MySanAntonio.com – Graeme Zielinski – Express-News
A 24-year-old transsexual who maintains he was raped by a former San Antonio police officer took the witness stand Thursday to foil an attempt by the ex-cop to get a new trial.
Gabriel Bernal forcefully denied entrapping Dean Gutierrez, a 16-year police veteran, for lawsuit money. Bernal also denied knowing a violent felon, called by Gutierrez’s new defense team from the Federal Defender’s Office, who claims knowledge of the alleged scheme.
“Never in my life,” did Bernal meet the convict, Chris Lyssy; tell his brother or aunt about entrapping Gutierrez for money; or have a boyfriend and sister beat him up to fake the rape injuries, Bernal testified Thursday.
Gutierrez, 47, is serving more than 24 years in prison for the 2005 assault. A federal jury last year convicted him of civil rights violations for forcing the transsexual to have sex with him in his squad car.