Woman says she initially lied for accused N. Colo. punter

GREELEY, Colo. -- A woman who dated a Northern Colorado backup punter accused of trying to kill the starter testified Monday she lied to police at his request.

At first, Angela Vogel told police that Mitch Cozad was with her at the time starter Rafael Mendoza was stabbed, but she said she quickly regretted that lie and 15 minutes later told investigators Cozad had left for part of the evening.

Cozad, of Wheatland, Wyo., is on trial on charges of attempted first-degree murder and second-degree assault in the Mendoza stabbing last Sept. 11. Police and prosecutors have alleged Cozad attacked Mendoza in a bid to get the starter's job.

Vogel said Cozad led her to believe a player had been jumped by a group of people, and she didn't learn Mendoza had been stabbed until police interviewed her the next day.

"I didn't know what was going on," she said. "I was lying to the cops."

Mendoza was attacked in the parking lot of his apartment complex in Evans, a small town adjacent to Greeley. He was left with a deep gash in his kicking leg but later returned to the team. He testified he could not see who attacked him.

The trial entered its second week Monday. Prosecutors said they plan to wrap up Tuesday, and the case is expected to go to the jury later in the week.

Vogel said she and Cozad were together in the early part of the evening of Sept. 11, but he got a phone call and said he had to leave.

It wasn't clear when that call came, but at 10:06 p.m., Cozad called and they met up again, later going out for tacos, she said.

Police have said Mendoza was stabbed at about 9:30 p.m.

When police interviewed her on campus on Sept. 12, Vogel said: "I did what Mitch told me to, (told officers) that we were together, and I didn't say we went out for tacos."

Later, she said: "I went back to my dorm room and broke down. I was like, 'Oh my God, what did I just do?"'

She said she sought out police on her own to change her story and ran into detectives in the elevator on the way to meet them. She said the decision to talk again was "kind of mutual.