For seven months the bullet that killed 21-year-old Robert Anthony Barraza outside a house party on Valaire Drive last October has sat - untouched - somewhere inside a California Department of Justice crime laboratory.
Due to what the San Benito County Sheriff's Office, the District Attorney's Office and the DOJ have called "severe backlogging" in the state crime lab, the ballistics test used to determine which gun fired that bullet has not been started.
Sheriff Curtis Hill, meanwhile, said he knows who fired the fatal shot but needs the ballistics report before his deputies can make an arrest.
"We solved this case. We're just waiting for confirmation," Hill said. "This isn't some kind of who-done-it case."
Sheriff's Deputy Sgt. Tom Keylon said he has called the crime lab more than 10 times. Most recently, he has been told the agency would start the tests in the next two weeks. He said he was frustrated with the delay but that, after talking with other law enforcement agencies, he has learned this kind of wait is "average."
"We prioritize our tests on the needs of the courts," said DOJ Freedom Lab Supervisor Juan Bergado. "If it's needed right now, like if there is a court date set, (the test) will get priority. If not, it will get put behind.
"At the beginning of the year, it seemed there were much more assaults and homicides to deal with. Everyone has a number of cases to work on and we work them as well as we can."
Bergado said the tests would take three days to one week to complete once started.
The young man was killed Oct. 14 of last year when, according to sheriff's deputies, a fight broke out between neighboring residences' partygoers outside a home at 11 Valaire Drive in Hollister. Authorities believe that after a verbal altercation, a gunfight ensued in which up to six gunmen fired more than 30 shots.
One of those shots wounded an unidentified man in his early 20s and another killed Barraza. Sheriff's deputies said Barraza had ties to the Norte'o street gang, something his family has denied. Barraza family members after the confrontation also alleged that their adversaries hurled racial slurs during the argument.
At the time of the homicide, sheriff's office authorities said they were told the tests would be done in "10 to 14 days."
Undersheriff Pat Turturicci called the seven-month delay "ridiculous" and said while his original estimate of two weeks was incorrect he "never dreamed" seven months would go by without results.
"I've never experienced this kind of delay in all my years of law enforcement," Turturicci said. "We've been on them every week to get this done, and it's become very frustrating. This case is definitely a priority for us but it seems like it's not for them."
District Attorney Investigator Pat Stevens said the DOJ is "simply overwhelmed" and noted as an example that oftentimes people charged with driving while under the influence arrive at court to find their cases delayed while simple blood-alcohol tests wait for a month at a time.
He said the Barraza case has not been sent to his office for prosecution, but admitted "it does seem like a long time to wait."
"I'm the investigator for 4,000 cases. I can't stick my fat finger in every one," Stevens said. "This case doesn't have a court date, and that's something that can make the labs get tests done much faster."
Curtis Cartier Curtis Cartier covers the City of Hollister and public safety for the Free Lance. Reach him at (831) 637-5566 or email him.
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