Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  00:00

At one point, early in our reporting, producer Natalie Chudnovsky, and I visit Mr. Gomez to learn more about the death of his son, Oscar Gomez. We don't record, but we debrief in the car after, and one name in particular sounds like a lead.

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  00:17

What would your- What's your takeaway? Wha- what do you remember most?

Natalie Chudnovsky  00:20

Um, I mean, one of the things that I definitely want to look into is this woman, Lisa. So, they mentioned that right after Oscar died, this girl, probably a student from UCSB, met them at one of the memorials for Oscar. And she came up to Oscar Sr. and said, I never knew your son, but I want to help you.

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  00:47

I totally had the same questions about what's her motivation. Like all of a sudden, she shows up and she wants to- she never knew Oscar, but she wants to be part of the family. Right?

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  01:00

Mr. Gomez says Lisa spent months helping him with the investigation. And he's still not really sure why. He seems suspicious. He says we could find her name if we looked through a book about 1990s Chicano student activism. He thinks she's in it. We order a copy, and there on the cover is a photograph of student hunger strikers taken by Lisa. [music in] The photo credit is our first bit of information about her. Her full name is Lisa Valencia Sherratt. We reach out to the book's author, and he gives us her cell number. [texting sounds] To my surprise, she texts back, and she seems excited to talk to us and get involved. She writes, I have no doubt that if Oscar Gomez was alive, our whole state would be in a better condition. And then Lisa messages us that she's found a briefcase from almost 30 years ago, full of files that could help us with our investigation.

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  02:14

I'm Adolfo Guzman-Lopez. And this is Imperfect Paradise: The Forgotten Revolutionary. [music out]

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  02:42

[sounds of briefcase being opened] Wow, look at this. All right. It's a brown like Samsonite? [NC: Yeah, it is a Samsonite.] They don't make them like this anymore.

Natalie Chudnovsky  02:49

I know. I'm embarrassed to say it took me a minute to figure out how to open it.

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  02:52

Oh, wow. Look at that.

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  02:56

Lisa says she has too much going on now to meet for an in-person interview just yet. But in the meantime, she sent us this briefcase that looks like it belongs in a Mad Men episode. And inside is her research from when she was helping Mr. Gomez investigate his son's death.

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  03:12

Look at that. So we got some uh, photocopied newspaper articles. Those are pictures of uh, Oscar. Of Oscar, right? [NC: Mmm hmm.]

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  03:22

There are dozens of manila envelopes, drawings of Oscar's injuries, newspaper articles about Oscar's death, and copies of the autopsy and coroner's report, which we've already seen. There's legal research, brochures from Oscar's memorial, and emails to University of California Santa Barbara officials about bluff safety. There are also personal notes and homework assignments. It's like a time capsule of a college student's obsession. And there's one page in particular that catches our attention. A line sheet of notebook paper with familiar slanted handwriting.

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  04:00

What's this? It says as, in handwritten pen, Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department, who handled the case- Sheriff Thomas. At the bottom of the page, it says students in the apartment. Oh, we got some names.

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  04:13

I'm guessing that students in the apartment means the people at the party Oscar attended the night he died.

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  04:21

Noel Huerta. We knew that. [NC: Mmm hmm.] Anthony Olguin and Enrique Mendoza, Javier Frijeiro, Jose Gonzalez, David Velasco, Leon Mendoza. So that's seven people, plus Oscar. That's eight. That's way more than we've ever heard of before. [NC: Mmm hmm.] Wow. Okay. Well, this certainly uh, makes things a little more complex.

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  04:47

[music in] Six new names that we haven't heard of before. We search online for the names, make calls to numbers that turn out to be disconnected. Send Facebook friend requests and write many letters to many different addresses. We show the note to Mr. Gomez, and he confirms that yes, this is his handwriting. He doesn't remember much about the circumstances of writing the note or where he got the information. I'm realizing that none of the records we've gotten from the Santa Barbara Sheriff's Office give details about the apartment where Oscar spent his last night and do not include interviews with potential suspects. No six names. The Sheriff's office must have more on Oscar's case than what they've shared with me. After the break, I'll find out just how much. [music out]

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  05:52

We want to see what investigative documents the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office has on Oscar's death. So, I pick up Natalie and we set out to drive from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara.

