[CA] Cop-on-cop Perez trial - Assault with firearm, false imprisonment, battery...

...He is accused of barricading himself in the residence with a handgun, gas mask, bulletproof vest and an assault rifle after Ventura police responded to a report of a domestic dispute at the home... He is charged with assault with a firearm, false imprisonment by violence, three counts of dissuading a witness from reporting a crime, battery and resisting arrest...

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[CA] Trial to start for Detective Perez's 2007 cop-on-cop armed standoff /domestic battery

EXCERPTS FROM TRIAL NEWS 7/19/08 THRU 7/31/08:

BOY TESTIFIES ABOUT 911 CALL CONCERNING EX-OFFICER
Suspect accused of assaulting, imprisoning former girlfriend
Ventura County Star, CA
By Raul Hernandez
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Opening statements were made Friday in Ventura County Superior Court in the trial of a former Oxnard police officer accused of barricading himself in his Ventura home last year, imprisoning and assaulting his then-live-in girlfriend. Afterward, the prosecution called its first witness, a 10-year-old boy who testified about an unrelated incident involving the defendant... The boy said he made the [911] call because he was told to do so by his mother, who is currently dating the defendant, Robert Perez Jr. The boy said he had been asleep and when he woke up he heard "a banging on the table" as his mother and Perez argued. He added that he later heard Perez say, "If you push me or shove me, I'll hurt you real bad"... He is charged with assault with a firearm, false imprisonment by violence, three counts of dissuading a witness from reporting a crime, battery and resisting arrest... He lived with his then-girlfriend, Denise Shadinger, and used a firearm to keep her from leaving, according to prosecutors. She is an Oxnard police officer, prosecutors said... Perez is accused of barricading himself in the residence with a handgun and an assault rifle after Ventura police responded to a report of a domestic dispute at the home more than four hours earlier. During opening statements, prosecutor Andrea Tischler described Perez as someone who always needs to be in control of everything, and "this extends to the women he dates" and "the situations that he is placed in." Perez's lawyer, Mark Pachowicz, urged jurors to wait to hear all the evidence... "Just because Miss Shadinger says it doesn't mean that it's true," said Pachowicz, adding that she told "half the story" to police. Tischler told jurors that Perez and Shadinger owned a home together and said the July 29 incident was the second time she was assaulted by Perez. Tischler said the first time was on May 1... Tischler said Perez confronted Shadinger, and an argument ensued, followed by Perez punching and kicking Shadinger. She didn't report that incident but told friends of the assault... Photographs of the alleged May 1 injuries were shown to jurors, who also heard the 911 calls of the July 29 situation to the dispatcher... Tischler told jurors that Perez held Shadinger, who suffered very minor injuries, against her will for several hours. Shadinger at one point was cowering inside a closet, and Perez pointed a gun six to 12 inches from her head, the prosecutor said. Perez also shattered a telephone, took away Shadinger's car keys and twice kept her from completing calls to 911, said Tischler, who added that Shadinger was allowed to leave at 2:30 p.m. While the SWAT team surrounded the house, Perez drank seven beers and refused to come out of the house. Tischler said Perez heard what was going on outside through his police radio. Tischler said Perez told police that he wanted to talk to his lawyer and a bail bondsman, and gave police instructions on how to arrest him. After he was arrested, Tischler said, Perez told officers that he could have "finished you up before when I had you in my sights." Pachowicz told jurors there was a good reason his client didn't follow an officer's instructions as he was being arrested but didn't describe it. [Full article here]

WOMAN TESTIFIES ABOUT RELATIONSHIP WITH OFFICER
Man charged with false imprisonment, assault
Ventura County Star
By Raul Hernandez (Contact)
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Denise Shadinger, an Oxnard police officer, testified in Ventura County Superior Court on Monday about the troubled relationship with her former live-in boyfriend, a former Oxnard police officer who is accused of barricading himself at the couple's Ventura home after assaulting her last year. Shadinger said she had been in a romantic relationship with Robert Perez Jr., whose nickname is JR, for more than 10 years and they lived together for seven years. She said she decided she was going to end the relationship after finding out that "JR was having numerous affairs." Shadinger said Perez confronted her on May 1, 2007, when he found a typed note at work from an anonymous source that said she was allegedly having an affair... Perez was so upset with her for calling 911 that he stood over her and pointed a gun to her head, she testified. "I had never seen him look at me that way," Shadinger said. "Were you scared?" Tischler asked. "Yes, I was." The calls to the 911 dispatcher were played in court, including one in which Shadinger told police that Perez had a gun and was threatening to shoot officers. Under rigorous cross-examination by Perez's lawyer, Mark Pachowicz, Shadinger admitted that she had several opportunities to leave the house and get help... She admitted [?] that she couldn't say for sure how the three minor injuries she said she received that day occurred. [Full article here]

