Interview Tape of Caro Not Allowed

Defense lawyers for murder suspect Socorro Caro lost a bid Friday to present a digitally enhanced audio tape of her statements to a detective shortly after the Nov. 22, 1999, slayings of three of her sons.

Caro, 44, was interviewed while hospitalized for a gunshot wound in the head. The interview was tape-recorded, but parts of the tape have been deemed inaudible.

During a hearing outside the presence of the jury, Deputy Public Defender Jean Farley called a sound expert to testify about his interpretation of garbled portions of the tape.

In one section, the expert said he believed Caro said: “Those little babies are at Juarez.”

Farley argued that the statement could also be interpreted to mean the “babies,” or Caro’s children, were in a car accident, which was what her client believed when she awoke in the hospital, Farley argued.

Clarifying some of the inaudible statements is important to give the jury a more complete picture of what Caro said during the interview, the attorney said.

But Superior Court Judge Donald Coleman ruled that the defense expert’s interpretations were too speculative to put before the jury.

“You’ve got to have evidence to go where you want to go,” Coleman told Farley. “There is nothing there to support you.”

Ventura County prosecutors say Caro killed three of her four children to hurt an adulterous husband who planned to divorce her.

Caro has pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity, and her lawyers have suggested she was framed by her husband. If convicted, she could face the death penalty.

Testimony is scheduled to resume Monday.