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  06:04

[sounds of getting into car] So what's on your mind?

Natalie Chudnovsky  06:09

Um, I'm looking at this little note that you're the best dad ever. [laughs] And it's very cute.

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  06:17

Well, that's just one opinion. [laughter]

Natalie Chudnovsky  06:20

That's true. Where's the other side?

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  06:23

All right let's get on the road.

Natalie Chudnovsky  06:27

All right, so it's gonna be an hour, forty-nine. 89 miles away. [navigation: Head west on York Boulevard toward Nolan Street.] [ambient road sounds]

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  06:39

After two hours and a few wrong turns, we make it to the Santa Barbara Sheriff's Office. We're here to talk with our public information officer, Raquel Zick.

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  06:47

Hi Raquel? I'm Adolfo. And Natalie my producer. [RZ: Hi, it’s nice to meet you.] [duck under]

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  06:55

Raquel Zick looks just like her staff photo, long hair with highlights, blazer and a perfectly white smile. She takes us to an empty bench outside, where the deputies usually eat their lunch.

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  07:07

And we got the, the coroner's report. Um, so one of the main things we want to know is what are all the records that the Sheriff's has beyond this?

Raquel Zick  07:19

Um, so there's two reports. It's the coroner's... [duck under]

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  07:26

Raquel tells me about the coroner's report and the autopsy, 15 pages total, which the department already gave us through our public records request. But what we want to know are the details of the investigation into how Oscar Gomez died. Details that are in the Major Crimes investigation.

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  07:44

What's all in that major crimes investigation?

Raquel Zick  07:50

So that would be all of the follow up investigation pertaining to the, whether or not it was suspicious circumstances that led to the death.

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  08:00

Um, does that include notes that the investigators took of the people they interviewed?

Raquel Zick  08:11

It's narrative, not notes.

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  08:13

It's narrative. Okay. Do you know about how long that is?

Raquel Zick  08:17

The whole file is over 150 pages. [AGL: Okay.]

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  08:22

[music in] 150 pages? That's practically a whole novel! Up until now, I've been trying to piece together details about Oscar's death with just the autopsy and coroner's report.

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  08:23

And all that's public record, right, that I can request?

Raquel Zick  08:37

Well see, here's the problem. [AGL: Yeah.] So, and let me answer your question with a question. [AGL: Okay.] What is the, what are you guys looking into this for?

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  08:46

So we feel it's in, in the public interest because he was, he was a prominent person. He had an important role in the Chicano Civil Rights Movement of the early 90s. And the circumstances are, of his death, are still an open wound for the historians, for the family, for the friends. So um, we're trying to add any new, any new information.

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  09:14

According to California law, the Sheriff's office does not have to share any investigative records with us- even on a closed case. The law doesn't say agencies cannot share that information. It gives them the choice. So I'm trying to convince Raquel that the public good for releasing the information outweighs any harm.

Raquel Zick  09:36

Are you coming across people who have, who are telling you that they have information that they haven't shared with us?

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  09:43

Um, no, we have not come across that yet.

Raquel Zick  09:45

So here's the thing is that, you know, when we have a record for a case like this, um, it is currently closed out. That case can be reopened if we have further leads that we feel we need to follow up on. So that's where we come into this, like delicate balancing [AGL: Oh, I see. I see.] act with regards to, with, with my work with you [AGL: Right, right.] is that I want to know if there's something that we need to look into, or if you're coming across information that people are telling you that they didn't share with us originally, we would want to know that, we would want to be able to follow up on that. [AGL: Okay.]

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  10:22

And then Raquel adds another complication.

Raquel Zick  10:25

If we reopened it, and we turn it to an eh, an active investigation, then you're not allowed to have access [NC: Oh.] to it. And so that's where we need to strike this balance [AGL: Yeah. Yeah.] between um, are, you know, is the case historic, and we're done with it? Or is there things that you're coming up with, that people are telling you that we want to look into?