OXNARD OFFICER GRILLED DURING ASSAULT TRIAL
Ventura County Star
By Raul Hernandez
July 23, 2008
A defense attorney on Tuesday hammered Oxnard police officer Denise Shadinger about details surrounding an incident last year when her then-live-in boyfriend, a former Oxnard police officer, barricaded himself for several hours in their Ventura home... He is accused of barricading himself in the residence with a handgun, gas mask, bulletproof vest and an assault rifle after Ventura police responded to a report of a domestic dispute at the home... He is charged with assault with a firearm, false imprisonment by violence, three counts of dissuading a witness from reporting a crime, battery and resisting arrest. During cross-examination, Pachowicz tried to portray Shadinger as a woman who has ulterior motives and a selective memory... [Full article here]

POLICE TESTIFY ON STANDOFF AT OXNARD OFFICER'S HOME
Suspect denies pointing gun at girlfriend
Ventura County Star
By Raul Hernandez (Contact)
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Police who responded to a domestic violence call in 2007 and surrounded a Ventura house where they believed guns were being kept, testified in court Friday about their efforts to get a former Oxnard police officer to leave the residence... Detective Bob Macinnes, who was on a Ventura police immediate response team, testified that he got to the house about 3:15 p.m. and didn't see any movement until 5:46 p.m., when the garage door was opened. Meanwhile, police negotiators were trying to coax Perez out of the house, according to testimony. Macinnes said Perez finally walked out of the house with his hands slightly raised above his head and stopped at the driveway. Perez refused to go any farther down the driveway and ignored numerous commands by police to do so, and appeared "agitated," said Macinnes. Perez said he wanted to be arrested by two Ventura police officers that he named. Under cross-examination, Perez's lawyer, Mark Pachowicz, asked: "How many high-powered weapons were pointed at him?" "Probably 10 or more," Macinnes replied... "Do you allow a person to dictate to you how an arrest is going to be completed?" prosecutor Andrea Tischler asked Macinnes. "No," he replied. Earlier, testimony by two police officers, who weren't involved in the incident but were on the same softball team as Perez, testified that while police were outside the house Perez called to tell them that he wouldn't be at their game the next day... Oxnard officer Jeff Long said Perez was calm on the phone and told him Shadinger was "claiming" he pointed a gun at her. He then started talking about the "softball paperwork," game fees and making sure that the other softball players knew what to do at the game... [Full article here]

FORMER OFFICER ACCUSED OF ASSAULT DENIES EX-GIRLFRIEND'S ALLEGATIONS
Ventura County Star
By Raul Hernandez (Contact)
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Former Oxnard police officer Robert Perez Jr. took the stand Monday afternoon and denied that he beat up or refused to let his former live-in girlfriend, Oxnard Police Officer Denise Shadinger, leave the couple's Ventura house after an argument. Officers, including SWAT, were called to the residence on July 29, 2007, after a heated argument escalated into a situation where Shadinger accused Perez of pointing a gun to her head, refusing to let her leave the house and grabbing a phone from her and throwing it when she was trying to call 911. While on the stand, Perez wiped away tears as he talked about his son, the long relationship between himself and Shadinger, and coming to terms that he would never work as a police officer again. Perez said Shadinger told the 911 dispatcher that Perez was a police officer, had weapons and threatened to shoot officers who came to the couple's home on Candytuft Street. Perez denied it. "Based on that phone call, I knew my career was done," Perez said. "To me it meant everything that I had worked for since I was 15 was done"... Perez, who appeared calm testifying, denied that he punched or kicked Shadinger during an incident on May 1, 2007. During his testimony, Perez described how the two of them were arguing throughout the house on July 29, 2007. At one point, Perez said, Shadinger walked outside down the driveway and near the street and came back inside about two minutes later. He admitted yelling at her after she called 911. But he denied trying to keep her from leaving... [Full article here]

JURORS GET CASE INVOLVING 2 OXNARD OFFICERS
They must review charges of assault, kidnapping in 2007
Ventura County Star
By Raul Hernandez (Contact)
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Rumors and innuendo set off former Oxnard police officer Robert Perez Jr., who took out his anger last year against his then-live-in girlfriend, Oxnard police officer Denise Shadinger, a prosecutor told a jury Wednesday. Perez used his "fists and boots" on May 1, 2007, to beat up Shadinger because he believed she was having an affair, said prosecutor Andrea Tischler... After closing arguments, the jurors received the case Wednesday afternoon... During his closing arguments, Perez's lawyer, Mark Pachowicz, picked apart statements Shadinger made to police — he described the statements as inconsistent — and cited things she didn't tell police about the hourslong ordeal. She took a shower, ate a sandwich and at one point was outside by herself on the driveway before the police were called, said Pachowicz...
http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2008/jul/31/jurors-get-case-involving-2-oxnard-police/