By Tam Nguyen, Nguoi Viet
SANATA ANA, Calif. ― How anyone can say for sure who delivered the fatal blow that killed Annie “Kim” Pham was the central theme in court on Thursday, day two of the trial of the two women accused of her murder.
Candace Marie Brito , left, and Vanesa Tapia Zavala are charged in the January beating death of Annie “Kim” Pham. (AP Photo/The Orange County Register, Mark Rightmire, Pool)
Eyewitness Darwin Arayata, who was on the stand Wednesday when court adjourned for the day, took the stand Thursday morning. He said that he saw a Hispanic woman kick Pham as she was on the ground outside the former Crosby nightclub in Santa Ana last January. Vanessa Zavala, 25, and Candice Brito, 27, are on trial, accused of the assault and murder of Pham.
Prosecutor Troy Pino showed Arayata an autopsy photo of Pham, 23, that showed a bruise behind her left ear. He asked Arayata what he told the police, and Arayata responded that he reported that he saw Brito kick the woman on the left side of the face.
But Brito’s attorney, Michael Molfetta, questioned whether that was the fatal blow and if, indeed, Brito’s foot ever made contact with Pham’s head.
Molfetta said he wanted to be clear whether Brito landed a kick and Arayata said, “After the second Hispanic girl (Brito) was pushed away, she came back and kicked toward her (Pham) head, but I didn’t see it land.”
Arayata stated that Zavala also kicked Pham on the left side of the face. While looking at a cell phone video, Zavala’s attorney, Kenneth Reed, questioned how Arayata could see the kick land if there was a crowd of people in front of him.
“When the first Hispanic female (Zavala) kicked the Asian female (Pham), I saw her head doing a whiplash motion, so I figure the kick could have landed,” Arayata said.
Two detectives from the Santa Ana Police Department, Matthew Mcleod and Patricia Navarro, also testified.
Mcleod said he interviewed Arayata at his residence a few days after the incident. According to Mcleod, Arayata mentioned the victim was kicked on the left side of the face by two Hispanic females.
Navarro interviewed a different witness, Patrick Maderigh, who took the stand on Wednesday. She confirmed that he also said Pham was kicked twice in the head by two different Hispanic females.
Pham’s family was present in the courthouse but did not comment on the case.
The trial will resume on Monday at 10:30 a.m.