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  10:45

It's taking me some effort to understand what Raquel is saying here. She's asking us to share any information that we get with her. But she's also warning us that if our information sheds new light on the case, then the Sheriff's department will reopen the case. And they won't share any information with us. Raquel keeps repeating, it's a delicate balance.

Raquel Zick  11:10

We understand that people are going to be a little more apt to talking to you. And because you, you definitely come at this from a different angle than we would. So we kind of want to wait and see what comes of your interviews, because what you come up with and the people, you know, what people will be willing to share with you could be helpful for us in reopening this investigation, which means that we may not be able to release those 150 pages until you can get through some some of your interviews and we can kind of have more of a discussion.

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  11:40

[music in] This line of reasoning, that in order for the Sheriff's office to consider helping us, we first need to share our findings with them. It reminds me of something Oscar's dad, Mr. Gomez said.

Oscar Gomez, Sr.  11:56

They told me at the time that, that, that they were closing the case. And and and that if I found evidence, to show it to them, and they will reopen it. I said, that doesn't make sense to me. I'm not a sh- I'm not a sheriff. I'm not an investigator. You do, that's your job to do. How am I gonna do that?

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  12:20

Mr. Gomez questions whether investigators did their due diligence, finding out how his son died. I bring that up to Raquel.

Raquel Zick  12:28

I can, what I can tell you is there was, obviously, if there's 150 pages of documentation, there was extensive follow up done on this case. Um, and there was a lot of people interviewed.

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  12:42

Now you're shedding light on- because then we saw that the investigation stopped 12 days later.

Raquel Zick  12:50

Yes, pretty close.

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  12:54

That was, that's a lot of work for 12 days.

Raquel Zick  12:56

It is. Yeah. [AGL: D- And, and...] It's funny because like hearing you say this, like, and, and having a peek into what our our detectives do um, on a day-to-day basis- when we have a a major crime, it's all hands on deck.

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  13:12

It, it's so important then to, to, to see the documents, to, to, to show that, because there's a perception out there that the department was racist. And then there was that lawsuit filed by the father, by Oscar Gomez, Senior. [RZ: Mmm hmm.] He's still angry. He still believes that there was collusion between UC Santa Barbara, the Sheriff's department and the county to suppress the investigation of this case [RZ: Okay.] because he feels it was a murder.

Raquel Zick  13:37

Okay. [pause] [breath] I mean, I'm, I'm, I'm sorry to hear that he, that that's the um, that that's the uh, that there was at all like any sort of accusation towards racism because I'm not- yeah.

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  14:02

So any portrayal we can do, you know, after looking at these documents- the, the extent- what you described about all hands on deck, [RZ: Yeah.] and how thorough it was... [RZ: Uh huh.]

Raquel Zick  14:13

[ambient street sounds] You know, if if- we can't, we can't show all of our cards if you're asking us to, [AGL: Sure, sure.] you know, enter back into the game, [AGL: Sure.] so...

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  14:13

Well, we're not asking you to do that. [laughs]

Raquel Zick  14:14

No, not you. No, but you know, we would want to, right? [AGL: Yeah.] [pause] [AGL: Oh, yeah.] [NC: Thank you so much.] Yeah, you're welcome. I'm interested to hear what you guys come up with. [sounds of walking and getting into car] [music in]

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  14:52

Even though the law is on Raquel's side, I have a problem with what she's suggesting. This is not a card game. Whether or not we get access to law enforcement records and the information in them shouldn't have to hinge on whether we share our reporting with the Santa Barbara Sheriff's Office. The California Public Records Act, the same law Raquel is invoking to withhold records, says the agency can't even ask what the purpose of our request is, much less require we advance the investigation as a trade for records. And I'm struck that nearly 30 years after Oscar's death, after so many chances to handle this investigation differently, the Santa Barbara Sheriff's Office is still so opaque about how they've handled this case. Even though state law doesn't give me a right to the investigative records, I feel the agency should choose to share them with me. And I do actually have the right to some of the information in them. So I carefully draft a follow up public records request and send it to the Sheriff's office. Raquel said she thinks the office shared the report with Oscar's dad, Mr. Gomez, back in 1994. He says that's possible, but he doesn't know where it could be. But if the office shared it with him once, I think they'll do it again. I asked Mr. Gomez to put in a request. He says he needs to think about it. [music out] I'm not totally sure why he's hesitating, but I want to give him the space he needs to make his decision. In the meantime, we get the text we've been waiting months for. Lisa is ready to meet with us.

