At around 10 pm on July 21, 2000 Manuel Gallegos, John Jimenez, Ramon Nunez, Jose Nunez, Marco Gallegos and Jose Gallegos were sitting on the tailgate Manuel's' truck outside John Jimenez's house. After a while Ramon Nunez and Jose Gallegos decided to leave the Jimenez residence. John Jimenez stepped into his house and Manuel then proceeded to the side of the house to use the restroom. Arguing was heard by Manuel and on the way back from using the restroom he saw Jesse Hernandez and Alfredo Lopez. Jesse Hernandez was arguing with Jose Nunez a from a short distance away. Alfredo was standing approximately 175 ft away from Manuel. At this point , Manuel noticed Alfredo Lopez with his hands at his waist ,under his shirt . He then yelled at both Alfredo and Jesse to leave. Manuel then shot once in the air. Alfredo started running and stopped again and continued yelling profanities. Jesse also ran in the direction of where Alfredo was. Manuel shot a second shot at a 45 degree angle above them not at them. Everyone at the scene saw Alfredo and Jesse run off.
"Manuel according to Hernandez said " I don't want you I want your friend, Freddy". Manuel pulled out a gun and shot in the air. Hernandez ran. While running, Hernandez heard a second shot but did not know the whereabouts of Lopez. He returned to the area where the shots were fired and saw Lopez Lying on the parkway between the street and sidewalk outside 3350 Bataan. Lopez had been shot once in the back; the bullet exited his left upper chest area.
Across the street , Albert Ayala was on his porch when he heard a gunshot and saw Hernandez running and then Lopez running. Ayala spotted Manuel standing between a house and a tree. About the time Lopez reached a parked van. Ayala saw Manuel fire a gun. Ayala saw the flash of the gun and jumped on the ground. When Ayala looked up, Lopez was on the ground and Manuel was walking away. Ayala ran to Lopez, who was still alive but could not speak. Hernandez then arrived at the scene. Ayala said he had no doubt that Manuel was the person who shot Lopez. Ayala said he was beaten up the same night by Manuel's friends for snitching on Manuel".
This is what the state told the jury. The jury agreed with the state and convicted Manuel to 50 years in prison.
A guilty verdict indicated that the murder case of Alfredo Lopez was solved.
THE TRIAL:
1. Star Eye witness Testimony:
2. Physical Evidence
Star Eyewitness Testimony:
A) Albert Ayala claimed to be on his front porch and WITNESS the entire murder.
B) Jesse Hernandez was with Alfredo Lopez the night he was murdered.
Physical Evidence:
1. Manuel has always said that he fired his gun at Jesse Hernandez and Alfredo Lopez to scare them off. The ONE shell casing that matched Manuel's weapon was found on a "roadway" according to court documents (pg 78 lines 6-7). The shell casing belonging to Manuel's gun was NOT found at , around or near the body. Alfredo was found on Bataan Street 200 yards away from where Manuel was located. No blood trail was ever found at, around or near where Alfredo was supposedly shot. The State Star Witness, Albert Ayala testified to seeing Manuel running after Alfredo and murdering him on Bataan St.
2. The gun residue hand washings were only done on Manuel and the friends that were with him that night. There were crowds of people in the crime scene area. Police Officers also stated to this area being a high crime area and even heard other gunshots upon arrival. Detectives themselves noted to finding 18 shell casings belonging to other weapons.
3. Adriana Valdez was never called as a witness during trial only because she was pregnant and didn't "like" Manuel. The trial attorney promised her she would not be called at trial. She stated that her husband George Valdez told her to say that Albert was NOT with them that night because Albert was on a leg monitor and was not supposed to be anywhere else besides his home. Albert arrived with them in the truck and had no way of knowing what happened that night. Albert was later beat up that night, allegedly by Jesse Hernandez. Adriana also stated that she knew Albert was getting involved in something that he had no knowledge about.
3. Sylvia Jimenez ( the other owner of the Jimenez household ) and Jose Nunez where Manuel was at that night. Heard 2 additional gun shots after Jesse and Alfredo ran off. The TWO shots were never determined from who they came from and by that time Manuel was no longer in the area. Sylvia Jimenez was also never called to testify in court about what she saw and heard that night.
4. The bullet was never found. The autopsy report states that the wound was 1/8 of an inch. According to Raul Guajardo, forensic scientist "Alfredo would have to of been on the ground in relation to the path of the bullet that Alfredo had. This negates what Albert Ayala said which states that Manuel "chased' after him and killed him with a .40 Caliber handgun.
Trial Attorney
The attorney we hired for trial , Anthony P. Calisi failed to call witnesses, hire expert witness (such as a ballistics/forensic scientist etc.) and did not use his legal skills to the best of his ability. It was hard to overcome the states theory without expert testimony and this would have also demolished Albert Ayala's testimony since it was a FALSE testimony. Calisi charged at the time $50,000+ $5,000 for a ballistics expert that was never called to go and testify in court. He is no longer practicing law due to resignation in lieu of disciplinary action in another case.
www.texasbar.com
Confession
In November 2009 Richard Nunez ( brother of Jose Nunez ) met a woman named "Ameris". "Ameris" told Richard Nunez that her ex-boyfriend/husband was from an area of West Dallas which was from where Richard was from also. "Ameris" who we later found out was using her daughters name and whose real name is actually Roxanne Hernandez revealed specific details about her ex-boyfriend/husband. It just so happened that her ex was actually Jesse Hernandez who was at that time incarcerated on another charge. Roxanne told Richard that Jesse had confessed to her that he accidentally killed Alfredo Lopez. Jesse stated every time Alfredo's birthday nears he feels guilty about what he did and that the wrong person went to jail.
Jesse Hernandez was known to carry a gun (.22-.25 ). The night of the murder Jesse was seen going home with a bloody shirt and changed into a clean T- shirt. Jesse didn't call the cops when Alfredo Lopez was shot. Upon Adriana's arrival, she called the police once she saw that Alfredo was lying on the ground and needed help.
Back to the Star
On June 14, 2014 Albert Ayala directly contradicted his trial testimony. He said " I never saw Manuel Gallegos and I didn't see Manuel with a gun that night." Ayala explained he was persuaded to make false eyewitness claims by Jesse Hernandez. Albert Ayala signed an affidavit recanting his trial testimony.
Manuel was transferred to a different TDCJ Unit in which Albert Ayala also happened to be housed at. On May 23, 2019 a hearing was granted. A bench warrant was issued and Manuel was sent to Dallas County and Albert Ayala was housed next door to Manuel. Albert at the hearing openly recanted his trial testimony once again.
The State filed an extension to search for additional evidence. While waiting on that 30 day extension , Manuel was sent back to TDCJ. On September 24, 2020 a Supplemental Record was received from the trial court in regards to the May 2019 hearing. A " Hearsay" affidavit was submitted by the State. The court recommendation was for relief to be denied (November 2020). The court relied exclusively on a hearsay affidavit from a district attorney, in a post hearing interview by the D.A , Ayala rejected his recantations. A 30 day extension turned into a over a year extension to only submit a hearsay affidavit that was supposedly in possession from a meeting the State had with Ayala following the hearing in May 2019 .
**See photo gallery for affidavits, court papers, etc.