of the tire iron he had used. Hernandez testified that during the interview he told Chojolan he thought Chojolan was lying, but denied raising his voice to Chojolan. Kemp then transported Chojolan to the scene so that Chojolan could tell police where he had thrown the tire iron. No tire iron other than the one removed from Chojolan's trunk was ever found. The tire iron removed from Chojolan's trunk had no traces of blood on it. On his return to the station, however, Chojolan once again changed his story and again stated that Alarcon had jumped from the vehicle. Soto was questioned for a third time at 5 p.m. on Friday, February 18. He gave basically the same information as in the second interview, but added that Chojolan told him to tell the police that Alarcon had jumped and that Chojolan was 16 years old, or Chojolan would kick his ass. Chojolan was interviewed a third time at approximately 5:45 p.m. on February 18. Again, Chojolan was given his Miranda rights, indicated that he understood his rights, and waived them. Chojolan stated that while in the car, Alarcon had told Chojolan that she loved him and that this upset him because he knew that it was not true. Chojolan again admitted to hitting Alarcon with a tire iron and told substantially the same story he had previously given to the police. He then provided a written statement. Hernandez testified that he never threatened Soto with prosecution or told him that Chojolan was accusing him. He also testified that he interviewed both Soto and Chojolan in English unless they had a question, at which point he would repeat the question in Spanish. He testified that both men napped between interviews and that neither appeared tired. Both men appeared to understand and comprehend what was happening. John Rust, chief deputy with the sheriff's office, questioned both Chojolan and Soto on February 20, 1995. Both were again read their Miranda rights, both indicated they understood them, and both waived those rights. Soto conveyed substantially the same information and described the tire iron used by Chojolan as gold in color. When shown two tire irons, Soto specifically identified the one taken from Chojolan's trunk. Chojolan also gave substantially the same information and also demonstrated how he had struck Alarcon. When Chojolan was shown the two tire irons, he also selected the one taken from his trunk as similar to the murder weapon, but stated the one he had actually used was gray in color. Chojolan was charged by information on March 17, 1995, with first degree murder and use of a weapon to commit a felony.