Alfred Lovato's defense on Tuesday asked all four witnesses if they had any evidence or information that shows Lovato encouraged Carlos Fierro to drink, drive and flee the scene of a crash.

Each witness answered no.

In the case against Lovato, a former state police officer and member of former Gov. Bill Richardson's security detail, one of the key factors the Attorney General's Office will have to prove is whether Lovato aided and abetted Fierro, a former Santa Fe lawyer, who was driving drunk when he hit and killed William Tenorio, 46.

Lovato, 40, is charged with vehicular homicide through an "accomplice liability" theory presented by the state before state District Judge Michael Vigil.

Lovato's trial began with both the prosecution and the defense stating their arguments in relation to Lovato's charges for vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of an accident. Two Santa Fe police officers, one former officer and a crash-scene investigator were called to the stand to testify about the accident scene.

Sam Bregman, Lovato's defense attorney, and Assistant Attorney General Donna Bevacqua-Young, the office's special DWI prosecutor, outlined to the jury what will be important in Lovato's conviction.

The prosecution is arguing that Lovato was not just a passenger, but played an active part in allowing Fierro to drive drunk.

"He wasn't just an innocent bystander," Bevacqua-Young said to the jury. "He called Fierro and invited him out to drink. They were both out drinking and not caring about the community at large."

She pointed out quickly to the jury that the state's argument would show Lovato called Fierro that evening and invited him out to drink and that he even went to Fierro's house to plan their evening.

Bregman was clear in his statement to the jury, defending his client's role in the Nov. 26, 2008, crash.

"Mr. Lovato was a passenger in a car, and they've charged him with murder," Bregman told the jury. "Mr. Lovato did not drink and drive. Mr. Lovato was asleep, or unconscious, or whatever you want to call it during the accident."

The day was mostly spent rehashing the Fierro case from 2009 while several members of the Tenorio family watched from the gallery.

Lovato and Fierro were at the Rio Chama Steakhouse, 414 Old Santa Fe Trail, that evening in 2008. They spent four hours eating and drinking -- racking up a bill of more than $100 on drinks, Bevacqua-Young told the jury. They then went to what was WIlLee's Blues Club, at the corner of Guadalupe Street and Montezuma Avenue.

Fierro drove the entire time.

The two then went to Allsup's, 305 N. Guadalupe St., where they bought Munchies for a snack. They then decided to go back to WilLie's Blues Club after Fierro reportedly forgot his credit card.

Tenorio was outside of the bar chatting with friends and family when he began to cross the street. Bevacqua-Young told the jury that Tenorio was walking across the street when he turned back toward WilLie's for something. Bregman argued, despite conflicting testimony, that Tenorio was walking backward in the street.

Tenorio was about three feet from the curb when Fierro's black BMW barreled through him without slowing down. The vehicle's lights were not on.

Tenorio was hit in his right leg as the car drove on Guadalupe Street, and his right shoulder plunged through the passenger's side of the windshield.

"He was virtually in the lap of Mr. Lovato," Bevacqua-Young said.

Bregman argued that Lovato was not conscious at the time because of the amount of alcohol he had consumed.

"Mr. Fierro looked over to Lovato, whose eyes and head were down and yelled, 'Alfred! Alfred!' " Bregman narrated to the jury.

Both Fierro and Lovato are expected to testify in court next week. Fierro is serving a seven-year prison sentence in the Central New Mexico Correctional Facility in Los Lunas for vehicular homicide.

Detective Ben Valdez pulled over Fierro and Lovato on Marcy Street just moments after the accident at about 1:54 a.m.

According to Valdez's testimony and a recorded conversation with Lovato in the back of his squad car, Lovato made it clear through police codes that he was himself an officer.

"A good friend of mine, we were hanging out," Lovato told Valdez in the recording. "I had nowhere else to go."

Contact Nico Roesler at 986-3089 or nroesler@sfnewmexican.com.