P. v. Van CA4/3
In 1995, Norma Esparza told her ex-boyfriend, defendant Gianni Anthony Van, that someone had raped her. Defendant, Esparza, and a group of people kidnapped Gonzalo Ramirez, the person Esparza later identified as the rapist. The following day, someone discovered Ramirez’s dead body just off the freeway. Santa Ana police arrested defendant for the murder. But at a preliminary hearing, just before Esparza was to testify against defendant, she disclosed that the couple had secretly married in Las Vegas and she invoked the marital privilege. The People dismissed the charges. Esparza later divorced defendant and moved out of the country. The case went cold for 17 years.
In 2012, Santa Ana police were notified that Esparza was on an international flight into Boston. The police went to Boston and arrested Esparza.
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