Durante to remain jailed until his trial

By Bill Donovan
Staff Writer

GALLUP — Kenneth Durante will remain in county jail until his trial.

District Court Judge Grant Foutz had a two-hour hearing Wednesday to hear testimony concerning when Durante should be released again.

He had been released on September 15, but he was out for only two weeks after spending almost 14 months in jail before the state police and the district attorney's office picked Durante up near his house claiming that he had violated the terms of his release.

Durante, 48, is charged with murder and tampering with evidence in the death last September of Felizia Hope Penaloza. The teen's body was found under a bridge northwest of Gallup. Co-defendant Joseph Evans, 30, also faces murder, kidnapping and tampering with evidence charges in the teen's death.

Durante was released when his parents agreed to put up $250,000 worth of their property as a surety bond.

Under the terms of his release, he was under house arrest and had to wear an electronic ankle bracelet.

This bracelet, or rather the satellite tracking system that was part of the bracelet, was the main witness against Durante.

Claudette Foutz, who works for the detention center, presented a series of satellite tracking maps which showed where Durante was each of the days he was under release. The maps showed a green circle which showed where he was allowed to be and a number of lines daily that showed where the prosecution says he violated the agreement.

"He violated the agreement," said Mike Calligan, the chief deputy prosecutor for the District's Attorney's office, "and for that reason he should remain in jail."

But there was disagreement as to whether Durante violated the agreement.

The release order signed by Foutz provided that Durante would stay at his family's business, Augies Truck Stop. A place had been set aside for him on the second floor.

But the tracking devices showed that he went from the truck stop several hundred feet away to the nearby trailer park, which was owned by his family. His father, Augustus Durante, told the court that he was under the impression that his son could go to the trailer park because that is where he assigned him to work and he thought this was permissible under the release orders.

Kenneth Durante, when he took the stand, said basically the same thing, saying that he had met with Foutz and talked about the need to go to the trailer park nearby to work and she told him that was all right.

Foutz then took the stand and agreed that this was what was said, resulting in Calligan arguing that she did not have the authority to supersede the court order.

Calligan also argued that Kenneth Durante violated his court order by being in contact with Carol Cordova, who is one of the witnesses scheduled to testify against him.

It turns out that Cordova works at the truck stop and when Kenneth Durante was picked up by state police, he was asked where he was coming from and he said "Carol's trailer." She also has a trailer at the park next to the truck stop.

But Kenneth Durante and his father testified that while he and Carol see each other at work, there was no communication and that Kenneth Durante followed the court orders not to talk to any witnesses in the case.

R. David Pederson, Durante's attorney, pointed out in his closing that if there had been any communication or if Cordova was scared about Kenneth Durante's release, Cordova could have been called by the prosecution as a witness.

He also criticized Calligan for trying to keep Durante in jail even though he has admitted that at the present time the district attorney's office has no evidence to prove he committed the crime.

The district attorney's office does have testimony from Evans incriminating Durante, but the preliminary DNA tests did not implicate him. The DA's office has now sent the evidence to the FBI lab for further testing.

What it boiled down to, as far as Foutz was concerned, was an admission by Kenneth Durante on the stand that on two occasions he did violate the court agreement, once to go to a nearby cemetery and another time to drive someone about two miles on business.

The satellite tracking system caught him going to the cemetery but not on the other trip.

The DA's office is still waiting for the FBI tests to be done; so, there's no date given as to when a trial will occur.