Attorneys defending four young adults charged with murder have a
little more than two weeks to interview 44 witnesses.
Attorneys defending four young adults charged with murder have a little more than two weeks to interview 44 witnesses.
After months of struggling with the District Attorney’s Office to gain access to witness information, lawyers for four defendants charged with the murder of Larry Martinez Jr., 18, received the information they need to conduct a “thorough and comprehensive” investigation of the events surrounding Martinez’s death, defense attorney Edward Sousa said.
“We got everything that was promised,” Sousa said.
Defense attorneys are prohibited from releasing witness contact information to anyone other than their investigators, he said.
Soon after their arraignments, the four defendants waived their right to a speedy preliminary hearing. But last week Deputy Alternate Defender Jessica Delgado withdrew her client’s time waiver, which would have triggered a preliminary hearing as early as April 5. However, at a Friday morning hearing, Superior Court Judge Jacqueline Arroyo continued the preliminary hearing to give attorneys more time to interview witnesses, Sousa said.
“The prosecution and police have had 17 months to investigate,” he said. “The defense would have been left with five calendar days to interview 44 witnesses. That would have been a violation of (the defendants’) due process and right to counsel.”
In Nov. 2008, Martinez was gunned down by a rival gang within blocks of the Gilroy Police Department, according to police. Invoking a rarely-used rule – the provocative act murder theory – District Attorney Dolores Carr charged not only the man police believe pulled the trigger, alleged Sureño gang member Cristian Jimenez, but also two of Martinez’s friends and a cousin for contributing to his death for the benefit of a criminal street gang.
Robert Barrios, 21, Heather Ashford, 19, and Angel Solorzano, 20, did not intend to kill Martinez, their attorneys said. But even though they didn’t fire the gun that killed their friend and cousin, the three face conspiracy and murder charges for contributing to Martinez’s death during a clash with a rival gang. Martinez, Solorzano and Barrios were Norteño gang members, police said.
Jimenez, 22, also faces a murder charge and a felony gun possession charge for pulling the trigger of the gun that killed Martinez, according to court documents.
About half an hour before the shooting, Jimenez and two other Sureños who are still at large – Edgardo Centeno, 20, and an unnamed juvenile – threw a rock at the car Martinez and Solorzano rode in while Ashford drove, according to police. After a brief discussion, Ashford, Martinez and Solorzano picked up Barrios and returned to confront the Sureños, police said. Armed with a small bat, Martinez and his friends snuck up on the Sureños from behind, provoking the rival gang members to turn and shoot, prosecutors said.
The specific details leading up to the shooting are unclear as the police reports and court file have not been made public. Police only released a three-page “statement of facts” after the incident because of the violent nature of the shooting and the gang affiliations of those involved.
According to Sousa, Ashford never got out of the car and Barrios and Solorzano were unarmed and trailed several yards behind Martinez as he snuck up behind Jimenez and his accomplices.
The four codefendants’ preliminary hearing is scheduled for 8:45 a.m. April 19 in Department 24 of the Hall of Justice in San Jose. Attorneys expect the preliminary hearing to last two weeks.
