Barreto's trial put in peril by drug testimony

Contra Costa Times ^ | 4/22/5 | Bruce Gerstman

[SmithL]

MARTINEZ - While police were seeking Jimena Barreto in connection with the hit-and-run deaths of two Danville children, Barreto asked her building manager to remove cocaine from her apartment, the manager testified Thursday.

The jury was not supposed to hear that statement and it could lead to a mistrial.

It came after a morning when witnesses testified they saw Barreto, 46, intoxicated and preparing to get behind the wheel on various occasions.

"I knew she was a ticking time bomb," said Kathleen McNamara, who met Barreto in a bar a few weeks before the crash.

Prosecutors allege that Barreto drove into and killed Alana Pack, 7, and her 10-year-old brother, Troy, as they walked with their mother and two friends in the early evening of Oct. 26, 2003 on Camino Tassajara in Danville.

Barreto has pleaded not guilty to two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, two counts of second-degree murder based on the intoxication charge, one count of driving under the influence causing bodily injury, and felony hit and run.

In a separate action before the trial, she had pleaded no contest to cocaine possession, prohibiting the prosecution from introducing that matter to the jury.

The apparent slip by apartment manager Jean Hughes came as she spoke about phone calls from Barreto made over a two-day period after the crash.

Defense attorney Craig Wormley objected, stopping Hughes from saying any more about cocaine. She continued her testimony about other parts of the phone calls.

The district attorney's office had warned Hughes against mentioning cocaine in front of the jury, prosecutor Paul Sequeira said after the hearing.

Before requesting a mistrial, the defense attorney must decide between starting over with a new jury panel, or whether the defense's case is strong enough to continue, said criminal law specialist Anthony Ashe.

"Some mistrials, very few, will result in the defendant not being tried again," Ashe said.

Defense attorney Craig Wormley said he will decide Monday whether to ask the judge to tell the jury to disregard the cocaine reference, request a mistrial or to simply continue.

"I'm leaning toward a mistrial," he said.

Hughes also testified that Barreto told her that Danville resident Stephanie Ingram, Barreto's employer, had sent her home recently for being intoxicated at work.

Two days previously, Ingram testified that Barreto was an excellent nanny who never seemed drunk on the job. Other prosecution witnesses told the jury that Barreto had prepared to drive while drunk.

McNamara, who stopped at the San Francisco restaurant Postrio after work in early October, said Barreto attracted attention to herself by "being boisterous" and intoxicated.

"I became concerned about how she would be getting home because she was obviously impaired," McNamara said. "She said she always drove like this and had no problems."

Barreto had lost her keys, McNamara said.

McNamara also testified that she left the bar before seeing whether Barreto drove home that evening.

Outside the courtroom, McNamara told the Times she recognized Barreto on television after her arrest and contacted the Contra Costa District Attorney's Office.

[SmithL]

Outrageous.