Attorneys deliver closing statements in Adrian Gonzalez trial; jury begins deliberation

The jury that will decide whether to release convicted murderer and rapist Adrian Gonzalez briefly began deliberations Tuesday afternoon before jurors were sent home. Wednesday is a court holiday, meaning jurors will not reconvene until Thursday.

Gonzalez, 25, who raped and murdered Santa Cruz 8-year-old Madyson Middleton when he was 15 years old, is at the tail end of a monthslong trial that will determine whether he should be released from custody or remain incarcerated for another two years.

Prosecutor and Deputy Chief District Attorney Tara George and Gonzalez’s defense attorney, Charlie Stevens, presented their closing arguments in an all-day session on Tuesday. 

George, who spoke first, referred to testimony and evidence from the past three months of the trial to paint a picture of Gonzalez as a psychopathic, remorseless manipulator who remains a great danger to others.

“You wear a mask to hide who you are. You wear a mask to hide what you feel. You wear a mask to deceive others into believing a different version of you exists,” she said. “Adrian Gonzalez spent years wearing a mask, and on July 26, 2015, he shed that mask.”

George argued that Gonzalez has spent the past nine years in custody adapting and forming a new mask to try to convince people that he is safe and rehabilitated. She called him the “ultimate chameleon,” and said the only thing that the jurors know is that no one knows who he really is.

George hammered on the well-documented details of the crime, which were discussed at length several times throughout the trial. She said that the way Gonzalez used ice cream to get Middleton into his apartment at the Tannery Arts Center complex, chose her because she trusted him and he knew he could overpower her, and his wherewithal to clean up after the crime speaks to the level of planning he used to commit the crime. 

She also argued that his pornography searches for things like “tiny teen,” “red-headed teen,” and a number of extreme, BDSM-style and rape-related searches point to both Gonzalez’s attraction to Middleton and his enjoyment of violent sexual acts.

George brought up Gonzalez’s attempts to deceive police officers and community members in the hours and days following the crime — lying to officers and to people searching for Middleton, and even joining the search for Middleton himself.

“How good was he at lying? These experienced law enforcement officers have no clue,” she said. “Because Adrian was wearing that mask.” She played a clip of Gonzalez’s interview with police the day after committing the crime and pointed out that he continued to lie and try to get away with it even after it was clear the officers knew what had happened.

George said that still no one knows why Gonzalez committed the crime, and that his story has changed over the years, from not knowing to seeking attention to being suicidal and not caring about himself or others. When he has spoken about the crime, she said, he shows no emotion. While past testimony argued that a lack of emotion could be a symptom of his autism, George said that psychologist Ashley Mowrey testified that Gonzalez did cry about another friend of his: “We know he is capable, just not for this.”

George continued discussing Gonzalez’s autism diagnosis, and added that those that told him he had autism were not actually experts in the condition and relied on Gonzalez’s family history, given to them by his mother. George said that, even assuming Gonzalez does have autism, the way it has manifested makes him dangerous.

“There is an overrepresentation of autism as it relates to sexual serial killers. Because of that lack of [cognitive] empathy, their drives and desires are not inhibited,” she said. He also shows nearly all of the major traits of psychopathy, she continued.

“Somebody with autism spectrum disorder is going to react to distress cues — kicking and screaming,” she said. “Psychopaths can accomplish their mission.” 

George said that Gonzalez lied to psychologist Roger Karlsson about not making friends in custody, when in fact, he had. She referred to a list of initials and phone numbers of people he wanted to maintain contact with – half of whom, she said, are sex offenders. She also said Gonzalez’s treatment is not adequate to address his ongoing issues, and called him a “one of one” offender.

“Nobody that has ever worked in this system has ever seen anybody commit the crime that he did at the age he was,” she said. “And people have spent the last nine years trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.”

In total, George pointed out 18 different aspects, including psychopathy, autism, depression, family dynamics, a lack of remorse and sexual paraphilic disorder that make it clear that Gonzalez is not fit for release, even if he has taken steps forward.

“He hid who he was then and he’s hiding who he is now. His deception shows that we haven’t even come close to addressing the underlying issues,” she said. “Mr. Gonzalez was physically dangerous to the public on July 26, 2015, and that mask is still there.”

Stevens began by reminding the jury that George had to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Gonzalez is a danger, which is a big burden.

“In California, with people under 15, we believe there is a possibility for rehabilitation,” he said. “For each individual, it’s different, and it needs to be dealt with in treatment.”

Stevens did not downplay the severity of the crime, saying Gonzalez did “terrible things,” but disputed the idea that it was meticulously planned. He pointed to direct quotes from Gonzalez during his confession to police, where he said that he used a “sharp object” to kill Middleton, and that it was simply a knife from his kitchen: “This wasn’t a special weapon, it wasn’t laid out, it was just a knife in that block. He was just there reacting to the circumstances.”

Stevens also said that if Gonzalez planned the crime as much as George says, he wouldn’t have dumped Middleton’s body in the building’s recycle bin, and he certainly wouldn’t have hung out around the area where he hid the body.

“He did about the stupidest thing you could do if you’re really trying to get away with something,” he said. “He drew attention to himself.”

Stevens also pushed back on the idea that staying in contact with other offenders is a bad thing, as contacting people in a similar situation who have found success following release could help guide Gonzalez’s path forward.

“What he’s had to do is try to figure out which people he can trust and who he can trust to be helpful to him on the outside as a friend and as support,” Stevens said. “If he ever gets released, he’s going to have to figure out if they really are positive.”

Stevens also challenged the notion that Gonzalez’s pornography searches were definite red flags, especially for a teenager, and pushed back on Fresno-based forensic psychologist Susan Napolitano’s conclusion that the searches indicate an interest in sexual sadism.

“She does not even know if Adrian watched any of the videos that had been searched, that is not enough on top of the choking to all of a sudden find sexual sadism there,” he said.

Stevens also mentioned other psychologists who testified over the course of the trial, and pointed to psychologist Karlsson’s conclusion that Gonzalez is at a lower risk of reoffending as well as his autism diagnosis. 

He added that, even though Napolitano scored Gonzalez higher on the Hare Psychopathy Checklist than others, it is still below the cutoff for being labeled a psychopath. He added that Gonzalez’s continued engagement with therapy and counseling show that he is working to make changes, too. Stevens said that there is enough evidence to show that Gonzalez is not the same person he was in 2015.

“Adrian really didn’t like himself. It’s not an excuse, but that’s where he was in 2015. It was such a deep depression that he didn’t care about himself or other people at all,” he said. “That has changed, and because he can care about his life and like himself, he can care about others. He wants the opportunity to show that he can be the good person that he knows he can be.”

In a brief rebuttal, George said that Gonzalez does deserve credit for continuing his education and working on his mental health, and that while he does well in structure settings, that does not ensure safety.

“When you take your car to the mechanic for a broken engine, and they fix the tail light, that doesn’t make the car run,” she said. “This case has been proven to you beyond a reasonable doubt.”

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