By Nahima Shaffer and Danielle Eden C. Silva
First Witnesses Called in Rizo Trial
By Nahima Shaffer
On the morning of April 29 the prosecution and the defense presented their opening statements to a rather homogenous-looking jury in the murder trial against Christian Rizo.
Deputy DA Jay Linden for the People called the first witness to the stand, a Woodland city police department officer of over 17 years who was the first respondent to the call on the night of the incident June 29, 2016.
The officer detailed that he was working the overnight shift when the call came in of a shooting on Community Lane, around 12:41 pm. After he heard the call, he responded to the scene and staged outside the area, waiting for other officers to arrive and help. He explained that, due to the nature of the call, waiting for backup was out of safety precautions.
Mr. Linden proceeded to question the witness about specific spacial aspects of the the officer’s response to the call by making him mark various locations on a map related to the timeline. Mr. Linden also made the officer recognize and describe multiple photos of the incident, going into detail in regard to the red Mustang in which Arnulfo “Happy” Bermudez was killed.
Through Defense Attorney J. Toney’s cross-examination, the officer then explained that he stopped a vehicle and questioned an individual with the initials F.J. Witness Neil Silva then approached the officer, convinced there 
was a car driving off with the suspects in it.
A few minutes later Mr. Silva approached a potential witness by the name of “Izzy” and they planned a getaway together. There were no separate issues with the second witness. The defense also made the officer mimic the motions of Mr. Rizo when he allegedly fired the gun. The officer was then excused but subject to recall.
The prosecution called the next witness to the stand, another Woodland city police officer who was on supervising duty that night, and used much of the same map-marking technique to establish the locations of the police responding to the scene and the erroneous potential suspect car.
The second officer further clarified that, when he stopped it, the vehicle mentioned by Silva did not contain one of the suspects in the crime – the officer found a Muslim American family with limited English abilities and no firearms.
Mr. Toney mainly asked this officer if Mr. Silva had said anything to the officer about seeing people at the scene, to which he said no.
The officer was dismissed, subject to recall as well.
The court then went into lunch recess at 12 pm.
Overall, the first two witnesses called to the stand did not present any groundbreaking information to the case. However, they did lay the foundation for the initial crime scene and may be called to testify again.
Eyewitnesses Testify on Murder Trial Shooting and Weapon
By Danielle Eden C. Silva
The Christian Rizo murder trial in Department 10 resumed with Judge Janene Beronio presiding.
The witness “T” was sworn in and testified.
At 1 a.m., he talked to a friend in front of the Community Lane house. Happy Bermudez, while driving, bent over in his convertible to fix something when a dark, four-door car drove up from the opposite direction.
The witness recalled that Mr. Bermudez’s vehicle was parallel to the street. A man with a hidden face got out of the passenger back side of another car and shot Mr. Bermudez.
In an earlier interview, the witness had claimed the shooter came from the front passenger seat and had a red bandana over his face, which the witness currently did not recall.
The shooter had a shotgun he held at waist height with two hands. After two shots, the shooter got away in the other car. Mr. Bermudez’s vehicle veered left and the horn honked continuously. The witness relocated to a hospital’s bus stop before going to his girlfriend’s house, wanting to be in a safe location after the shooting. He was interviewed by the police around 3 a.m.
The witness revealed a history of meth. He also smoked weed on that day. He wasn’t under the influence in previous testimonies or today. The witness heard about two Norteños through rumors, even if he saw only one, but the witness admitted he was giving his best recollection, simply losing some of the details.
This witness was excused and is subject to recall.
The next witness called to the stand was Neil “Slim” Silva.
Mr. Silva appeared in custody, convicted in a different case. Mr. Silva shared that Mr. Bermudez was his buddy, having given him a place to stay.
They had been at a mutual friend’s house when Mr. Bermudez came outside to jump start a car. Mr. Bermudez’s convertible had been backing out of the driveway when Silva approached him. They talked for a little and drove around.
Mr. Silva saw a car drive by once they parked and continued to talk. The dark, four-door car returned from the opposite direction. Mr. Bermudez turned, saw the car, and ducked. A person had exited the other vehicle and yelled, “F–king Scraps. Pop, pop.” Mr. Bermudez stepped on the gas and Mr. Silva fell out of the car.
