Moises Nieves called his girlfriend's home and talked to her father about five weeks after allegedly hitting and killing the woman's former boyfriend, Sergio Escalona, with his vehicle as Escalona stood at the driver's side window of her car.
"He just wanted to apologize for what had happened," Juan Rocha said through an interpreter Thursday, the second day of Nieves' murder trial in Ramsey County District Court. The girlfriend, Maria Rocha, wasn't home when Nieves called Nov. 27.
"Did he ask for her forgiveness?" prosecutor David Hunt asked.
"Yes," Rocha said.
A passerby found Escalona's body on a boulevard at Jessamine Avenue and Woodbridge Street about 5 a.m. Oct. 21. The victim also went by the name David Ramirez.
In testimony Thursday, an accident reconstruction expert said it was his opinion that Nieves was going between 10 and 15 miles per hour when he hit Escalona. Two other law enforcers also testified Thursday as did the victim's sister-in-law, Veronica Schmitz, who said Escalona liked dancing and spending time with his children.
The trial then recessed until Monday. District Judge Michael Fetsch said he expects the trial to wrap up Tuesday.
PAT PHEIFER
