The following is a copy of the transcript of the prosecution closing argument during the 2017 preliminary hearing for murder charges against Kyle Zoellner. This provides a summary of the prosecution's case against Zoellner at the time of the hearing.
This is a written record of what was said in court and the text is exactly as it was recorded by the court reporter during the proceedings.
Transcripts and documents from the murder case, including transcripts from witness testimony, are available here.
This document has been obtained through public court records.
Mr. Rees: Your Honor, we would ask the Court to hold Mr. Zoellner to answer as charged. There's a lot of conflicting evidence in the case. It seems to be a confusing series of events that happened that night. But I think there are some -- from the -- each witness in this case had a slightly different vantage point. Each witness recalls and doesn't recall different things. But I think we can piece together what happened and establish for purposes of this hearing that probable cause exists to find the crime was committed and probable cause exists to find that Mr. Zoellner is the one that committed the crime.
It seems as if Ms. Ortega lost her phone at the party. When her phone was lost, misplaced or taken from her, she and her friends began to look for the phone. They asked people in the party if they saw it. They made phone calls to Ms. Ortega's phone. And they were unsuccessful in finding the phone.
One of the discrepancies is if Ms. Ortega called from her own phone or from someone else's phone to first request Mr. Zoellner to come pick them up. Ms. Gleaton says that Ms. Ortega used her own phone initially to call Mr. Zoellner to come get them, they were ready to go. Ms. Gleaton says they went back into the party and danced a little bit more for about 15 minutes, and that's the point the phone was misplaced. Other witnesses describe the phone call to Kyle to be the call that says, "Hey, my phone's been taken, come pick us up." That seems inconsistent, but it's possible that different witnesses were present at different times and Ms. Ortega did make that first phone call from her own phone, consistent with what Ms. Gleaton says.
When Mr. Zoellner finally arrives, it seems that the group does go to his car to meet him, and he parks somewhere on that cul-de-sac. They -- the five of them then walk towards the front door of the house, and Mr. Zoellner's intending to assist his girlfriend with finding out where her phone went. And it seems undisputed that he was polite and courteous to the people that he encountered. People had the opportunity to say otherwise, and it seems almost uniform that no one is saying that about Mr. Zoellner.
They walk up to the porch, and it seems that Mr. Zoellner is there with Ms. Ortega. They seem to be in the front. Ms. McFarland and Ms. Gleaton are a little bit behind.
At this point, Josiah comes out of the house with the Castillo brothers and Ms. Bobadilla. And the conversation about the phone varies from the different witnesses. They all have their own perspective. Some have been in consuming different substances that are intoxicating, from alcohol to cocaine to marijuana. So there are differing perspective and differing levels of intoxication.
Ms. Bobadilla doesn't recall being aggressive. Several of the other witnesses, however, conflict with that statement and recall Ms. Bobadilla being aggressive. Ms. Ortega didn't recall being aggressive, but some other witnesses indicate that Ms. Ortega was being aggressive.
And Ms. Ortega indicates that that first incident on the porch when they're asking about the phone and are being told, "No, we don't have the phone" -- she says that incident becomes physical when one of the males that had been coming out of the house punches her in the face and elbows her. That evidence isn't corroborated by anyone else.
Ms. Bobadilla says that the first way the altercation becomes physical is with Ms. Ortega biting onto her breast. But that isn't corroborated by anyone else as the first incident.
But what -- what everybody testifies to is that there's an altercation there. One of the men punches Mr. Zoellner. That seems to have happened from everything that we have before us. Ms. Bobadilla and Ms. Ortega end up in an altercation of some sort that is physical.
This altercation at some point ends, and there's differing ways as to how it ended. I think Ms. Bobadilla just said it stopped, she didn't know what happened. I think other witnesses say that when the pepper spray was deployed, that's when it stopped. Ms. Gleaton -- I'm sorry -- Ms. McFarland tells the officer it ends when the defendant has one of the men in a headlock, but nobody else sees that. Some of the witnesses say that this altercation ends with Mr. Zoellner knocked out. I think that's -- some of his friends have said that. Some of the witnesses say it ends with Mr. Zoellner being pushed up against the car. It's conflicting evidence as to whether he goes to the ground or doesn't.
