Woman tied to alleged Fig Garden killer tells Fresno jury the gun belonged to her
Michelle Pollard of Fresno testified Wednesday that she kept a Glock 19 pistol in her nightstand drawer for protection.
Little did she know that it would become the alleged murder weapon that killed 17-year-old Nicholas Kauls in the summer of 2018.
Pollard, 46, is one of the key prosecution witnesses in the trial of alleged murderer Joseph Espinoza.
Espinoza, 25, is accused of fatally shooting Kauls during a robbery in the Fig Garden neighborhood on June 24, 2018. If found guilty, he could be sent to prison for the rest of his life, without the possibility of parole.
During Wednesday’s testimony, Pollard explained to jurors she was going through a difficult time when she met Espinoza and his close friend Jose Figueroa.
She had recently ended her marriage and was taking medication for depression and anxiety. “I was just in a really bad place at the time,” she told Senior Deputy District Attorney Deborah Miller.
Pollard, who was 43 at the time, said he was introduced to the then 19-year-old Figueroa and the two began a romantic relationship.
Although their romance was brief, Pollard allowed Figueroa and his friends to stay at the home she shared with her two teenage sons.
Along with Figueroa and the defendant, two women would also visit the home. Pollard would later find out her boyfriend Figueroa was cheating on her with one of the two women who would frequent her home, she testified Wednesday.
Defendant wanted bail money for friend Figueroa
Life for Pollard would soon become even more complicated. On June 24, 2018 Figueroa was arrested on a gun charge at the Motel 6 on North Blackstone Avenue.
At the motel, Fresno police officers were checking a disturbance and found Espinoza, Figueroa and two women, who were not identified. Officers seized an SKS assault rifle and a semi-automatic pistol at the motel.
Espinoza was cited for possession of methamphetamine, but not taken to Fresno County Jail.
Police said Espinoza’s urgency to get bail money for his friend Figueroa led to a string of robberies the night of June 24, 2018, including confronting Kauls and a friend in the Fig Garden neighborhood. Kauls was shot in the head and died four days later at the hospital.
Figueroa called Pollard several times, pleading with her to get him out of jail, she testified. She relented and refinanced her car to help pay the cost of his bail.
Pollard was also questioned about the Glock handgun she owned that police allege was used in the Kauls shooting. Pollard said she did own a Glock 19 that she bought for home security.
During the day she kept it in a lockbox and at night she kept it in her nightstand drawer. She wasn’t the only one, however, who knew where she kept it.
She testified to seeing Espinoza with her gun, including the day after Kauls was killed.
The night of the Fig Garden shooting, Pollard said Espinoza and one of the women who sometimes stayed at her house, went out for a walk.
“When I went to bed I noticed the gun was gone,” she said.
The next morning she asked Espinoza where her gun was and he pulled it out from his waistband.
“I believe I asked him why he had it and he said he needed it for protection,” she said.
Under cross-examination, Espinoza’s defense attorney Ralph Torres questioned why Pollard was so devoted to Figueroa, including taking out a $3,500 loan to bail him out.
“You loved this guy so much you let his girlfriend live with him and you in your home,” Torres said.
Torres also asked why she allowed Espinoza, Figueroa and the two women to stay at her home with her two teenage boys.
“Is that because you were in a bad spot and weren’t thinking about the safety of your boys,” he asked.
Pollard did not respond.
The trial continues Thursday in Dept. 72.
