SAN ANTONIO – Joseph Gamboa was moved from death row to a Bexar County courtroom on Monday for a hearing on his request for a new trial.
Visiting Judge Bert Richardson presided over the hearing, which is expected to last several days.
Gamboa's lawyer, Richard Langlois, called Denise Koger as a witness.
She was a waitress at the time of the double murder that claimed the life of Tacoland Bar owner Ramiro "Ram" Ayala and bartender Douglas Morgan.
During Monday's hearing, Koger was asked if she had ever been showed a picture of a relative of Gamboa, who was also there that night.
"I don't' believe so. I don't remember," Koger testified.
She said his picture was never included in a police photo line-up.
Koger said the man was a frequent visitor to the bar.
"I can't say exactly how many times, but he would come in at least three or four times a week," she said.
Langlois suggested that she may have mistakenly identified Gamboa as the killer.
But Koger said she was able to positively identify Gamboa because she had checked him at the bar that night.
"I asked him, 'Do you have your ID on you?' and Gamboa said, ‘Yes, I have everything that I need,'" Koger testified.
Following the hearing, Richardson will make a recommendation regarding Gamboa's request for a new trial to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.
