SAN ANTONIO – The second day of a stalking trial featured defense attorneys questioning three San Antonio police officers about how their investigation was handled.
The case involves Bobby Martinez, 40, who pleaded not guilty this week to a third-degree felony charge of stalking.
Prosecutors say Martinez stalked his estranged wife’s boss in 2019 because he believed the two were having an affair. The alleged victim has denied she had any romantic involvement with Martinez’s estranged wife.
Two detectives and one officer from the San Antonio Police Department testified on the investigation they conducted back in July 2019 and answered questions from the defense.
“(The victim) called the police, made a report, and then police left,” SAPD Det. Art Ramirez said during testimony. “He came back, did it another time where he threatened to shoot her.”
The officer said Martinez threatened and drove by the home of the victim more than 20 times, based on police reports he’d reviewed.
Another detective who took the stand testified that the victim made several calls to police reporting the stalking.
Martinez’s defense attorneys questioned how the investigation was handled and why Ramirez gathered no other evidence or witness statements regarding the allegations.
Ramirez responded that he believed the statement the victim gave was truthful and based on all the past complaints and reports, that he had enough for a stalking charge against Martinez.
“If something was to happen to her and I, you know, didn’t act on it,” Ramirez said. “I wouldn’t want to be that guy, so I think I had enough.”
Both Ramirez and the other detective agreed that they both had only investigated one or two stalking cases before the Martinez case. Still, the officers said that understand that there is a fine line between stalking and harassment.
If convicted of the third-degree felony charge, Martinez is facing a possible maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. The trial will continue Friday morning with closing arguments.
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