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  16:34

Hi, how are you? Good to meet you. I'm Adolfo Guzman-Lopez. Yeah, thanks a lot for making the time. [NC: Hey, I'm Natalie.] [fade out]

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  16:44

Lisa's about my height, short. She has black hair and freckles. She invites us into her studio apartment in downtown Santa Barbara. Inside, she's set up an altar on her dressing table with incense and a photo of Oscar. There's not much room, so she sits on her bed, and we pull up chairs around her. I have so many questions about what it was like helping the Gomez family investigate Oscar's death, about why Lisa became so invested in finding out what happened to Oscar Gomez, and about why it all came to a stop.

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  17:20

Um, when did you first hear the name, Oscar Gomez?

Lisa Valencia Sherratt  17:24

When Oscar had come to campus, I had to take pictures that day of that, that rally um, that he was invited to.

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  17:34

Lisa had to take pictures because as a college student, she was the historian for El Congreso, UCSB's version of MEChA. MEChA being the student organization that came out of the Chicano movement in the 1960s.

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  17:35

Wait a second, you were at November 16th, '94?

Lisa Valencia Sherratt  17:51

Yeah. Yes. I was aware that that Oscar was um, invited to cover it. Yeah, this guy, he has a radio show and he's a journalist. And he goes everywhere. He's invited everywhere. Like he's going to San Diego next, or you know, he's all over the place, and he's coming here.

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  18:14

By 1994, Oscar had built up a solid reputation in Chicano activist circles.

Oscar Gomez  18:20

[from his radio show] For those of you who haven't heard about it yet with the, there was a big demonstration going down in the steps of the Capitol.

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  18:25

He was at protests all over California, putting the most important voices in the movement on air.

Oscar Gomez  18:32

Vamos a tocar esta entrevista, you know, a little interview here from Ricardo Chavez out there, also known as El Kool Aid.

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  18:40

Here he is interviewing a rapper named El Kool Aid.

Oscar Gomez  18:44

First of all, what was the issue, especially affecting the raza in those areas, man?

El Kool Aid  18:49

Right now I feel what's mainly affecting la raza is you know, that slavery is still definitely effect. And if you, you know, you could see this through driving through the San Joaquin Valley, through the Sacramento Valley, through the Salinas Valley, you can see this- that people aren't getting paid Jack nothing. And they're doing the hardest work that there is, yet you know, the whole time they've been sprayed with chemicals and all this stuff, people are working in... [fade out]

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  19:10

So, the day of the Santa Barbara rally, Oscar was big enough that Lisa knew of him even though she had not actually met him.

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  19:18

How did that day begin for you?

Lisa Valencia Sherratt  19:21

It was on the grass by, by El Centro, outside. Elders from the community were there [music in] and it was really sunny day. Danzantes and drums, and different speakers.

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  19:41

This was the "Take Back Chicano Studies" rally at UCSB. The rally Oscar attended the day he died. It was organized by students who felt the university was trying to dismantle the Chicano Studies Department by undermining Chicano faculty. And all of this was about a week after California voters passed Prop 187, a measure that took away health care and social services from undocumented immigrants. The days after, when El Congreso students found out that Oscar died there, Lisa remembers [music out] a sense of guilt.

Lisa Valencia Sherratt  20:20

We, you know, collectively invited this student, this awesome guy, you know, to come and then, then he died? That's not why you invite someone who, you know, I mean, he's compared to Cesar Chavez, like from my generation. He was that person who was- he was going to do really big things.

