Prosecutors alleged Valentine Torrez had a reason to fear DNA would tie him to his relatives’ Nov. 13, 2021, Hammond home invasion and sexual assault.
During closing arguments Thursday, they played footage from a police officer’s body cam that appeared to show a court-ordered DNA retrieval where multiple Hammond cops held him down on a chair while one forcibly inserted a long swab into his mouth.
Torrez, 49, of Hammond, stood trial this week. He is charged with two counts of rape, one count of child molesting, armed robbery, two counts of criminal confinement and one count of unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon, records show.
A jury began deliberations Thursday.
Prosecutors alleged Torrez helped plan the home invasion with co-defendant Garrett Whittenburg to assault his female relative and take her credit cards. Torrez returned to the woman’s home a second time that day, asking for a drink and left the front door unlocked, court records show.
Whittenburg followed through the door minutes later. He was wearing a white sweatshirt, a mask and gloves, court records allege.
During the home invasion, the woman testified Tuesday her eyes were covered and a Black man forced her to perform a sex act, while another man – prosecutors say it was Torrez – assaulted her from behind. They allege DNA results also showed he fondled her 12-year-old daughter who was blindfolded in the child’s bedroom.
Deputy Prosecutor Arturo Balcazar said the woman’s story had been “consistent” from the start. One question had been how many men total were in the home — three or two.
She testified Tuesday that when her vision was covered, it sounded like Torrez was struggling with another man in the kitchen. She reported two men in her 911 call. In the end, the evidence showed two men were there, Balcazar said.
Torrez was the one who “couldn’t keep his story straight,” Balcazar said, including why he just didn’t go next door for help, or why it took an hour for him to get back to his apartment when he lived about five minutes away.
The theory that his DNA would be present since his wife did laundry in the home didn’t explain how the mother’s rape kit was linked back to Torrez, Balcazar said.
He “knew the DNA was going to sink him,” Balcazar said before the body cam footage was shown.
Defense lawyer Kerry Connor said something terrible clearly happened. But the question was “not whether we feel sorry” for the victims. The verdict needed to be an “unemotional decision,” she told jurors.
The actions were Whittenburg’s, Connor said. Torrez went to the police within hours and pointed the finger at him, she said. The woman didn’t identify Whittenburg to the cops.
“That is not the actions of a man who planned a home invasion, planned to (assault) a loved one,” she said.
Connor argued some parts of the woman’s story were inconsistent over time. After she said two more men, besides Torrez, were in the house, she “completely backpedaled,” the lawyer said. At first, when blindfolded, she said she felt a gun held to her back, but later said it might have been a lug wrench.
A DNA expert who testified said it could be possible that DNA could have transferred from the laundry.
Balcazar later retorted they said it was possible but unlikely, and added they said traces of DNA break down when exposed to elements like water or heat.
Whittenburg, Torrez’s friend of 20 years, originally told investigators he assaulted the woman and watched Torrez rape her. His plea agreement required him to flip and testify against Torrez. However, Whittenburg refused to give a deposition on March 22 and did not testify at the trial.
This is a developing story. Check back for more information.
mcolias@post-trib.com
