By Tam Nguyen, Nguoi Viet
WESTMINSTER, Calif. ― Prosecutors began on Monday to lay out their case against the two suspects charged with the murder of Kim Pham outside a Santa Ana nightclub last month.
A preliminary hearing is underway for (left to right) Vanesa Zavala and Candace Marie Brito at the West Justice Center on February 10, 2014 in Westminster, California. The two defendants were moved from their chairs and placed in the jury box for a better viewing angle while the prosecution played a video allegedly implicating them in the beating death of Kim Pham in front of a Santa Ana nightclub. Pool/Getty Images
Monday was the first day of the preliminary hearing for Candace Brito, 27, and Vanesa Zavala, 25, who appeared in the courtroom of Judge Thomas J. Borris at Orange County Superior Court in Westminster. Both women were dressed in civilian clothing but handcuffed during the proceedings.
Pham, 23, from Westminster, was assaulted outside of the Crosby nightclub in Santa Ana on Jan. 19. Two days after the attack, she was removed from life support. She died from blunt force trauma to the head, according to the Orange County Coroner’s office.
Families and friends of the suspects sat in the center aisle, while the family of Pham and her friends sat in the front row at the left of the courtroom. A button with a photo of Pham adorned the all-black outfit on Pham’s father.
Six witnesses took the stand during Monday’s preliminary hearing. The first witness was Dr. Etoi Davenport, a forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy of Pham. She described the injuries suffered by Pham, which included bruising of both of her eyes and behind the left ear, internal injuries of her scalp, bruising underneath the scalp, and swelling and bleeding of her brain.
When asked by Orange County Deputy District Attorney Troy Pino what could have caused this injury, Dr. Davenport replied, “Blunt force injury to the head. There were multiple blows to the head” that resulted in her death. Davenport added, “I can’t determine if one blow was more significant than the others.”
While being cross-examined by Kenneth Reed, Zavala’s attorney, Dr. Davenport said she did not know whether a punch, a kick, or her head hitting the ground caused the death of Pham.
Next on the witness stand was Gerardo Corona, a Santa Ana police officer who was one of the first to arrive at the Crosby.
He said when he arrived there, Pham was on the sidewalk in front of the club. “She had her hands up to her mouth, and she was unresponsive,” Corona said. The officer said that at the scene, he interviewed three witnesses. Two of them recounted to him, he said, that a Hispanic woman bumped into Pham as she stood in line outside the club. The officer said the witnesses told him that the Hispanic woman told Pham: “Watch where you are going.”
Corona said his investigation showed that an argument ensued between the woman and Pham, and that the woman punched Pham. Corona said the witnesses told him two to three females began to attack Pham and she fell to the ground. Additionally, witnesses told him one of the women kicked Pham in the head.
Det. Patricia Navarro of the Santa Ana Police Department followed Corona on the stand. She said a witnessed told her that he saw a Hispanic woman punch Pham about 10 times before she fell to the ground. A second woman then made a kicking motion toward Pham’s head.
During the hearing, Navarro said she went undercover and posed as an inmate to speak to Zavala. Reed got her to state under cross-examination that Navarro had talked to Zavala, recording the conversation, even though Zavala had requested an attorney.
Two other Santa Ana detectives also took the stand to recount the witness testimony they had collected. One of the detectives, Ronald Andrade, said a witness told him that Pham and a female exchanged words and that Pham struck one of the women.
The testimony led up to a viewing of a videotape purportedly of the attack. Santa Ana Det. Leo Rodriguez said that in the video, it was clear to see that Brito and Zavala took part in the fight, including Brito kicking Pham while on the ground. The video also showed Zavala, as well as Pham fighting back with an unidentified woman.
Neither the attorneys nor families commented at the end of the session. The preliminary hearing is scheduled to continue Tuesday at 9:15 a.m.
