Former Officer Marcus Tafoya Accused of Trying to Intimidate Witnesses

A former Fresno police officer on trial for accusations of using excessive force faces new allegations of witness tampering.

During a special hearing Thursday in Fresno County Superior Court called to investigate the allegations, prosecutor Blake Gunderson accused Marcus Tafoya of trying to intimidate witnesses.

A police officer called to testify at the hearing broke down on the stand and exercised his Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate himself. Judge John Vogt ordered a police cell phone be turned over to the District Attorney's Office before ending the surprising day in court. No jury was present.

Tafoya, 39, went on trial Nov. 17 on eight felony counts of excessive force at a welcome-home party for a soldier returning from Iraq in March 2005. Tafoya has pleaded not guilty. The trial is scheduled to resume Monday.

Gunderson alleges that Tafoya wanted a fellow police officer to appear in the courtroom audience when officer Steve Gonzales testified Dec. 17.

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Gonzales was back in court Thursday for the special hearing. He said that after he testified at Tafoya's trial, he returned to a police substation to go off duty.

Gonzales said while he was at the substation, Sgt. Cary Weigant pulled him aside and confided in him: Another officer, Sgt. Dave Madrigal, wanted Weigant to be in the courtroom during Tafoya's trial. Gonzales said he thought the purpose was to interfere with the trial.

"I had a nauseous feeling in my stomach," Gonzales said. "I didn't know if they were trying to intimidate by putting Weigant and Madrigal in the audience.

"I felt someone was trying to underhand the investigation."

Gonzales said he then contacted the District Attorney's Office.

Madrigal, who was subpoenaed to appear at Thursday's hearing, broke down in tears when Gunderson asked him whether he knew prosecutors had been trying to reach him since Dec. 18.

Superior Court Judge John Vogt called a recess to allow Madrigal to compose himself. When testimony resumed, Madrigal asserted his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, declining to answer Gunderson's questions. Vogt then excused him from the hearing.

Vogt ordered Madrigal's cell phone be turned over to the District Attorney's Office. Specifically, prosecutors want to examine calls and text messages between Madrigal and Tafoya and between Madrigal and Weigant. The cell phone was given to prosecutors Thursday.

Tafoya was fired from the Fresno Police Department in July 2007.

During his trial, jurors heard from partygoers who said Tafoya struck them with a police baton for no reason. Several police officers have given testimony that supported Tafoya, including Sgt. Michael Manfredi, who last week said that Tafoya made the right call to order another officer to shoot partygoers with bean bags.

Manfredi rebutted another officer who testified that he was shocked to hear Tafoya tell him to start shooting defenseless partygoers with bean bags. The officer refused to do it.

And earlier in the trial, a former Fresno police officer who now works for the Santa Maria Police Department testified that Tafoya slugged a partygoer for no apparent reason.

The city of Fresno agreed in 2006 to pay $1.6 million to settle an excessive-force case stemming from the party. Tafoya, Manfredi, the city of Fresno and Police Chief Jerry Dyer are defendants in a related civil-rights trial pending in Fresno federal court.