Ex-border agent not guilty in love triangle assault on cop
March 27, 2009
The Orange County Register
By ANDREW GALVIN and ADAM TOWNSEND
original article
A former Border Patrol agent has been acquitted of the most serious charges he faced from an off-duty confrontation with a Santa Ana police detective over a woman.
Jaime Cesar Quiroz, 33, of Santa Ana was found not guilty by an Orange County Superior Court jury Thursday of felony first-degree burglary and felony assault with a deadly weapon other than a firearm, court records show. Quiroz was convicted of misdemeanor aggravated trespass.
The charges stemmed from a Sept. 16, 2007, incident at the Santa Ana house of Quiroz's former girlfriend, Joann Hessen, said his attorney, Jeremy Goldman.
Quiroz had been dating Hessen, now 30, for eight years before he left in January 2007 to attend the Border Patrol Academy in New Mexico, Goldman said. After he returned in May 2007, they resumed their relationship, and together they picked out an engagement ring, Goldman said.
However, during Quiroz's absence, Hessen began dating Mike Gibbons, a detective with the Santa Ana Police Department, Goldman said.
On the night of Sept. 16, 2007, Quiroz entered Hessen's house through a window and confronted Gibbons, Goldman said. Prosecutors accused Quiroz of punching the detective in the head and lower back. Quiroz claimed Gibbons tackled him first, according to Goldman. The jury found Quiroz not guilty of assault and burglary, apparently on self-defense grounds, Goldman said.
Prosecutors said Hessen had broken up with Quiroz five months before the incident. Gibbons and Hessen couldn't immediately be reached for comment.
Quiroz did not contest the trespassing charge, of which he was convicted, Goldman said.
After the verdict, Judge Daniel McNerney allowed Quiroz to remain free on his own recognizance pending his sentencing on April 24. The maximum sentence he faces is one year, Goldman said.
Quiroz resigned from the Border Patrol after he was charged in the case, but he hopes to reapply, Goldman said.
"He's my brother and I hate to see his reputation ruined just because he made a bad choice with a girlfriend," said Alfonso Quiroz, 40, of Santa Ana.
