DNA Expert Testifies In Renteria Resentencing
EL PASO — A former probation officer took the stand to testify in the fifth day of the re-sentencing trial of David Renteria.
Renteria was convicted in the brutal murder of five-year-old Alexandra Flores after he kidnapped her from a Lower Valley Wal-Mart back in 2001. Years later, he was granted a re-sentencing trial after defense attorneys argued that prosecutors insinuated he did not express any remorse for the murder.
Saturday, Caroline Martinez, who worked as Renteria’s probation officer following his 1994 guilty plea to indecency with a child, testified about her experience monitoring him.
He was sentenced to ten years probation for indecency with a child after a guilty plea about five years before he murdered Flores.
According to Martinez, Renteria was arrested for driving while intoxicated not long after the guilty plea. Furthermore, he was arrested for DWI a second time in February 1996.
Testimony revealed Martinez recommended Renteria be placed in an intensive “lock down” treatment for his alcohol abuse. However, she did mention he passed 23 drug tests for cocaine, heroin and marijuana despite his alcohol problems.
Testimony will continue Monday, April 28.
Friday marked day four in the resentencing trial for convicted child killer David Renteria. Renteria was sentenced to death for the murder of 5-year-old Alexandra Flores, but because prosecutors left out testimony that shows Renteria may have felt remorse for his actions, a judge ruled he needed to be resentenced.
The first witness called to the stand on Friday was the El Paso Police Department Crime Scene Technician who processed Renteria’s van. It is the same van prosecutors say Renteria used to abduct Alexandra from a lower valley Wal-mart in 2001.
Officer Mike Velez testified that several blood samples were taken from the van. He also said a plastic gas container was found in the vehicle. That is significant because earlier in the week, a detective testified an ignitable liquid was used in an attempt to burn Alexandra’s body.
After Velez, FBI DNA expert Jennifer Luttman, who was flown in from Virginia, testified the blood found in the van matched Alexandra’s DNA. To point out where the blood was found, seat covers from Renteria’s van were draped over three chairs in front of the jury.
Prosecution also focused on Renteria’s whereabouts on the day of the murder. Video evidence was presented that showed Renteria buying oranges at the Sam’s club on Pellicano about two and a half hours before the girl was kidnapped. A medical examiner testified earlier this week that Alexandra had oranges in her stomach when he performed the autopsy. He said she had eaten the oranges just hours before her death.
The prosecution also showed a video tape of Renteria at a 7-11on Alameda near his house less than four hours after Alexandra disappeared. The video showed Renteria buying two quarts of beer, then pulling off in the same van where Alexandra’s blood was later found. The clerk, Nick Castro, told the jury it was easy for him to identify Renteria.
“Why is it you remember him?,” the prosecutor said.
“It was my first time working at the convenience store. And the gentleman, he also made small conversation with me as well,” Castro said. “He mentioned to me the he had a girlfriend that was 18 years old and was attending Ysleta High School. He also mentioned to me he had a baby on the way.”
In both videos Renteria is wearing a white hat, which matches the one worn by the man in the Wal-Mart video when Alexandra was abducted.
Around 5 p.m. Judge Mary Ann Bramblet sent the jury of 8 men and 4 women home for the day after lawyers started arguing about the admission of Renteria’s probation records.
There was talk that Alexadra’s parents could take the stand Friday. Their testimony is sure to be emotional, but prosecutors tell ABC-7 that won’t likely happen until next week.
