Lovato defense targets crash victim

SANTA FE (KRQE) - In many ways, the vehicular homicide trial of former New Mexico State Police Sgt. Alfred Lovato is a retrial of Carlos Fierro, the driver of the car Lovato was a passenger in.

On day three of the trial, Lovato's attorney Sam Bregman employed a strategy that was reminiscent of the defense Fierro's attorney used at his 2009 trial.

At that trial, Fierro's defense team made the case that the victim of the fatal crash, William Tenorio, was at least partially responsible for the accident because he was wearing dark clothes and was intoxicated at the time.

Blood tests for Fierro indicated he was driving with a blood alcohol content of 0.21 at the time of the crash, nearly three times the legal limit under state law. Lovato was in the passenger's seat and blew a 0.15 about three hours after the hit-and-run collision.

The fatal wreck happened in downtown Santa Fe outside of WilLee's Blues Club where Lovato and Fierro had been drinking earlier in the night.

The defense pointed to witnesses who contradicted the Santa Fe Police Department's determination that Tenorio was in the crosswalk at the time of the incident.

Bregman attacked that same point citing testimony from Tenorio's cousin, Lionel Candelaria, and Santa Fe Officer Charles Otero, a crash reconstructionist who was at one point the lead case agent for the investigation.

"I heard something hit like a pop or something, so I turned back into the street, and as I turned I saw Mr. Tenorio's body be like 15-20 feet in the air," said Candelaria, who witnessed the crash but admitted during his testimony he had drank nine beers the night of the incident.

Candelaria said he saw Tenorio crossing the street outside of the crosswalk.

Meanwhile, Otero testified he concluded Tenorio was outside the crosswalk during his investigation but was not the primary crash reconstructionist.

Earlier in the day, the jury saw surveillance video from an Allsup's convenience store Fierro and Lovato entered minutes before the crash. The video shows Fierro looking through his wallet for his debit card.

Fierro apparently left the card at WilLee's and was driving back to get it when he struck and killed Tenorio with his black BMW. Fierro was convicted of vehicular homicide in 2009 and is serving a six-year prison sentence.

The state is charging Lovato for vehicular homicide because they claim he encouraged Fierro to drink and drive and planned to go out drinking that night. The two were drinking at Rio Chama Steakhouse near the state Capitol before heading to WilLee's.

Lovato was a member of Gov. Bill Richardson's security detail at the time.

Fierro is scheduled to testify Monday when the trial resumes.

Bregman said during opening statements Tuesday that Lovato will testify in his own defense later in the week.