Opinion ID: 1399120
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Assaults on Kim Dowdy

Text: In March 1986, Kim Dowdy went with defendant and another couple from Espanola on a week-long motorcycle trip to California. They all shared sleeping quarters on the trip, but Kim testified she had no romantic involvement with defendant. On their return to Espanola, she moved her belongings into her aunt's house with defendant's assistance. A week later, he moved into a spare room in the same house. She testified to three separate assaults occurring after that time.
In mid-April 1986, defendant took Kim to a drive-in for a soda and then drove to another establishment so that she could use the restroom. As she came out of the restroom, she saw a male friend whom she had not seen in a long time. They hugged each other, and Kim got back into defendant's truck. Defendant drove to a motorcycle track in Arroyo Seco, pulled a gun on her, and told her that he would kill her because if he could not have her, no one would. She told no one about this assault because defendant threatened to harm her son.
One night at the end of April 1986, Kim was sleeping in her aunt's house. (She seldom slept there, generally staying at her grandmother's instead.) That night she awoke to find defendant above her, pulling on three silk belts around her neck and trying to choke her. Kim believed she must have passed out because she later awoke and found she had wet the bed.
One evening in the early part of May 1986, defendant came into Kim's grandmother's house. He tossed a set of car keys around and told her Jack wouldn't bother her any more. A couple of days later, on May 14, 1986, defendant pulled up on his motorcycle at her grandmother's house, entered, and said Kim had to leave with him or he would kill everyone in the house. Defendant followed Kim into the kitchen, picked up a knife, and held it to her throat. She agreed to go with defendant because her grandmother and her son were in the house. She told her grandmother, in Spanish, to go to the flower shop at the front of the house and call her uncle, Tony Maestas. Her grandmother did so. Defendant and Kim left the house. Maestas ran out of the flower shop, demanding to know what was going on. Defendant jumped on his motorcycle and drove off. Kim and her uncle returned to her grandmother's house. Defendant telephoned and arranged to meet Kim at a Burger King. She was accompanied by her uncle, who carried a gun for protection. Defendant approached their vehicle and told Kim to go inside the restaurant because he wanted to talk to Maestas. Defendant flipped his butterfly knife open and closed, then threw it on the passenger seat to indicate he was unarmed. Maestas told him his 81-year-old mother was scared to death of him and asked how he would feel if she dropped dead of fright of him coming over to terrorize her. Defendant replied he had no feelings and didn't care if she dropped dead. He said, I even killed Bubs. (Jack Dowdy, Jr., was nicknamed Bubs.) Defendant went into the Burger King to talk to Kim. When they emerged, defendant ordered Kim to go to the back of her uncle's truck so that he could talk with Maestas. He told Maestas not to tell Kim anything of what he had told him, and that Maestas was the only one whom defendant had told about Bubs. Defendant took his knife from Maestas's truck and left. Later that day, he moved out of Kim's aunt's house and admitted himself to the Veterans' Administration hospital.