‘He said, she said’
Case perplexes judge, jury

By Bill Donovan
Staff writer

GALLUP — Sometimes being a district court judge isn’t as easy as it looks.

District Court Judge Grant Foutz admitted this Monday when he had to decide whether to put Christopher Diaz, 47, in prison for physically abusing his 16-year-old stepdaughter in 2005.

On one hand, Foutz has been noted for tough sentences against men who abuse their wives or children — earlier in the day he gave another man a six month sentence in a domestic violence case that was far less violent than the one involving Diaz. On the other hand, as he said in his decision to give Diaz probation, he had to think what was best for the family.

“This is one of the more difficult cases I have had recently,” Foutz said.

After the sentencing, Bernadine Martin, who prosecuted the case for the District Attorney’s office, said she was “disappointed” that Diaz did not get some prison time. But Steve Seeger, Diaz’s attorney, said he felt the decision was fair in that even though Diaz was convicted by a jury of two counts of felony abuse, in the end, it all boiled down to a “he said, she said” story.

Even the jury that convicted Diaz had conflict.

“When I spoke to jurors after (the) trial, they asked that the defendant be placed on probation so they saw something there even though they found you guilty,” Foutz said to Diaz at the sentencing.

Diaz’s court problems began in June, 2006 when his stepdaughter, Valandrea Diaz, told city police that she had been physically abused in 2005 by Diaz and had run away from home in January, 2006 because of it. She told police that her mother had left the home more than two years before because of abuse by Diaz.

She told of a time when he threw a pair of pliers at her, with the pliers landing on her upper leg and sticking there. Another time, she said, Diaz hit her with a chair resulting her having six or seven stitches in her head. There were other times during the five years before she ran away where she was slapped and kicked, she said.

The case took almost two years to wind itself through the court. Along the way, the number of counts went from 12 to six and down to the two he was convicted of by the jury.

There was a time when the charges were dismissed and then refiled as felonies. There was also a time, according to testimony during the sentencing, when Martin admitted that she was willing to plea bargain this to probation — at a time when the charges were just misdemeanors — but then changed her mind and decided to prosecute it.

At the sentencing, Valandria Diaz, who has not been home since running away, testified that “to this day, I am still afraid of him. I am glad I never went home. I am in a much better place now. I want him to go to prison for the whole six years.”

James Streicher, a social worker for the Public Defender’s Department, recommended probation, pointing out that Diaz was taking care of three children — a 13-year-old boy, a nine-year-old girl and a 22-year old stepdaughter who has MS and is in a wheelchair — as well as his mother.

He also said Diaz has been undergoing mental health counseling for problems associated with being bi-polar. Martin then asked if he ever recommended people being sent to the penitentiary and he admitted that he did not.

When his stepdaughter, Valinda David, was called to the stand, she testified that she never saw Diaz inflict any injuries on the victim. When asked how her relationship with Diaz was since Valandrea Diaz ran away, she said,

“We have gotten closer. Now that he takes his medication, he is okay.”

His older sister, Regina Estorga, who has been taking care of his children while he was in jail, said Diaz was trying to change. “He has taken care of his family for the last seven years by himself. He has now reached out and is going to church with his family.”

His pastor, Dan Kruis, said he has seen a transformation in him. “I am not aware of his prior life but I know his commitment is a sustainable one. If given probation, he does have a support group that will help him.”

Seeger called several other acquaintances of Diaz’s, some of whom were in his support group. All urged, for the sake of the children, that he be given probation.

Diaz was also given an opportunity to plea his case before Foutz.

“I would like to say I am sorry for whatever has happened around me and my family,” he said. “I feel I have lost a daughter and I regret it deeply. I don’t know how much longer I can go without my children. I need them. They need me. I am trying my best to better my life. I don’t want to be separated from my children and will do anything it takes.”

Martin, in her closing argument, pointed out that Diaz still refused to admit that he did anything to his daughter. “It is too little too late now to say he is sorry,” she said, arguing that he should get some prison time.

Seeger argued that it was never proven that Diaz actually injured his daughter and that the real reason she ran away from home was because she lost her job. He also pointed out that Diaz has “gotten counseling, sought help and has a support system.”

Foutz, in announcing his decision to give probation, said he believed the daughter and said he was glad she was no longer in the home. But in the end, he had to think of who would take care of the children with their father in prison.

“Should I just abandon them until their father gets out of prison and expect the church members to take care of them,” he said. “I cannot do that to these children. That is almost as bad as stabbing them with pliers.”

He gave Diaz six years in prison and then suspended it all except time served. He placed Diaz on five years supervised probation and Martin said after the hearing that probation officers will be watching him very closely and if he violates the probation in any way, she plans to bring it to the court’s attention and ask that the prison sentence be reinstated.