Day Six of Testimony: Defense Calls 1st Witness

Back in court from recess. Defense calls Wanda Ortiz to the stand. An interpreter is sworn in first (to translate for Ortiz). Then she is sworn in with his help. Ortiz is 38 years old and lives on Neilson Street with her two children and her boyfriend. Jose Cirino is her boyfriend. Asked if she speaks any English, she replies, "a little". She says she works at HTC (Human Technologies). In April of 2007, she was working at Divine Brothers--the 6:30 am - 2:30 pm shift. She says she is familiar with defendant Wesley Molina Cirino and points him out in the courtroom.

She says she knows Molina Cirino because he is a cousin to the man she lives with (Jose Cirino). Defense draws her attention to the day Officer Lindsey was killed. She worked her regular shift and got out at 2:30pm. Her kids were home when she got there after work. So were defendant Wesley Molina Cirino and Jose Cirino. At some point that night, she went to her bedroom (around 6pm). Everyone was still at her house. She watched a Spanish soap opera. At some point, she came back downstairs from her bedroom. It was after her daughter called her--which was around nine or ten o'clock. After that, she came out of her room to see if her kids were still there. Her daughter had asked her if she was aware that police were outside.

She went outside to see what was going on. She saw many police officers. After the phone call from her daughter, Wesley Molina Cirino went upstairs and was looking out a window. Ortiz says defendant was in her house when she came downstairs after her daughter called her; says he and others were playing play station when she went upstairs. She did not see "Majon". Says Wesley was wearing a brown shirt with some designer on it that night. Says he always wore it. (Note: several witnesses have testified that a man fleeing from the murder scene minutes after Officer Lindsey was shot was wearing a white hoodie). Defense shows her a brown hoodie and asks her if if was what defendant was wearing that night. She says it looks like what it was wearing that night.