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Woman convicted of shoe killing had other arrests

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JUAN A. LOZANO, Associated Press

HOUSTON (AP) — 

Jurors set to decide the sentence for a Houston woman convicted of stabbing her boyfriend to death with the 5½-inch stiletto heel of her shoe heard Wednesday about her criminal history and violent behavior, including arrests for drunk driving and testimony she assaulted a former friend with a candle stick.

Ana Trujillo was convicted on Tuesday of striking 59-year-old Alf Stefan Andersson at least 25 times in the face with her shoe during an argument in June at his Houston condominium. Trujillo's attorneys have contended the 45-year-old woman was defending herself from an attack by Andersson, who was a University of Houston professor and researcher.

Trujillo, 45, faces up to life in prison.

During the trial's punishment phase Wednesday, several police officers told jurors Trujillo was arrested twice for drunk driving, in 2008 and 2010. In one of the incidents she was found driving the wrong way on a Houston freeway. One of the DWI charges was later dropped while she was convicted of the other.

Brian Goodney, a former friend of Trujillo, told jurors that in 2009, he was with Trujillo in his apartment after a dinner party when from "out of nowhere" she hit him on the back of the head with a candle stick.

"I fell on the floor. I was completely knocked out," Goodney said, adding that after he woke up, he found Trujillo sitting on the floor staring at him. Goodney said Trujillo then got up and left his apartment. Goodney said he didn't press charges.

Mauricio Arana, a restaurant worker, told jurors that in 2012, Trujillo slapped him twice after he had picked up a bracelet she had dropped on the floor.

Many of the more than 10 prosecution witnesses who testified Wednesday painted a picture of Trujillo as a woman who could be charming when sober but was verbally and physically abusive when she drank. During the trial, now in its second week, prosecutors have portrayed Trujillo, a native of Mexico, as a self-absorbed person who was out of control on the night of the slaying.

Earlier in the trial, witnesses testified Trujillo had been drinking on the night of Andersson's killing. But authorities testified that Trujillo's blood alcohol level wasn't tested after her arrest.

James Jimenez, a former security guard at a downtown Houston building where Trujillo had a massage business, testified when he escorted her out of the building one night in 2011 when she didn't have permission to be inside, she attacked him, grabbing his hair, pulling him to the ground. She was arrested for public intoxication as a result.

Trujillo's attorney, Jack Carroll, said outside court that Trujillo's family will testify on her behalf and that Trujillo would probably testify. She didn't testify before being convicted.

"My strategy is I'm going to ... humanize Ana to the jury. I think the jury will hopefully understand that Ana is not a monster," he said.

Trujillo's attorney had argued that Andersson became violent toward Trujillo, knocking her to the ground and that she was left with no choice but to use the shoe to defend herself. They told jurors that once Andersson stopped attacking Trujillo, she tried performing CPR on him to save his life.

 
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