Thread by @KGETnews

Ashley Penland is testifying via Zoom at the trial of Trezell and Jacqueline West. She lives in Arizona and previously lived in California City. #WestsTrial

Penland testified she became aware of the search for Orrin and Orson West the evening of Dec. 21, 2020. Cal City police went to her home. #WestsTrial

Penland said she never had contact with the Wests but knew where they lived. A sidebar has been called. #WestsTrial

Trezell and Jacqueline West are charged with crimes including murder in the deaths of Orrin, 4, and Orson, 3, their youngest adopted children. Their bodies have not been found. Authorities say evidence indicates the boys died 3 months before reported missing. #WestsTrial

Sidebar is over and Penland has resumed testifying. She said she did not have a working security system on her house the night the boys were reported missing. #WestsTrial

Prosecutor Eric Smith finished his questioning and defense attorney Timothy Hennessy is cross-examining her. #WestsTrial

Penland said she recently figured out when she bought the wires to set up the camera, and it wasn't until March 2021. #WestsTrial

Hennessy finished and defense lawyer Alekxia Torres Stallings is asking questions. Penland said there were no street lamps on the road at the time and she didn't know any of her neighbors. #WestsTrial

Penland has been excused. #WestsTrial

Court will be in recess for 10-15 minutes. #WestsTrial

Court is back in session. Ramon Hernandez has been called to the stand. #WestsTrial

He lived at a home on Aspen Avenue at the time of the boys' disappearance. #WestsTrial

Hernandez has pointed out his home on a map displayed in court. He had a surveillance camera on his home. #WestsTrial

Hernandez has described what he could see through his camera as it faced northwest. The Wests lived in the house across the street. #WestsTrial

Hernandez testified he didn't see children at the home and the people there would run inside when they say him. #WestsTrial

On the night of the reported disappearance, police came to his home to view the footage his camera captured, Hernandez said. #WestsTrial

The footage showed the Wests' white van leaving and then returning, Hernandez said. #WestsTrial

The footage he saw didn't show children walking in the street. The camera shoots continuously, Hernandez said. #WestsTrial

The officers did not request him to download the footage and did not return to get it, Hernandez said. The footage is stored for a year. He said law enforcement never returned for it. #WestsTrial

Hernandez said he doesn't have any stored footage from that day. Smith ended his questioning and Torres Stallings has begun cross-examination. #WestsTrial

Hernandez said he was not aware that his wife and Jacqueline West talked together on occasion, or that his wife brought them cookies after the children were reported missing. #WestsTrial

He testified he and his wife talked about the Wests being "odd." #WestsTrial

Torres Stallings is asking Hernandez to describe the officers who went to his home. He said one was slim, tall, with hair and no beard. He said the other officer was a little more chunky. Both were white. #WestsTrial

Hernandez testified he believes one of the officers wrote information down. He believes they were in his home between 5:30 to 6 p.m. #WestsTrial

Hernandez said he can't recall if officers asked to see footage taken before the Wests' van left. #WestsTrial

Hernandez testified he doesn't recall seeing Jacqueline West leave the home with her dog and walk down the street, or seeing Trezell West return and stand in the middle of the street. #WestsTrial

On April 19 -- just last week -- an investigator spoke with Hernandez. This is the first time he's talked about the footage. #WestsTrial

No one asked to look at footage from Dec. 19, 2020, and he didn't view it, Hernandez said. #WestsTrial

Asked about his comment that the Wests ran when they saw him, Hernandez said he was outside painting his gate days before the disappearance. #WestsTrial

Torres Stallings is showing an image of footage taken by another camera showing both the West house and Hernandez's house across the street. She asked about a next door neighbor, Hernandez said he talked to the man a few times. #WestsTrial

Asked if he ever saw the man carry an AK-47 at night, Hernandez said no. Prosecutor Eric Smith objected and Judge Charles R. Brehmer sustained the objection and ordered the answer stricken. #WestsTrial

Torres Stallings asked Hernandez about a person seen walking into an enclosed area on his property on Dec. 19, 2020. Hernandez said this is the first time he's seen this footage and he doesn't know who the person is. #WestsTrial

Hernandez said he doesn't recall seeing the Wests go into the van on Dec. 19, 2020. He said he worked from home at the time. #WestsTrial

Asked how many times he saw the Wests outside in December 2020, Hernandez said maybe twice. Maybe once in November, and couldn't recall in October or September. #WestsTrial

He said he can't recall the exact date the Wests moved in. #WestsTrial

Torres Stallings ended cross-examination and now Victor Nasser, one of the attorneys representing Trezell West, is questioning Hernandez. #WestsTrial

Hernandez said he can only see the lot to the west of the Wests' home from his camera, not the right lot. #WestsTrial

The camera captures about half of the garage, the left side if you're facing the house, Hernandez said. #WestsTrial

The officers didn't ask for any dates of surveillance footage to view from September 2020, only the one day in December, Hernandez said. #WestsTrial

