Jose Sanchez has been living with the Sanchez family since 2015 when he moved in with his girlfriend’s family, Annisse. He remembers immediately connecting with Anthony when meeting the family and became close. On the stand, Jose remembered calling Anthony by his nick name, “tall man” and Anthony referring to him as “brother.” Only being 22 years old, this was Jose’s first time testifying — the City attorney’s defending the two officers saw that as an opportunity to take advantage of him.
“Did Anthony tell you he sold his soul to the devil?” was one of the questions asked by the City attorney. Jose said yes, forced to recall that moment from his previous deposition. The room felt heavy that Anthony had said that but then the Nuñez family Attorney’s cross examination showed what really happened. Jose and Anthony had been watching YouTube videos about “nonsense” and artist conspiracy theories when Anthony told Jose he sold his soul jokingly as they both laughed.
Once again, the jury was left with incomplete stories and out of context quotes by the City attorneys representing the police officers in an attempt to paint Anthony a certain way. Jose and Anthony were clearly joking when Jose told this story in his deposition.
This has been a pattern of the City attorneys — attempting to tarnish how the jury views Anthony and his family by asking out of context and irrelevant questions. While Jose was on the stand, the City attorney also asked, how long Jose paid rent there, and interrogated Jose about Anthony’s relationship to his father Tony, and manipulated Jose’s deposition.