Natalie Chudnovsky  20:41

What was the day that you met Oscar's dad?

Lisa Valencia Sherratt  20:43

Uh, that was the, at the one-year vigil.

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  20:47

This was an event at UCSB that Lisa helped organize, called El Dia del Bandido, a nod to Oscar's radio name, El Bandido. There was a poetry reading, a press conference, and a march from campus to the beach where Oscar was found dead.

Lisa Valencia Sherratt  21:03

That happened to be like the foggiest night ever in California, I think. People were so dedicated, you know, from Sacramento, you know, from Davis, from San Diego, from LA, all over the place, students and community members and family and friends. And I just remember seeing all these people from so far away, like, wow, this guy was really loved, you know, and it was still, it was, like, just yesterday, you know, for them, like the loss. And so then after there um, then every, we went back to El Centro. His dad and some others, you know, had set up, um, on one side, like all these red t- shirts, and some signs, and it was all like, Justicia para Oscar, everywhere over there. And then so his dad, you know is um, like, no matter what, like, no matter what it takes, we're gonna do it to, you know, get justice.

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  21:04

After the vigil, Lisa walked up to Mr. Gomez and introduced herself.

Lisa Valencia Sherratt  21:23

I told him, um, yeah, I want to, I want to help you. Um, and he said great, and, you know, gave me his number. Oscar Sr. and I, [music in] we started, you know, having phone conversations. We're like partners in crime, like partners in solving a crime, you know? So we would go on these, like, trips because we would travel to um, Sacramento, you know, and um, MEChA conference statewide. The MEChA national in San Antonio. And so we would just talk like, start almost investigating, making a strategy of like, okay, we have to get more people to know about this. And it was kind of just doing anything, everything we could to raise awareness about it, to create, in order to gain support, to have a case.

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  23:03

After the break, Mr. Gomez and Lisa make their case to the Santa Barbara County Superior Court. [music out] [break]

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  23:21

Halfway through the interview, Lisa Valencia Sherratt says she's found two more boxes of materials from that time she and Mr. Gomez were investigating Oscar's death. I turn around and see them.

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  23:33

[sounds of LVS moving boxes] [LVS: Okay.] What are these?

Lisa Valencia Sherratt  23:38

So this is the box, um, called Oscar. Um, and actually inside of here's the beginning of a draft of a letter to an attorney here in town, like would actually, would give him materials so that he could consider taking the case. Um...

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  23:55

In 1995, Mr. Gomez filed a lawsuit against Santa Barbara County, the County Sheriff, the County Coroner and the Regents of the University of California on behalf of himself, his wife and three remaining children. Lisa says she remembers writing to different lawyers asking them to represent the Gomez's. Nobody would take the case.

Lisa Valencia Sherratt  24:17

Anybody who we talked to, who we, who we called, wrote to, like, no, nobody. Like there's no way that I'm gonna put my reputation on the line to fight this losing battle because you're never gonna prove that, that a county and a sheriff's department discriminated against someone by not doing a thorough investigation. So it was just like, no one would say that, but that's what, you know, politely, they're just like no, not gonna. Can't do it.

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  24:45

We get a copy of the lawsuit at the Santa Barbara courthouse. It's over 350 pages. But here are the basics. About a year after Oscar's death, the Gomez's sued the Santa Barbara Sheriff's Office and the three other defendants for seven and a half million dollars. Mr. Gomez had told us about this.

Oscar Gomez, Sr.  25:04

[ambient outdoor sounds] The way they did everything was totally not proper. I was so frustrated that they wanted to close the case that I went to the Sheriff's Department. We were protesting in front of the Sheriff's Department. We were trying to get them not to and to to investigate further, you know, to spend more time on, on, on the case, you know, but they, they were totally against it. The only resource I had was to sue them.