Mr. Zoellner indicates that he doesn't know what happens after that. He gets punched and doesn't really recall anything after that until he's in the police car.
Everyone agrees that this altercation ends. And it seems that Mr. Zoellner stays at this location with Mr. Wilkins -- sorry -- Ms. Wilkins and Ms. Ortega. Ms. Gleaton is, her testimony, behind a Jeep at this point. And Ms. McFarland, based on Ms. Gleaton's statement, and on her own statement, I believe, has gone out to the street to call her parents and call 911. At this point, it doesn't seem that anybody else has been identified as being out of the house other than the players that we've already talked about.
The victim, Josiah -- same person -- Josiah the victim, the Castillo brothers and Ms. Bobadilla walk towards Spear Avenue, while Ms. Ortega and Ms. Wilkins are staying in front of the area of the house where the party was with Mr. Zoellner. The victim and his three friends reach Spear Avenue, which Detective Losey testified is some distance away from the front porch. When they get out to Spear Avenue, they realize that something’s burning their faces, and the victim and one of the Castillo brothers goes to their knees and they feel their faces burning. At this point, Ms. Bobadilla runs back towards the house where the party is, and she confronts Mr. Zoellner and his friends. And a discussion happens about, "What did you do to us? Did you pepper spray us?"
Based on how we put the pieces together, at this point, it seems that Mr. Paris Wright comes out of the house. And Mr. Wright sees Ms. Bobadilla in an argument with Ms. Wilkins and Ms. Ortega. Mr. Wright watches this as he's walking by. He stops for a little bit to see what's going on. But seeing that it's just verbal, seeing that Ms. Bobadilla is yelling at people, like she always does, and getting into fights, he just continues to walk away.
Mr. Wright gets all the way to Spear Avenue, and he sees Josiah standing there. Josiah's alone at this point. We know that the Castillo brothers had been out there with Josiah, but they -- the testimony is they walked over to their car, which was parked some distance down Spear Avenue. Mr. Wright tells the victim that Ms. Bobadilla's arguing, nothing's going on, she's just doing what she always does. And Josiah says, "Okay, all right." And Josiah heads back up towards the house to collect Ms. Bobadilla and hopefully leave. Mr. Wright says there's no injuries at all on Josiah at this point. He doesn't see any stab wounds or any blood or any mud. Josiah appears to be fine to Mr. Wright.
Josiah -- or sorry -- Mr. Wright plays that game with Ty'vion where he runs towards the car, runs away from the car, and at that point, he hears commotion back at the house. And he looks down the driveway, and from his position at the end of the driveway, he can see Ms. Bobadilla in a physical altercation with Ms. Wilkins and Ms. Ortega. So he starts walking back up towards the house. And when he's about halfway up the driveway, he sees Josiah laying on the ground on his back with his head towards the east and his feet towards the west. His feet are about a foot away from the red Mustang. And on top of him, Josiah has the defendant. He has his left arm around the defendant's neck in a headlock, and he has his -- Josiah has his right arm around the victim's hands so that the victim can't move -- so that the defendant can't move his hands.
Mr. Wright gives us a seconds from when he saw Josiah driveway until he sees Josiah on the ground with the defendant. During this time, he didn't see anybody running back towards the street as he's walking up the driveway.
Ms. Gleaton at this point -- she says that she's behind the Jeep, and she sees the defendant squaring off with Mr. -- with Josiah Lawson in the grass, and no one else is around them.
Mr. Wright tries to separate them, but Josiah has the defendant in a grip -- in a really strong grip that he has difficulty separating them. He's afraid that Josiah's trying to kill the defendant. He's able to separate them, and he doesn't know if the defendant rolls off to the right or left or goes on his stomach or back. But he's able to separate the two of them, and the victim is on the ground, and the defendant is near him. He immediately sees that -- within two to three seconds -- Josiah has something dark on him, and Mr. Wright first thinks it's mud. But he lifts up Josiah's shirt and sees the stab wounds and realizes it's blood. He turns to the defendant and said something along the lines of "Did you stab him?" And then begins punching the defendant.
