Woman who drove defendants to testify

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? A woman who drove two defendants away from Dodger Stadium the night that a Giants fan was attacked is testifying in the suspects' preliminary hearing as prosecutors near the end of their effort to prove the men should stand trial in the attack on Bryan Stow.

Dorene Sanchez is the sister of defendant Louie Sanchez. She had been arrested with him and co-defendant Marvin Norwood on suspicion of being an accessory after the fact. But authorities never charged her in the case. Prosecutors said she will testify Thursday.

A witness who testified earlier said Dorene Sanchez may have egged on the men to go after Stow and was waiting when they came running back to the car shouting, "Drive! Drive! Let's get out of here!"

More than a dozen witnesses have testified so far with only one able to identify Sanchez from a photograph. But prosecutors have said their case would be built on admissions by the defendants, not on eye witness identifications. They have played a tape of Norwood telling his mother he was involved in "that Dodger Stadium thing" and expected to be "going down" for it.

Wednesday's court session hit a dramatic crescendo with a friend of Stow describing how he threw his body across his wounded friend's head to protect him from a raging assailant.

Corey Maciel, a fellow paramedic who came with Stow from Northern California to cheer for the Giants, testified Wednesday at the proceeding to determine whether Sanchez and Norwood will stand trial on charges of mayhem and assault in the attack that permanently disabled Stow with brain damage. They have pleaded not guilty.

Maciel recreated the volatile scene at Dodger Stadium on March 31, 2011, when the athletic rivals met on opening day of the Dodger season. He described a hostile atmosphere, with Dodgers fans throwing food at Giants fans and cursing.

When they left, he said, a Dodgers fan ran at Stow and let loose a haymaker punch at his head. He said Stow fell unconscious, cracking his head on cement, then was kicked in the head and torso. Maciel recalled trying to shield Stow as assailants advanced.

"As soon as he was punched, he was unconscious and fell back on his head," Maciel testified. "He was unable to brace himself. I saw his head bounce off the concrete. I heard the crack."

The man then kicked Stow in the head at least three times and again in the torso, according to the testimony.

Maciel said he heard profanities and one assailant say, "(expletive) the Giants. That's what you get."

He said the two men continued to advance on Stow and seemed intent on attacking again.

"I threw my body over Bryan's head to stop any more physical contact," he said.

Another friend, also a paramedic, held the injured Stow's head to protect his spine.

"Bryan was deeply unconscious with his eyes open," Maciel said. "He didn't respond to any outside stimuli. ... He was snoring, which indicates a very deep level of unconsciousness."

He said there was blood on Stow's head and coming from his ear.

The witness at times took deep breaths to get his emotions under control as he described the events that left Stow permanently disabled with no use of his arms and unable to carry on a conversation. He continues to undergo rehabilitation therapy but is not expected to make a full recovery.

Like other witnesses, Maciel did not offer a positive identification of the defendants, but the physical descriptions suggested it was them.

Late in the day, another witness to the confrontation, Monique Alexandria Gonzalez, identified a photograph of Sanchez in a photo lineup of six men.

"Number 6 resembles the guy I saw that was with the taller person," she said. ". ...The shape of his eyebrows makes me think it was the same guy."

Associated Press

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