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Routine murder case becomes anything but
By SUE CARLTON and GRAHAM BRINK © St. Petersburg Times, published September 28, 2000 TAMPA -- If any murder case could be considered routine, the case against Alfredo Duenes Jr. looked like the one. Police alleged that there was a clash at a Ruskin intersection, leaving a 17-year-old dead. Duenes, 23, was charged with first-degree murder. But now, days before his trial, Duenes' case has taken a series of extraordinary twists. Among them: Duenes passed a polygraph test saying he didn't do it, and his lawyer offered to let prosecutors give him another one. Duenes' friend, Enoch Hernandez, 19, charged with accessory after the fact, claims that he, not Duenes, was the shooter. In an unusual move, Duenes' attorney offered to let her client testify before a grand jury without any protection from prosecution, knowing that anything he said could later be used against him in court. Desperate, the attorney sent an overnight letter to the grand jury foreman, imploring him to hear Duenes and Hernandez's story. A judge has scheduled a hearing for next week on whether it was proper to send the letter. At the center of the turmoil is Lyann Goudie, a former prosecutor turned assistant public defender who is assigned to the Duenes case. Investigators say Duenes and Hernandez were in a car that stopped at an intersection in Ruskin to block a car driven by Daniel Bazaldua, 17. When Bazaldua got out of his car, he was shot dead. Some witnesses said the trouble was between two gangs, Stand and Deliver and Trece 13. A grand jury indicted Duenes for murder. Goudie's investigator dug lead pellets out of the back of a car her client had been in, bolstering his story that he had been shot at in the weeks before the killing. She described the scene that day as Duenes and Hernandez being blocked by another car. And Hernandez, the one charged only with accessory, was saying he was the one with the gun, Goudie said. Also, she said, there were a half-dozen witnesses to support Duenes' story. Goudie said she told homicide prosecutor Shirley Williams, "I think you charged the wrong guy." Goudie said calls to the state went unanswered. Wednesday, Hillsborough State Attorney's spokeswoman Pam Bondi said the office had no comment. Recently, Goudie learned the state planned to take Hernandez back before the grand jury to charge him with first-degree murder, along with her client. Goudie said she wanted a chance to present her version to the grand jury. In a most unusual move, she and Hernandez's attorney offered to let their clients testify. There would be no deals. Anything the men said could haunt them at their trial. The state declined the offer. This week, two days before the case was to go to the grand jury, Goudie drafted a letter to the foreman, imploring him to call the defendants to testify. The letter, which was also signed by Hernandez's attorney, was sent by overnight mail to the foreman's home. The foreman, however, was disturbed at receiving the letter at home. Circuit Judge Dick Greco Jr., who oversees the grand jury, called for a hearing about the letter next week. In the meantime, the grand jury indicted Hernandez on Wednesday on additional charges of first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder. Neither Hernandez nor Duenes was called to testify. Duenes' trial is scheduled to begin Monday before Circuit Judge Cynthia Holloway. A pretrial hearing is scheduled for today. Goudie said the legal maneuverings have been "about the pursuit of justice." "There was nothing wrong with putting on both sides in front of the grand jury to attempt to stop the wheels from spinning on unjustly," she said. - Sue Carlton can be reached at (813)226-3346 or carlton@sptimes.com. Graham Brink can be reached at (813)226-3365 or brink@sptimes.com.
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