Testimony continues in Manaig trial

BRAWLEY — The parents of the former Imperial High teen who had allegedly threatened to shoot two classmates in February 2018 characterized him during his trial on Tuesday as a peaceful young adult who enjoyed playing violent video games.

The parents of 19-year-old of Karl Manaig also testified that they were unaware of their son ever having engaged in violent or threatening behavior before his arrest on Feb. 16, 2018, for allegedly making criminal threats resulting in death.

During his testimony, father Filomeno Manaig told a prosecutor that he was unaware of his son having been suspended in the second grade for allegedly striking a classmate in the back with a pencil, which punctured the skin and drew blood.

Instead, he testified that he could only recall his son being suspended during primary school for reportedly sticking a paper clip in an electrical outlet.

That testimony differed vastly from Monday’s testimony by the alleged victim, Gabriel Lemus Anchondo, who told the court of the incident and his subsequent years-long fear of Manaig.

Lemus Anchondo is also one of the two Imperial High classmates that Manaig is accused of having

threatened to shoot during a classroom conversation on Feb. 15, 2018.

During her testimony on Tuesday, mother Lara Manaig testified she was not aware of her son having been expelled from Imperial High in 2016 for reportedly bringing a knife on campus.

Instead, she told the prosecutor her son’s expulsion was the result of him having threatened to harm himself.

That testimony also differed from previous testimony that alleged Manaig was expelled from Imperial High for an indeterminate amount of time for having brought a knife to school.

And while Filomeno testified about being aware of his son having brought a knife onto the Imperial High campus, he said the incident resulted in the intervention of local behavioral health officials who determined his son was not a threat to himself or others and that he was eventually allowed to enroll again.

Following both his and his wife’s testimony, county Deputy District Attorney Mario Vela indicated to the court that he may recall a previous witness who could testify today that the defendant was indeed expelled for bringing a knife onto Imperial High in 2016.

Two Imperial High teachers are also scheduled to testify today on behalf of the defense. Vela wrapped up his case on Tuesday afternoon, prompting Manaig’s parents’ testimony on behalf of the defense.

Both parents spoke of Manaig being the target of bullying at the high school in the past and having reported the alleged incidents to school officials.

“They told it us they were going to look into it but it kept on happening,” Filomeno Manaig said.

Both parents also disclosed that Manaig knew how to operate various firearm models but that he did not have any access to the weapons, which were kept locked in three gun safes at the family’s Imperial home.

Jurors on Tuesday had started the day by reviewing a lengthy video recording of Imperial police investigators’ interrogation of Manaig on Feb. 16, 2018.

The video recording was presented during the second day of testimony by Imperial Police Sgt. Alberto Hernandez, who was one of two police officials to interview Manaig after he was contacted at the high school following reports of his alleged threatening remarks.

While Hernandez was able to get Manaig to disclose he did make a comment about potentially shooting his classmates, Manaig said that the comment was not directed at or overheard by any particular student.

“I was talking to myself,” Manaig said at one point during the 2.5-hour interrogation.

On multiple occasions Manaig appeared to have failed to respond to investigators’ questions as they had hoped, prompting Hernandez to urge Manaig to be honest with them.

During their interrogation, investigators had repeatedly asked about a notebook of Manaig’s that contained references to “kill time” and “body shots.”

Although Manaig told them the notations were part of an economics class project about a fictional country’s manufacturing capabilities, investigators responded that they seemed irrelevant and excessive for such a project.

Hernandez also testified that his eight-year law enforcement career included training on different interrogation techniques and how to interpret a subject’s body language and demeanor.

“(Manaig) was veering away from the questions,” he said. “These ae indications of deceptions.”

The investigators’ contact with Manaig was prompted by school officials’ reports that both students and a parent had expressed concerns about comments Manaig allegedly made on Feb. 15, 2018, following the deadly Parkland, Fla., high school mass shooting of a day prior.

Manaig is alleged to have praised the shooter and expressed a desire to also shoot up his high school, if given the opportunity. The remark prompted a classmate to ask whether she would be targeted as well, to which Manaig reportedly replied yes.

On Tuesday, Michael Harvey, supervisory agent for Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, testified that his follow-up interviews with the two alleged victims convinced him that Manaig’s alleged remarks left them in fear for their lives.

Those follow-up interviews had taken place days and a few weeks after the alleged threats were made, yet both classmates had displayed visible signs of fear and agitation.

“They were afraid about what (Manaig) said and his actions,” Harvey said.

During cross examination by county Deputy Public Defender Darren Bean, Harvey acknowledged that at one point during the classroom conversation involving Manaig and the two alleged victims, Manaig stated he would also try to protect one of them.