Newport man found guilty on 3 felonies

Deepa Bharath

A jury last week found a 31-year-old Newport Beach man guilty on

three felony counts of assault, spousal abuse and attempt to persuade

a witness not to testify in connection with the death of his live-in

girlfriend.

Newport Beach Police arrested William Foster Armendizo on May 16,

2002, on suspicion of murdering 29-year-old Jessica Heather Martin.

Police said Armendizo called 911 from the couple’s Dauphine Street

home saying that his girlfriend was not breathing.

Police arrested him after the Orange County coroner conducted an

autopsy on Martin and concluded the cause of her death was

“mechanical smothering and blunt-force trauma to the head,” officials

said.

Jurors on May 14 took about an hour and 10 minutes to convict

Armendizo of the crime. Deputy Dist. Atty. Ebrahim Baytieh said the

district attorney decided not to press a murder charge because the

autopsy had revealed significant trauma to the head consistent with a

severe beating and toxicology tests had revealed a high, potentially

fatal quantity of pain killers in her body. Police said that

discovery made it difficult to determine the exact cause of death.

Armendizo had pleaded innocent to the charges. His attorney, John

McKasson, was not available for comment on Thursday. Armendizo faces

a maximum sentence of 11 years. He is scheduled to be sentenced on

June 27.

Baytieh said he had circumstantial evidence in the form of

Armendizo’s former girlfriend from Illinois who testified that she

had been sent to the hospital twice during their relationship when he

assaulted and battered her.

Newport Beach Police detectives had to conduct “a detailed,

scientific investigation of the crime scene,” Sgt. Mike McDermott

said.

“Based on a detailed forensic examination, investigators were able

to determine that the victim’s head was severely pounded on to the

bedroom floor,” he said.

Police also performed an extensive background check on Armendizo

and found two former girlfriends who said he hurt them, McDermott

said. He said the case was difficult to investigate and challenging

because no one witnessed the incident.

Baytieh said Armendizo put Martin through “a horrible and brutal

night.” Large quantities of Vicodin and Valium were found in her

blood, he said.

He said it was unfortunate that the defense argued that no one

heard Martin scream when he was beating her.

“But the jury in their verdict indicated that they heard her

screams loud and clear,” Baytieh said. “Unfortunately, the victim was

not here to see [justice being served].”

* DEEPA BHARATH covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at deepa.bharath@latimes.com.