Two persons who are said to be five-year-veterans with the Border Patrol have a trial date at the end of this month, for a case in which they are accused of attacking a woman after a circus performance at the Del Mar Fairgrounds, in May 2012.
Attorneys for Kallie Lamb Helwig, 25, and Gerald Joseph Torello, 35, were in a San Diego Superior Courtroom last Friday. Both defendants plead not guilty to multiple charges including disorderly conduct, lewd acts in public, battery, and annoy child. Gerald Torello also faces one additional charge of making a criminal threat. All the offenses are charged as misdemeanors.
There are reportedly at least three witnesses who will testify that they saw Helwig and Torello commit lewd acts in their spectator seats, during a performance by Cirque du Soleil, and then attack a woman who suggested they should “get a room.” The offenses allegedly occurred May 27, 2012.
The alleged victim testified at a preliminary hearing last August, she said that Kallie Helwig was lying in wait for her when she walked toward an exit, as the victim was leaving the circus tent. The alleged victim said that Helwig hit her in the face with a closed fist while her companion Torello called out encouragement: “You can take her babe, I got your back.”
The alleged victim told a judge that “my heart dropped” and she feared the incident would be swept under the rug, when she learned that her attackers were both Border Patrol agents. She expressed shock at their alleged behavior, “These are federal agents. They are supposed to exercise some form of judgment.”
Prosecutor Tracy Prior stated that a misdemeanor trial date was set for January 30, in Department 5 of San Diego’s North County Superior Courthouse in Vista, California.
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/jan/14/38374/
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/jan/14/38375/
Two persons who are said to be five-year-veterans with the Border Patrol have a trial date at the end of this month, for a case in which they are accused of attacking a woman after a circus performance at the Del Mar Fairgrounds, in May 2012.
Attorneys for Kallie Lamb Helwig, 25, and Gerald Joseph Torello, 35, were in a San Diego Superior Courtroom last Friday. Both defendants plead not guilty to multiple charges including disorderly conduct, lewd acts in public, battery, and annoy child. Gerald Torello also faces one additional charge of making a criminal threat. All the offenses are charged as misdemeanors.
There are reportedly at least three witnesses who will testify that they saw Helwig and Torello commit lewd acts in their spectator seats, during a performance by Cirque du Soleil, and then attack a woman who suggested they should “get a room.” The offenses allegedly occurred May 27, 2012.
The alleged victim testified at a preliminary hearing last August, she said that Kallie Helwig was lying in wait for her when she walked toward an exit, as the victim was leaving the circus tent. The alleged victim said that Helwig hit her in the face with a closed fist while her companion Torello called out encouragement: “You can take her babe, I got your back.”
The alleged victim told a judge that “my heart dropped” and she feared the incident would be swept under the rug, when she learned that her attackers were both Border Patrol agents. She expressed shock at their alleged behavior, “These are federal agents. They are supposed to exercise some form of judgment.”
Prosecutor Tracy Prior stated that a misdemeanor trial date was set for January 30, in Department 5 of San Diego’s North County Superior Courthouse in Vista, California.
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/jan/14/38374/
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/jan/14/38375/