In falling, Mr. Silva saw the shooter had grey pants and a grey hoodie with an emblem, the hood ties pulled so only the eyes were visible. The assailant also held a shotgun at waist level with two hands.
After the assailant left, Mr. Silva ran over to Mr. Bermudez in the crashed car. He heard the victim become unresponsive so he placed his hands for a pulse. Mr. Silva claimed he didn’t see blood and called for “FJ,” the one who had had his car jump started, to call an ambulance.
When witness “L” approached, Mr. Silva removed the gun from Mr. Bermudez’s car and told L to take out the drugs from the vehicle. He didn’t think it appropriate for Mr. Bermudez’s body to be near drugs, and he wanted the gun because he was angry and wanted to retaliate. He was picked up by FJ and dropped off at the corner of Community Lane and Cross where Norteños hung out. He believed a Northerner had been the shooter. Noticing a person jumping out of a dark, four-door car across the street, Mr. Silva yelled, “You shot my friend!” and the other man, Izzy Alvarez, responded, “I didn’t shoot your friend!”
Mr. Silva stated he did not shoot Mr. Bermudez.
Mr. Silva shared that the police talked to him while he was in custody and he willingly spoke to them with no offered deal. He did push that the shooter was Mr. Alvarez because he had received three “kites” (small communications passed secretly in jail) from another individual he met while in custody. While not allowed to speak about the content, he noted the kites led him to believe Mr. Alvarez was the shooter, even if the police informed him otherwise.
Mr. Silva spoke more on the incident, noting he had only called Mr. Bermudez once using a mutual friend’s phone. Additionally, the defense asked if he washed any bloody garments, which the witness denied.
The shooter, to Mr. Silva’s recollection, had given three gunshots in quick succession. He also shared he did not see any blood on Mr. Bermudez and didn’t need to get any blood off of his clothes. Mr. Silva shared he did not change clothes.
He was excused and is subject to recall.
Witness “KP” came to the stand.
On the day of the incident, the witness was living in a car in a parking lot.
The prosecution shared security footage of the parking lot. Four minutes after midnight, a dark, four-door sedan pulled in across from where they were. The witness shared he met with Ms. Adrianna Pena, with whom he was acquainted. The witness stated he didn’t remember much before the gunshots, even if the video revealed someone walking up to speak to someone inside the vehicle.
After the gunshots, Mr. Silva had run over and yelled that Mr. Alvarez had killed Mr. Bermudez. The witness described him as confused, angry, and possibly under the influence of meth.
Mr. Silva offered the witness something wrapped up, which the witness refused, so Mr. Silva set it on the ground. The witness shared that the item was a hard, square object smaller than a foot. The witness did not open it as he was on probation and didn’t want to get into legal trouble. He assumed it was a gun and didn’t want to be near it.
The prosecution then presented a second security video where the witness walked across the parking lot to the dark car and gave the wrapped item to Ms. Pena. He later got interviewed by the police and shown pictures.
This witness was excused and is subject to recall.
Witness L was called to the stand.
On the day of the incident, she woke up to five or six other people eating at the apartment. The witness left for drinks and returned, seeing Mr. Bermudez parked in the middle of the street. As she put everything away, the house shook. They saw the scene outside and witness L refused to flee.
Mr. Silva was screaming for 911 beside a crashed car. She approached and slapped his hands away from Mr. Bermudez’s neck. Mr. Silva shared he recognized Izzy’s belt buckle on the shooter. They attempted to perform CPR in the car but couldn’t adjust the seat. Mr. Silva then grabbed something, wrapped it up, and ran away. She thought it was a gun. After the police arrived, she headed over to Mr. Bermudez’s family to tell them the news.
The witness also shared Mr. Silva changed shirt two or three times but didn’t see blood. Mr. Silva had also attempted to use the witness’ phone while she was sleeping but she didn’t respond to him. The witness shared she wrote a note to keep the facts straight and believed she misplaced it but it could have been Mr. Silva that removed it from her purse. Mr. Silva had also been in the room when she and another witness testified to the police. The witness shared tht Mr. Silva acted very paranoid and had demanded to know where Mr. Bermudez’s phone was days later.
This witness was excused and is subject to recall. The court closed for the day, scheduled to reopen on Wednesday morning at 9:30 am in Department 10.
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