Hernandez confirmed he was contacted by a detective on April 19, 2023. Before then, the only time he spoke with officers was the night they came to his house in 2020, he said. #WestsTrial

Nasser ended his questioning. Under redirect, Hernandez said there was some footage the officers reviewed that included daylight hours as well as night footage. #WestsTrial

Hernandez has been excused. #WestsTrial

Court is in recess for 15 minutes. #WestsTrial

Back in session. Amani Thomas has been called to the stand. He's a sophomore in high school. #WestsTrial

Thomas lives in foster care, he's been there for years. He had brothers in the system. #WestsTrial

Thomas said he was 4 years older than the others. #WestsTrial

Thomas testified he was in foster care in the apartment of Trezell and Jacqueline West about 6 years ago. He identified the Wests two other adopted children as ones he lived with. It's the Wests' older adopted children, not Orrin and Orson. #WestsTrial

Amani Thomas said he lived with the Wests for about a year before he moved to his aunt's house. He said he also met the Wests' biological children. #WestsTrial

Thomas said Jacqueline West would scream at the adopted children, hold them down. He said she would grab the children around their neck and wrap her legs around them to stop them from moving. #WestsTrial

Smith has displayed a photo of Thomas demonstrating the hold Jacqueline West would put on the older adopted children. This was before Orrin and Orson were adopted. Thomas said she would get annoyed with their crying. #WestsTrial

Thomas said he would get mad but he couldn't do anything. #WestsTrial

An arm would be placed around a child's neck and she would interlock it with another arm then put her legs around the child and tighten the grip so the child couldn't move. #WestsTrial

The adopted children were very young at the time, Thomas said. He said he was regularly told to stay in his room. #WestsTrial

"I don't even know," Thomas said as to the last time he saw the adopted children he lived with at the West home. #WestsTrial

Smith ended his questioning and Torres Stallings has begun cross-examination. #WestsTrial

At the time he lived with the Wests he had enough food, clothing, Thomas said. #WestsTrial

Torres Stallings is referring to incidents that occurred in the home of Thomas' birth mother. Thomas confirmed the incidents and why they were removed from the home. #WestsTrial

Asking about the discipline Thomas described, Torres Stallings asked if Jacqueline West held the children from behind. Thomas said yes. He said she'd scream at them and do it for an hour. #WestsTrial

Thomas said this happened multiple times. He said he did not tell law enforcement it happened 40 times, which is what the report says. #WestsTrial

Thomas said police wrote things he didn't say and he's "going to have a chat with him later." The last time he saw the Wests' older adopted children was 6 or 7 years ago. #WestsTrial

Thomas said he told his aunt about the discipline the Wests used but didn't tell social workers. #WestsTrial

The first time he spoke with law enforcement about it was April 7, 2021, Thomas said. He said he had previously seen information about the West case on the news. #WestsTrial

Torres Stallings finished her questioning and Nasser has begun questioning him. #WestsTrial

When living with the Wests, he had his own room, bed, belongings, Thomas said. #WestsTrial

On redirect, Smith said he didn't talk to social workers about what happened because he doesn't trust them. He said they lie. #WestsTrial

Correction, Thomas said he didn't talk to social workers. He's being questioned by prosecutor Eric Smith. #WestsTrial

Thomas said the chokeholds used by Jacqueline West would last from 5 minutes to an hour. #WestsTrial

Thomas has been excused. #WestsTrial

One of the Wests' adopted children has been called to the stand. #WestsTrial

The child is 10. He said he knows the difference between a truth and a lie. He's in fourth grade. #WestsTrial

He said he likes to play with Legos. He likes math at school. He lives with his 3 brothers -- the other West children. #WestsTrial

He said he doesn't know the name of his adopted parents. #WestsTrial

Smith is displaying photos of the apartment on Casa Loma in Bakersfield and the house in California City where the 10-year-old used to live. #WestsTrial

The child said he recognizes the home and the Wests' van. He identified photos of Trezell of Jacqueline West. #WestsTrial

He said he thinks Orrin and Orson lived with him in the apartment in Bakersfield. He doesn't remember when they came to live there. #WestsTrial

He said both Orrin and Orson were nice. They played together, with little toy blocks. #WestsTrial

The child said he was home-schooled in the apartment. #WestsTrial

The 10-year-old said they moved from the apartment to the desert. #WestsTrial

He said he was also home-schooled in the house in Cal City. #WestsTrial

The child said he remembers going to the house and they were cleaning the house. He said he thinks he helped carry boxes in. #WestsTrial

The child said he would play tag in the backyard or play with the dogs. #WestsTrial

The boy said Orrin and Orson were among the children living with them in the house. #WestsTrial

He said he doesn't remember how long Orrin and Orson lived there. #WestsTrial

The child appears unsure of some of his answers. When he first entered the courtroom Jacqueline West had a small smile on her face. #WestsTrial

Court is in recess until 1:30 p.m. #WestsTrial