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  25:34

[music in] The family sued on six causes of action based on allegations that the Regents, County, and its agencies violated the family's civil rights by failing to do a proper investigation. They alleged that the university and other defendants encouraged the Santa Barbara Coroner/Sheriff's office to reclassify Oscar's death from a homicide to an accident. The lawsuit also mentions that Mr. Gomez felt he was treated in a racist manner by the Santa Barbara Sheriff's Office, and it lays out a story I hadn't heard before about how when Mr. Gomez arrived at the coroner's building, to see his son's body, he says he was dismissed, as if he had no right to be there. He alleged in the complaint that the deputy coroner told him, "What do you think this place is, a mortuary?" Mr. Gomez said he was shocked [music out] and horrified.

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  26:29

Is this scenario possible that the Sheriff's department messes that communication up, and that just creates this animosity with the family?

Lisa Valencia Sherratt  26:39

I mean that- it would have turned out differently if they would have, if they would have been treated- yeah, with respect, as like a family, as parents.

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  26:52

Both Lisa and Mr. Gomez told us they didn't expect to be awarded money, but they'd hoped that the lawsuit would turn up new information. In the meantime, they carried out their own investigation to find out what [suspenseful music] happened to Oscar the night he died. What Lisa learned from talking to UCSB students is similar to what we already know. [ambient party sounds] There was a party, an argument. In one version Lisa heard, it was about a TV show that was playing. In another version it was about a girl. Then Oscar left. Lisa never heard anything about members of the Big Hazard gang being involved, but she does believe there was foul play, that something happened when Oscar left that party.

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  27:36

In your suitcase, [music out] you had a list of six names, and we've been trying to track some of these people down. Describe, what do you remember that, about that list? Where'd you get it?

Lisa Valencia Sherratt  27:50

Yeah, those names had been given to, to Oscar Sr. I never, never talked to them...

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  27:57

If I told you the names, would you recognize?

Lisa Valencia Sherratt  27:59

Yeah.

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  28:00

David Velasco? [LVS: No.] Enrique Mendoza? [LVS: I don't think so?] Leon Mendoza? [LVS: No.] Jose Gonzales?

Lisa Valencia Sherratt  28:11

I don't think so.

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  28:13

Uh, Frijeiro. What was Frijeiro's first name? [NC: Javier?] Javier Frijeiro? [LVS: No.]

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  28:21

I have to admit, I'm disappointed that Lisa doesn't have any information about the six names. But I guess it's like how the lawsuit effort turned out. After all of their knocking on attorney's doors, research, and investigating, Lisa and Mr. Gomez didn't learn anything significant. The defendants- the County, the Sheriff's Office, the Coroner and the University, asked the judge to throw out the Gomez family's lawsuit, saying there was no evidence to back up their allegations. The lawsuit never made it to trial. It was dismissed. The final ruling was in favor of the Sheriff, County and University. Still, Lisa remembers her time with Mr. Gomez with a lot of warmth.

Lisa Valencia Sherratt  29:04

It was a good partnership because um, I knew, um, that Oscar's mom couldn't talk about it. They had that agreement, you know, like for Oscar, the dad, that was his way of of dealing. And they respected each other so much, that she let him, you know, go do what you need to do. And he respected her that he would be doing all these things, you know, and traveling and stuff and not, not tell, you know, and not bring that to her because she just couldn't, couldn't handle that part of his death, you know. Um, and so, I could go with him, you know, and I could talk with him about it. Like we laughed a lot. And so I think it was also, was so therapeutic. Like a pressure valve because we were doing, we were fighting for what we needed to fight for.

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  29:04

Around 1998, Lisa says her partnership with Mr. Gomez fizzled. She was no longer an undergraduate student, and it felt like they'd exhausted all their options. It's sensitive, but I feel like I have to tell her that Mr. Gomez's memories of their partnership are different from hers, that he's grown suspicious of her.

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  30:26

On one occasion, when we sat down with the Gomez family in their front yard, um, your name came up, and they were wondering about your motivations. [LVS: Mmm hmm.] And they spoke, like almost of being suspicious [LVS: Mmm.] of your motivations and why you kind of came in, and then out. Can you react to that?

Lisa Valencia Sherratt  30:48

I could see that from their point of view. Like, yeah, who is this person, came out of nowhere, you know, didn't know us, was so involved, you know, doing all this stuff. And then being so close, you know, and then didn't like, keep in touch through the years.

