Murder or mishap?
Defense: Death may not have been intentional; Prosecution: It was murder

Alvin Mariano listens prior to the start of his trial for the murder of Olivia James-Mariano at the McKinley County Courthouse on Tuesday afternoon. Mariano is accused of killing his wife, Olivia James-Mariano, in November of last year. — © 2008 Gallup Independent / Brian Leddy

Copyright © 2008
Gallup Independent
By Phil Stake
Staff writer

GALLUP — Alvin Mariano fidgeted, smoothed creases from his forehead, and constantly shifted his weight Wednesday as testimony continued during the second day of his trial for second-degree murder. Prosecutors assert that Mariano killed his wife, Olivia James-Mariano, by delivering a fatal blow to her neck on Nov. 7, 2007. Mariano’s attorney, Steve Seeger, aims to maintain a reasonable doubt among the jury, by showing that the left carotid artery, which ruptured and killed James-Mariano, did so for some other medical reason.

Testimony started Wednesday morning with Lanita Hammitt, James-Mariano’s sister, taking the stand. Hammitt’s testimony filled in a crucial gap in the narrative created during her husband Alfredo Hammitt’s testimony Tuesday afternoon. She said that after Alfredo Hammitt left her at 326 E. Pershing Ave. around 2:45 p.m., she left in her own car and went back to American Bar, where she hoped to make contact with Olivia James-Mariano and Alvin Mariano, who had the keys to the house.

When she got there, the Marianos were arguing. The fight continued after they got into Lanita Hammitt’s car; Hammitt said Mariano swung at James-Mariano once they were settled into the car, knocking her glasses off her face. When they arrived back at 326 E. Pershing Ave., the home of Stewart James in which all three had been staying, Alvin Mariano took the Marianos’ baby inside. Hammitt and James-Mariano remained in the car for about 10 minutes, talking, hoping to let time apart cool any heated emotions left between the Marianos.

Next James-Mariano entered the home at 326 E. Pershing, Hammitt said, while she stayed in the car to wait for her kids, who would be walking home from school. Hammitt didn’t realize that Alfredo Hammitt had already intercepted their children and taken them to his sister’s house. Upon entering the house at 326 E. Pershing Ave., Lanita Hammitt said everything was quiet. The Marianos and their baby were in the bedroom alone. Hammitt said she went to sort laundry in another room and closed the door behind her. But soon she heard Alvin Mariano trying to come in. Hammitt said she was frightened and didn’t open the door until she heard Mariano leave the house.

She went into the Marianos’ bedroom and noticed Olivia James-Mariano’s body sprawled across the floor, the baby sitting alone. She assumed Olivia James-Mariano had passed out from drinking. Hammitt stepped over James-Mariano’s body and took the baby out of the room. Whether Olivia James-Mariano was still alive at that point remains unanswered. But her body was still in the same place and position on the floor when she was found dead a few hours later.

Wednesday afternoon saw testimony from Dr. Ian Paul, the supervising physician at the office of the medical investigator in Albuquerque who performed the autopsy on James-Mariano’s body. Paul testified that Olivia James-Mariano’s toxicity report showed a blood-alcohol level of .23, nearly triple the legal limit, and that her blood-alcohol level had been as high as .285 earlier that afternoon. Following his testimony, defense attorney Steve Seeger called to the stand his own expert physician, Dr. Karen Griest, for rebuttal.

During a recess that afternoon, Seeger indicated that the doctors may deliver the testimony that sways the jury toward one side or the other, guilty or not guilty of second-degree murder.

“You have to look at all of the findings in this case in order to determine the cause of death,” Paul testified. “The cause of death in this case is a trauma to the carotid artery.”

Prosecutors showed the jury photos taken of James-Mariano’s body, photos that showed multiple scrapes and bruises on her head, face and neck. Paul described a large bruise on James-Mariano’s neck — the alleged site of fatal impact.

Sobs could be heard from the family of James-Mariano’s side of the gallery as prosecutors put up on a on screen graphic images taken during autopsy for the jury. Paul described internal bleeding around the carotid artery, which showed no sign of an aneurysm. He said an aneurysm would have caused swelling in the artery prior to its bursting. He said the combination of bruising on the head and face, bruising on the neck, bleeding inside the neck muscles that protect the carotid artery, bleeding beneath those muscles and “injury to the full thickness of the carotid artery,” all indicate a beating.

“Trivial blows,” wouldn’t cause these injuries, Paul said. “If you’re dealing with multiple impact sites, you’re looking at multiple impacts,” he said. “It’s difficult to imagine all of the injuries were caused by one simple fall.”

Griest’s testimony alluded to the possibility that Mariano had battered James-Mariano’s head to the extent that it stretched and tore her carotid artery, causing it to slowly rupture.

“Battery is not second-degree murder,” Seeger said.
Griest also raised the possibility that Olivia James-Mariano fell and hit her neck and head while she was in such an intoxicated state.

“It doesn’t appear that this dissection was caused by anything other than trauma,” Griest said.