Mr. Wright is alone there with the defendant and the victim. Mr. Wright has a relationship with the victim. He's friends with the victim. He has the opportunity to say, "I see a knife. I see a stabbing. I saw the defendant do it." But he doesn't say that. There's concerns that certain witnesses that have testified may have some bias or some agenda, either friends of the defendant or friends of the victim. But Mr. Wright doesn't seem to have any bias or agenda. Officer Nilsen describes him as being calm when they first arrive on scene. And -- and Mr. Wright has every opportunity to say the knife was in the defendant's hand, because no one else is around, and that could be uncontroverted. But he doesn't say that. And I think that lends credibility to his statement.
At this time, three o'clock in the morning, Mr. Wright hadn't been drinking for at least three hours, possibly four. I think he said he stopped drinking around 10:30 after they got to the party. He gives us a 20 to 25-second window where Josiah's upright and healthy to on the ground and stabbed, and no one else is around.
The knife -- a knife is found underneath that red Ford Mustang that is less than a foot away from the victim's feet. Ms. Gleaton's statement that she sees the defendant and the victim squaring off in the grass, you combine that with what Paris Wright sees, regardless of what happened before and how the altercation first began around the phone, and what happened after with the differing stories, the only reasonable interpretation from the set of events that are witnessed by Ms. Gleaton seeing the defendant squaring off with the victim and Mr. Wright's 20 to 25-second account where no one else is leaving -- the only reasonable interpretation from those set of facts is that the defendant is the one who stabbed the victim.
When Mr. Wright is punching the defendant after he sees -- back up a second.
Someone -- Ms. Gleaton testifies that she hears someone say, "You're leaking, Bro." There's a pool of blood directly in front of the Mustang on the driveway where Josiah would've had to run across to go from the position where he was on the grass in front of the Mustang to the position where he was in the bushes when he was discovered by the police and other first responders.
Ms. Bobadilla, Ms. Ortega and Ms. Wilkins, they're -- they're locked in combat closer to the front of the house with vehicles in between them and Mr. Zoellner and Mr. Lawson. And they're focused on their own physical altercation, and none of them are able to see what happens with Mr. Zoellner and Mr. Lawson. Ms. McFarland is out at the street, ostensibly still calling her parents and/or 911.
I can't explain Mr. Martinez. Mr. Martinez says he's walking up with Ace and Spencer, and Mr. Martinez says he sees the defendant -- sorry. Mr. Martinez says he sees Josiah squaring off with a slim man, who he can't identify or describe any further, and he sees those two quick jabs that are at the same location where Josiah got stabbed. He doesn't tell the police at the scene that he saw what he thinks is the stabbing. He doesn't tell the police that at the hospital later. He waits two days before coming forward and saying that he saw the slim man doing those two quick jabs to Josiah. He doesn't see Paris Wright anywhere. He doesn't see Paris Wright punching the defendant. Ace doesn't -- he doesn't indicate that Ace sees anything or says anything about it. So I can't explain how Mr. Martinez a couple days later came forth to say what he saw.
When Paris Wright is punching the defendant after he notices Josiah's been stabbed, Ms. Ortega and Ms. Wilkins by this time have agreed to let go of Ms. Bobadilla, and that fight ceases. And Mr. Wright feels Ms. Watkins and -- sorry -- Ms. Wilkins and Ms. Ortega pulling at his clothing. And he tries to run back into the house, and he feels them pulling at his clothing.
And at this point, the various witnesses testify differently about a group of people coming out of the house. I think Ms. Ortega said it was probably 15 came out and attacked Mr. Zoellner. Other witnesses said about six or seven people came out and attacked Mr. Zoellner. Other witnesses said nobody came out and attacked Mr. Zoellner other than Mr. Wright.