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  31:05

I finally ask Lisa why she felt drawn to Mr. Gomez when she was a college student. And well, her reasons are different than what I expected.

Lisa Valencia Sherratt  31:14

I had just gotten hired to be kind of like a part time nanny. I was taking care of a baby who was uh, having a really severe medical problem and the baby who I was taking care of, I became really close to, and um, she actually um, died in February of that year of '95.

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  31:36

With the baby, it was a disease? Is that it? An ailment?

Lisa Valencia Sherratt  31:42

It was a seizure disorder that they never really figured out.

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  31:48

But ultimately, through the science, they could understand it, I suppose.

Lisa Valencia Sherratt  31:51

Yeah, they could just tell by the rate and progression of her condition that that's how she was gonna die. And I was really grieving, you know, and it's not usual. 20-year-old grieving a baby, like, babies aren't supposed to die. I was having a really hard time and I didn't connect well as much with other people, especially people who were just partying or whatever. I just, it was really hard to be on campus and around people in their normal life and stuff.

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  31:52

[music in] It was around that time that Lisa first met Mr. Gomez at his son's vigil. She says she doesn't remember if she ever told Mr. Gomez about her reasons for approaching him, why she spent years trying to help him with his case. But it sounds like being proactive and feeling needed was helpful to Lisa, as she was mourning the loss of the baby.

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  32:43

Did helping Mr. Gomez and the family help you cope with the infant stuff?

Lisa Valencia Sherratt  32:47

Uh, yeah. Yes, for sure. For sure. Because I had no recourse with the baby's, you know, condition and everything. Like I can't fight doctors or protest anything. Um, so I think it was, um, it was also- with everything of Oscar's life and, and then the injustice of what happened to him. Plus, I had an immense uh, suffering and grieving going on myself, you know, and so [music in] yeah, I connected with that for sure.

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  33:20

I feel like I have a better understanding not just of Lisa, but of Mr. Gomez, about how the years and the grief and the hurt have made him suspicious of those around him, even those who tried to help him- like Lisa. He's already spent so much time trying to get answers with no results. Maybe that's why he's reluctant to request the investigative report from the Santa Barbara Sheriff's Office. For Lisa, her time with Mr. Gomez was healing. She said she was going to get in touch with him, that she's excited to reconnect. To follow up on the allegations in the Gomez family's lawsuit, we request any letters and emails about Oscar's death between Santa Barbara County, the Sheriff's Office and UC Santa Barbara. They reply that they don't have any documents to release. And there's one more thing. I learned that there's another person who felt blamed for Oscar's death.

Speaker  34:19

I wasn't treated very fairly after his death, because there was different camps and those camps had theories of how Oscar died.

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  34:31

That's next episode.

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez  34:43

Imperfect Paradise: The Forgotten Revolutionary is written, reported and hosted by me, Adolfo Guzman-Lopez. The show is a production of LAist Studios. Antonia Cereijido and Leo G are the executive producers for LAist Studios. Natalie Chudnovsky is the lead producer, and our associate producers are James Chow and Francisco Aviles-Pino. Editing by Audrey Quinn. Fact checking by Audrey Regan. Mixing by our engineer, E. Scott Kelly. Special thanks for engineering as well to Shawn Campbell. Our music supervisor is Doris Anahi Muñoz. The music is written, performed and recorded by Joseph Quiñones at Second Hand Sounds in Rialto, California. Our website LAist.com is designed by Andy Cheatwood, and the digital and marketing teams at LAist Studios. The marketing team of LAist Studios created our branding. Thanks to the team at LAist Studios, including Taylor Coffman, Sabir Brara, Kristen Hayford, Kristen Muller, Andy Orozco, Michael Cosentino, Emily Guerin and Leo G. Imperfect Paradise: The Forgotten Revolutionary is a production of LAist Studios. Support for this podcast is made possible by Gordon and Dona Crawford, who believe that quality journalism makes Los Angeles a better place to live. This program is made possible in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people. [music out]