Jury trial for Adrian Gonzalez’s release begins

Adrian Gonzalez’s trial began Thursday afternoon in a Santa Cruz courtroom, where a jury will ultimately determine whether to release the 25-year-old after serving fewer than four years for the death of 8-year-old Madyson “Maddy” Middleton, or keep him in custody for another two years.

In their opening statements, Santa Cruz County Assistant District Attorney Tara George and Gonzalez’s defense attorney, Charlie Stevens, offered starkly contrasting portraits of Gonzalez. 

George referred to Gonzalez as a “master at deception” who had deceived those around him before and after he raped and murdered Middleton in 2015, which she called “one of the most horrendous crimes this county has ever experienced.” She added that he did not appear remorseful at all following the crime.

Stevens, on the other hand, painted a picture of a person whose tumultuous upbringing gave him essentially no chance of stability, which ultimately proved devastating for his mental state in his teenage years.

Gonzalez, who was 15 at the time of the murder, was convicted of raping and murdering Middleton in 2021.

Gonzalez was set for release in October, when he aged out of the juvenile justice system as he reached his 25th birthday, but the Santa Cruz County District Attorney’s Office challenged his release. That prompted a hearing over a three-week span this summer to determine whether he is sufficiently rehabilitated or continues to pose a threat to the public.

In early August, Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge Denine Guy ruled that prosecutors had successfully shown that there was probable cause for a jury trial to determine whether Gonzalez should continue to be held in custody. She could have ordered his release instead.

At the time of his arrest, prosecutors first wanted to try Gonzalez as an adult, but were barred from doing so by Senate Bill 1391, a California state law that prohibits the prosecution of people under the age of 16 as adults. The bill has faced numerous challenges, stalling Gonzalez’s case. The California Supreme Court eventually upheld the bill in early 2021, finally allowing the case to move forward.

In her opening statement, George said the prosecution will call witnesses whose testimony will illustrate the brutal and complex nature of the crime, and that there remains no solid explanation for why Gonzalez committed the murder. She added that experts will testify that they have “never seen a crime like this committed by somebody of his age.” 

She traced the sequence of events that occurred on July 26, 2015, explaining that Gonzalez lured Middleton to his apartment with ice cream that his mother bought, and once the 8-year-old was in a vulnerable position, he raped and murdered her.

George added that Gonzalez’s actions following the crime showed deception and a lack of remorse.

“You’re going to hear how Adrian went to his friend’s house and they took a walk to Chipotle. You’re going to hear that this friend said Adrian was calm, collected and showed no signs of distress,” she said. “You’re going to hear that on that walk, they learn that Maddy is missing. What did Adrian say? He said, ‘Well, I hope they find her.’”

George said that the jury will hear from law enforcement officers who investigated the case, and from Gonzalez himself via recordings from around the time of the crime. She said Gonzalez denied his involvement in Middleton’s death until he figured out what investigators knew. Only then, did he slowly open up.

“You will see that he has no emotion, sheds no tears, there is no regret and no remorse,” she said, adding that the jury will also hear the various explanations that Gonzalez has given for committing the crime, which have changed over time. Those range from him thinking it would make it easier for him to go through with a suicide attempt, to wanting attention, to simply not knowing why he did it. “The experts will tell you that none of this matches the evidence, and none explain the calculated and brutal nature of the crime.”

The jury will also hear from inmates that Gonzalez was housed with at the Santa Cruz County Jail before his conviction, George continued, saying that they will testify that they have never heard someone talk so nonchalantly about a violent crime, and that he would do it again. She emphasized that Gonzalez has not received treatment for sadism, necrophilia, pedophilia and other factors that could have played into his propensity for such a violent crime.

“He’s engaged in treatment to address some issues, but nowhere close to treating everything that a person who could commit this crime needs,” she said. “He’s dangerous and should not be released.”

Gonzalez’s attorney, Stevens, used his opening statement to paint a picture of Gonzalez as someone who has struggled with both abuse and with undiagnosed mental illness that only worsened over time. Stevens said that Gonzalez’s parents had a bad relationship when he was young, and he witnessed domestic violence during the “early formative stages of his life.”

Stevens said that Gonzalez’s mother had several domestic partners over the years, some who treated him well and others who neglected him. One of his mother’s partners put a gun to her head and threatened to kill her in front of Gonzalez, Stevens said. 

Gonzalez lacked stability throughout his childhood, Stevens said. He and his mother resorted to living out of cars and sleeping in back rooms of places where his mother was employed, and had moved 37 times before relocating to the Tannery Arts Center, where he and Middleton both lived at the time of the crime. Even with this more stable living situation, the issues of abuse and neglect didn’t stop, said Stevens, adding that Gonzalez’s mother was struggling with substance abuse, depression and more abusive relationships.

“As it continued on, there came more signs of what this childhood was doing to him,” he said. “In seventh grade, there were the first documented signs that he was suicidal and suffering from clinical depression. In eighth grade, he actually talked to a counselor about wanting to kill himself.”

Stevens said that Gonzalez’s suicidal ideations intensified until at one point he had the strong urge to jump in front of moving cars at an intersection.

“Adrian wanted to kill himself, but didn’t have the ability to go that final step,” he said. “One of the things bouncing around in his head was maybe he could if he hated himself that much more and did something really horrendous.”

Stevens said that Gonzalez has engaged in treatment “enthusiastically” since his conviction adding that Gonzalez does not fit the clinical definition of a sadist, necrophiliac or pedophile. 

He said Gonzalez has been accepted into a male-only, out-of-county reentry facility should he be released, and will have to register as a sex offender, too. Stevens argued this structure gives him a good path to reenter society: “He has been rehabilitated, he has a good plan, he has support, and he should be released.”

Santa Cruz Police Department Lt. Dan Forbus testified Thursday that two SCPD officers encountered Gonzalez in the Tannery building during the search for Middleton, and he promptly introduced himself and gave the officers his apartment and telephone numbers: “He asked specifically if the officers were searching the apartments at that time, and he was told they were just gathering information.”

Forbus also testified that Gonzalez told a friend on a walk to a nearby Chipotle he hoped that police would find Middleton. The friend told police that Gonzalez had acted very calm and collected during their walk.

The trial will resume Friday, with Forbus to continue his testimony. The case will then pick back up on Dec. 2. If the trial does not conclude by the end of the year, it will resume on Jan. 21.

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