So there's a lot of stuff that happened in the beginning that's conflicting. There's a lot of stuff that happened at the end that's conflicting. But Ms. Gleaton sees the defendant and the victim squaring off in the grass, and Mr. Wright sees the defendant and the victim on the ground in the grass. And Officer Arminio sees the knife right under the Mustang, right by the grass. The only reasonable conclusion that I think that can be drawn is that Ms. Bobadilla ran back towards the house when she realized that her face was burning. Mr. Lawson followed her. While Mr. -- while Ms. Bobadilla was fighting with Ms. Ortega and Ms. Wilkins, the boyfriends of those two men (sic) began fighting with each other. And during that 20-second to 25-second altercation, the defendant stabbed Josiah. And I think that's the only reasonable conclusion that can be interpreted from this evidence, so we would ask the Court to hold him to answer.
Mr. Zoellner's given the opportunity to say, "No, I didn't stab him," but he says, "I don't recall." If he had suffered some type of injury that -- that first punch that made it so he doesn't recall, that's a possibility. But he's given the opportunity to say, "No, I didn't stab him," and he doesn't.
And the next morning, Ms. Ortega gets home. And when Ms. Ortega gets home, after just an undeniably traumatic evening for Ms. Ortega, and for everyone involved, Ms. Ortega doesn't fall on the couch and go to sleep. Ms. Ortega says -- and Ms. Gleaton hears her say "I have to know. I have to know." And she runs out to the car -- she grabs the car keys, and she runs out to the car, and she comes back in with the orange case, according to Ms. Gleaton. She opens the case and says -- Ms. Gleaton hears, "There's only three. There should be four."
I had previously to this morning believed that Ms. Gleaton misheard her and that what Ms. Ortega actually said was, "There should be three, and there's only two." But Detective Sergeant Dokweiler's further investigation corroborates what Ms. Gleaton said. There were supposed to be four knives in that case, and there were only three.
I think that, based on all this evidence, the Court should hold Mr. Zoellner to answer and allow this matter to proceed to trial. Thank you.
[At this point, the defense gives their closing argument. This can be read here. The transcript that continues below is the prosecutions response to the defense closing argument.]
Mr. Rees: Your Honor, the -- the standard of probable cause to believe a crime was committed and probable cause to believe the defendant is the one who did it -- I think it's a misstatement of the law to say that requires a more-likely-than-not standard. That would be a preponderance of the evidence, and a preliminary hearing does not require that standard.
When asked about if he stabbed Josiah, the defendant didn't say "No." That's a denial. He said he didn't know about it. He didn't recall it. That's not a denial. It's saying, "I don't have information about it."
We do have a witness that sees Josiah down on the pavement. Ms. Gleaton says she sees the victim go down on the pavement. Ms. Gleaton also tells us that the defendant didn't fall down during that first altercation. It was only later when people were beating him up and he was unconscious. During the first altercation about the phone, he did not get knocked down.
Mr. Wright didn't say that the stabbing took place on the grass. Mr. Wright said he didn't see the stabbing. What he said is that he -- when he approached the house about 20 to 25 seconds after he saw the victim, he sees -- after the victim was standing upright at the end of the street, about 20, 25 seconds later, he sees the defendant and the victim on the ground in the grass. The stabbing had already took place.
The defendant has blood on the knees of his clothes.
And we're not saying that -- even assuming that we -- during the first altercation, assuming we take the witnesses that say Mr. Zoellner went down at that point, we're not saying that he even had the knife with him at that point. Mr. Zoellner's car was parked in between where the house was and the end of the street. Mr. Zoellner could've retrieved the knife after the first fight. He had access to his car. And the Castillo brothers say it's about ten -- about two minutes from the time they walk away until they hear the altercation. Two minutes from when they walk away from the end of the street until they are coming back and see the altercation. Two minutes would've been enough time for the defendant to retrieve the knife from the car after just being attacked. And then when he sees one of his attackers running back towards where Mr. Zoellner -- when Mr. Zoellner sees one of his attackers running back towards where his girlfriend is fighting with that person's girlfriend, at that point the stabbing takes place. No one sees it. But again, Mr. Wright sees an upright Josiah, without injury, and 20 to 25 seconds later, he sees the stabbed Josiah in the grass with the defendant. I think the People have met our burden, and I think the Court should hold him to answer.