Defense Rests Case In Slaying Of Selena

HOUSTON - After just five witnesses, the defense rested its case today in the trial of Yolanda Saldivar, accused of murdering Tejano singing star Selena in March.

Defense attorneys, who had begun presenting their case only this morning, returned from lunch and announced they had no additional witnesses. Saldivar herself was not called to the stand.

Closing arguments were set for Monday.

Saldivar, who rose from president of Selena's fan club to manager of two of her boutiques, has said she shot the singer by accident. Over seven days of testimony, the prosecution had tried to show the March 31 in a Corpus Christi, Texas, motel killing was deliberate.

The state rested shortly after court began today. State District Judge Mike Westergren denied routine defense motions that he issue a directed verdict of acquittal or lessen the charge against Saldivar.

If convicted, Saldivar, 35, could be sentenced to up to life in prison. The trial was moved to Houston from Corpus Christi because of publicity.

Among the defense witnesses was Ruben Deleon, sales director for the Days Inn, where the 23-year-old singer was shot. He testified he never heard the dying woman say she feared she would be shot again by Saldivar, as a prosecution witness had testified.

Last week, Deleon himself had testified for the prosecution about the chaos in the moments when the bleeding singer staggered into the motel lobby.

Another witness, motel housekeeper Gloria Magana, said she "heard a lady screaming by the pool" but did not see Trinidad Espinoza, a motel maintenance worker who testified he saw Saldivar chasing Selena with a gun. But under cross-examination by the prosecution, she said Espinoza could have been there and she just didn't see him.

Defense attorneys also questioned Paul Rivera, the lead Corpus Christi police detective handling the case, and the officer who has come under scrutiny because Saldivar's confession made no mention that the shooting may have been accidental.

"I never heard that," he said, when asked by lawyer Douglas Tinker about Saldivar's claims the shooting was unintentional.

Prosecutors say Saldivar deliberately killed Selena when they met to discuss missing documents that would have backed family suspicions that Saldivar had embezzled $30,000 from Selena's boutiques.