Defense begins calling witnesses in Lincoln Park shooting trial

Dec. 1—CHEYENNE — The state rested its case against Lincoln Park shooting defendant Johnny Munoz Friday morning, and the defense began calling its witnesses.

Before the defense's opening arguments, the court took an early recess on Friday to deliberate a motion to acquit Munoz on both counts, first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.

The state and Munoz's defense argued that the April 30 shooting death of BayLee Carabajal-Clark, 15, was a matter of "transferred intent," when the intent to kill or maim one person is unintentionally carried out on someone else.

Munoz's attorneys, Patricia Bennett and David Korman, argued that the charges alleged a specific conspiracy to kill Carabjal-Clark but that the state's evidence all suggested a conspiracy to kill her cousin, Joey Carabajal Jr. Laramie County Assistant District Attorney William Edelman, on the behalf of the state, argued that the transferred intent did not negate the premeditation to her murder, nor did it negate the presence of a conspiracy.

Munoz's defense further argued that the state's evidence of a conspiracy between Munoz and Julian Espinoza, who is charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in connection with the case, was not within the range of the dates charged and did not apply.

Laramie County District Judge Catherine R. Rogers denied the motion to acquit Munoz of first-degree murder, a charge based on premeditation. She deferred judgment on the conspiracy charge until later in the trial.

Korman, in the defense's opening statement, criticized some of the evidence presented by the state, saying the bullets found by detectives in Munoz's car did not match the one that killed Carabajal-Clark. He cited audio from an interview with the victim's brother, Zachary Clark, where he said "everybody" present on the basketball court in the park had a gun.

"The evidence shows that the folks in the park were concerned, they had a theory, that they, themselves were the ones that shot BayLee," Korman said in his opening statement for the defense. "Zach talks to Detective (Mike) Fernandez about 'his theory' that someone in the park hit her."

Korman mentioned an interview with Joey Carabajal Jr. where he told detectives in the case that he "kind of didn't want to believe" that Carabajal-Clark was shot in the face, which might indicate that she was shot by someone in the park. In fact, the victim was shot under her left eye.

His argument rested on the state's admission that they recovered no weapons connected to the case from Munoz's car or from the park.

"The evidence shows one thing: BayLee was not the target," he continued. "... The evidence does not show a conspiracy to murder (Carabajal-Clark), and it does not show that Mr. Munoz fired the bullet that killed her."

The defense's first witness was a Cheyenne resident who lived near the park and heard the gunshots from Lincoln Park in the early hours of April 30. She later observed a man traveling toward the park who she thought had a gun.

The defense later called former Detective Alex Huff, who assisted with the case, to bring more details to provide further context to interviews played during the trial on Thursday.

Much of the later part of Friday's proceeding was taken up by the defense submitting evidence about the presence of firearms and alcohol on the basketball court at Lincoln Park the night of the shooting.

Evidence submitted through police interviews referenced an incident that happened at South High School, where Munoz was reportedly stabbed. While the evidence was intended to suggest prior conflicts between Joey Carabajal Jr., who previously said he was the intended target of the shooting, and Munoz, it was noted that a record from Munoz's school stipulated that he never knew precisely who stabbed him.

Friday ended with the defense calling Marissa Tucker, a current Wyoming Highway Patrol trooper who previously worked for the Cheyenne Police Department. She reviewed footage from the Vigil residence, where the party at Lincoln Park had held a barbecue earlier in the day.

Tucker went through more than an hour of video from the Vigil residence from before, during and after the shooting.

The defense ended slightly early, since one witness from the Cheyenne Police Department did not reply to the defense's subpoena. Rogers said this was the first time, to her recollection, that a CPD officer had not replied to a subpoena, but that she was confident he would be present on Monday, with assistance from the Laramie County District Attorney's office.

The trial will continue Monday morning, and the defense stated that it would call an expert witness at that time.

Samir Knox is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle's criminal justice and public safety reporter. He can be reached by email at sknox@wyomingnews.com or by phone at 307-633-3152. Follow him on Twitter at @bySamirKnox.