PTSD on Trial:Bounty Hunter blames PTSD

Bounty hunter says stress disorder, memory loss hinder testimony in 2004 shootings on Soboba reservation
10:00 PM PDT on Thursday, August 21, 2008

By TAMMY J. McCOY
The Press-Enterprise

A bounty hunter Thursday told defense lawyers he has post-traumatic stress disorder and memory problems when questioned about discrepancies in his testimony and statements to police in 2004 after more than 20 shots were fired on the Soboba Indian Reservation.

Matthew Hernandez said he suffers from the disorder as a result of his wartime service in the Army. He said he has problems with short-term memory when asked what he saw and heard before gunfire erupted at a mobile home Aug. 25, 2004.

Hernandez is one of the fugitive-recovery agents, commonly called bounty hunters, who went to arrest defendant Dino A. Moreno after the Coachella resident failed to show up for court in a felony evading case.

Moreno, 42, and his 29-year-old girlfriend, Shaundeen Theresa Boniface, are on trial at the Southwest Justice Center. Both are convicted felons who face life in prison if convicted of charges that include attempted murder and assault with a semiautomatic weapon.

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Felons shot 21 times at bounty hunters in 2004 incident on Soboba reservation, jurors told
By TAMMY J. McCOY
The Press-Enterprise
Two convicted felons fired 21 shots at four bounty hunters who went to a mobile home on the Soboba Indian Reservation in 2004 to arrest a man already charged with evading arrest, a prosecutor told jurors Monday.
The lead bounty hunter kicked down the home's door Aug. 25, 2004, in an attempt to arrest Dino Allen Moreno, now 42, unaware that there was a small arsenal inside the home.
The bounty hunters took cover when Moreno and his girlfriend opened fire with semiautomatic weapons and Moreno was able to get away, prosecutor Chris Bouffard told jurors during opening statements in the trial of Moreno and Shaundeen Theresa Boniface.
"He was more than prepared ... Mr. Moreno was telling people he wasn't going back to jail this time around," Bouffard said.
Moreno had failed to show up for court in connection with a 2003 case for evading arrest, according to Riverside County court records.
Boniface, 29, was arrested at the mobile home while Moreno, a Coachella resident, was arrested two months later. Both are on trial at the Southwest Justice Center, facing life in prison if convicted of charges including attempted murder and assault with a semiautomatic weapon, Bouffard said outside of court.
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