Gotcha - inmate caught yawning in mug shot

Betsy Lehndorff, Rocky Mountain News

Published November 10, 2007 at midnight

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A Denver jail inmate's mug shot had people scratching their heads Friday, wondering what he was doing.

When Joseph B. Trujillo was booked, he looked angry - as if he was shouting something when the camera shutter snapped. The 44-year-old Denver man is accused of beating his mother-in-law's Chihuahua to death with a shovel.

Study the image a while longer, though, and you might find yourself stifling a yawn - something Trujillo was unable to do at 10 p.m. Sunday night when the image was taken."Normally we tell them to be stiff," sheriff's spokesman Capt. Frank Gale said.

If a picture doesn't look right, jail staffers are required to take it again, Gale said.

But a new person was working that night.

"They didn't do their job," Gale said.

According to an interview with CBS 4 News, Trujillo said he asked to have his mug shot redone but was turned down.

Trujillo also told CBS 4 News that he is innocent of the charge, and the victim of a setup by his mother-in-law.

According to public records, Trujillo has a criminal record in Colorado and Kansas and served four years in prison for theft.

He faces up to 18 months behind bars if convicted of the new charge.

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