Man accused of threatening witness
Aug. 24—An Odessa man was arrested Saturday night after authorities said he tried to intimidate a witness in the sexual assault trial of a convicted sex offender two days before his trial was set to begin.
Joel John Valdez, 26, is accused of raping a child under the age of 17 in October 2019 and having the same child perform a sex act in January 2020.
According to an Odessa Police Department report, the police were called around 8 a.m. Saturday and told that a woman scheduled to testify in Valdez's case had just reported being threatened by one of her regular customers at the convenience store where she works.
The woman told officers the man bought four scratch off lottery tickets and while scratching them, said "If you want to make it back safely to your son, don't talk to those people," the report stated. When she asked him who he was talking about, the man replied, "Just don't go talk to them people if you want to go home."
As soon as the man left, the woman called an investigator with the Ector County District Attorney's Office.
While officers were still at the store, the witness spotted the man who made the threats and pointed him out, according to the report.
Although the man initially gave his name as Oscar Valenzuela, he later provided the name of Oscar Lujan, the report stated.
Video surveillance videos corroborated the woman's account of what happened, according to the report.
Lujan was arrested on suspicion of tampering with a witness, a Class 2 felony punishable by two to 20 years in prison. He was also arrested on the Class B misdemeanor of fail to identify by providing false information. He remains in the Ector County jail on surety bonds totaling $25,500.
Valdez's trial was postponed just minutes before opening statements Monday when prosecutors discovered a key witness has COVID-19. It is now scheduled for Sept. 19.
According to online Ector County District Court records, Valdez has been a registered sex offender since 2009.
Court records indicate that if Valdez is convicted, prosecutors have asked permission to tell jurors that for the last three months, he has repeatedly attempted to tamper with four witnesses by "contacting them repeatedly himself, having his brothers contact them in person and through social media, repeatedly calling them, messaging them, and otherwise trying to communicate with them in an effort to get them not to testify."
Valdez remains in the Ector County jail on a $30,000 bond.
