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Forensic witnesses: gunshot-residue, fingerprints and phone data discussed in 2017 San Antonio homicide trial
Summary
During a murder trial stemming from a 2017 shooting death, forensic witnesses testified about gunshot residue on the victim, fingerprint identifications from a recovered phone, Cellebrite cellphone extraction data and surveillance footage linking a Kia Forte to the scene; the court limited mention of unrelated county charges to extradition facts.
Testimony during a San Antonio homicide trial recounted forensic analyses and investigative steps linking a recovered cellphone, latent fingerprints and gunshot-residue findings to an investigation into the April 2017 shooting death of Mark Anthony Saldivar.
Christina Bachon, quality assurance manager at the Bexar County Crime Laboratory, testified that her gunshot-residue analysis identified microscopic particles on both the right and left-hand samples collected from the victim. "My conclusion was that based on the morphology and the elemental composition of the particles I found, Mark Anthony Saldivar may have discharged a firearm, handled a discharged firearm, or was in close proximity to a discharging firearm," Bachon said on the record. She described finding 10 particles on each sample and explained that identification cannot definitively distinguish the three possibilities without additional testing, such as a test-fire comparison to known ammunition.
Latent-print examiner Denise Serenil of the San Antonio Police Department testified that she reviewed latent-print cards lifted from a blue iPhone recovered at the scene and made identifications from some cards. Serenil said she compared the phone lifts to known prints and identified one set as belonging to "Jaylen Bell" and two cards of legible prints that she identified as belonging to "Jeremiah Rodriguez." She described standard procedures for latent-print comparison and the criteria required for positive identification.
Digital forensic examiner Lindsey Patton described a Cellebrite extraction of a phone recovered from the scene and identified metadata, messages and images included in the extraction. Patton testified the extraction report was generated on June 6, 2017, and said the report included iMessage threads and call logs; she demonstrated timestamps and iMessage participants from the extraction during her testimony.
Homicide Sergeant Raul Juarez, who led the investigation, described the scene near a Chick-fil-A on the Northeast Loop 410 access road and said officers recovered the victim and a cellphone near the location. Juarez said surveillance footage from the Chick-fil-A and from a nearby El Potocino restaurant helped investigators identify a dark-colored Kia Forte with windshield damage; footage showed a person standing on the hood of that vehicle and damage occurring to the windshield. Juarez testified the Kia Forte was later recovered at El Potocino and safety- and evidentiary items were photographed and collected from the vehicle, including an envelope addressed to an individual named on the envelope with a Fort Worth address.
Juarez and other witnesses described subsequent investigative steps: investigators obtained phone records, reviewed 911 calls and surveillance, identified and interviewed witnesses who had interacted with occupants of the Kia, and learned that a nine-millimeter handgun later recovered by Dallas police had been linked to an arrest of a person identified as Jaylen (Jalen) Bell. Jurors also heard about additional investigative leads, including named associates and the recovery of items in the Kia Forte.
On a legal point addressed at sidebar and by the court, the judge limited testimony about charges pending in other counties. The court allowed a witness to testify that a suspect had been extradited to Tarrant County and later brought to Bexar County in 2019, but the judge prohibited mention of the underlying charges in the other jurisdiction unless the defense opened that issue.
The trial record shows the state offered and the court admitted multiple exhibits, including physical evidence and forensic reports admitted into evidence for jurors’ review. Experts described the limits of their methods: the gunshot-residue analyst explained the analysis shows possibilities rather than definitive conclusions about who fired a gun, and the latent-print examiner and digital-forensics witness discussed the procedural limits and data-access constraints for their respective examinations.
The testimony is part of ongoing trial proceedings; jurors were instructed repeatedly not to discuss testimony outside the courtroom during the pendency of the case.
