Defense attorneys in an unusual murder case won’t move forward
until a judge decides whether to force the District Attorney’s
Office to hand over witnesses’ contact information.
Defense attorneys in an unusual murder case won’t move forward until a judge decides whether to force the District Attorney’s Office to hand over witnesses’ contact information.
Without interviewing those bystanders who witnessed the shooting death of Larry Martinez Jr., 18, within blocks of the Gilroy Police Department more than a year ago, attorneys defending the four young adults charged with his murder can’t conduct a proper investigation and appropriately prepare themselves for the preliminary hearing, they said. Although the defense has the police reports detailing the witnesses’ accounts of the shooting, it does not have contact information for those witnesses.
Edward Sousa, defense attorney for Robert Barrios, 20, one of the defendants and a friend of the victim’s, estimated that police and the DA’s office have interviewed more than 50 witnesses.
Deputy District Attorney Troy Benson said defense attorneys will have a chance to cross-examine all witnesses at a preliminary hearing but Sousa pointed out that the defense will be at a disadvantage if it’s not allowed to interview witnesses ahead of time.
“Without adequate witness addresses and identifying information, we’re unable to learn directly from witnesses what they saw and what they heard,” Sousa said. “That’s necessary because the defendant has a right to prepare to cross-examine witnesses at the preliminary hearing. It’s important that we interview (witnesses) independently. Otherwise, we’re left with whatever law enforcement officers decided to write down.”
Defense attorneys can’t always rely on police reports to provide the complete version of what occurred, he said.
Not only has witness information been redacted from the police reports, but the police reports have also been withheld from the court file, which is a public document. This is “due to the inherent danger in cases that involve allegations of gang violence,” Benson wrote in his opposition to a motion Sousa filed to compel discovery. Defense attorneys have received all the discovery except for the addresses of witnesses, he said.
“Witnesses have expressed concern about having information released,” Benson said. “We feel that there is no provision in the law that requires the disclosure of that information at this time.”
But defense attorneys want un-redacted reports and Sousa said the prosecution’s stance that it doesn’t have to turn over the information in question until 30 days before trial is wrong. Tracking down those witnesses independently would be “an enormous waste of taxpayer money,” he said.
“Witnesses don’t belong to one side or another,” he said. “It’s an enormous expense to fight this battle.”
Additionally, it’s a crime for any defense attorney or investigator to turn over this identifying information to their clients, Sousa said.
Like codefendants Heather Ashford, 19, and Angel Solorzano, 20, Barrios, 20, did not intend to kill Martinez last November, Sousa said. Barrios wasn’t even armed, he added. 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.
The fourth defendant, alleged Sureño Cristian Jimenez, 21, 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.
Neither Solorzano nor Ashford have adult criminal records but Barrios was convicted of possession of less than an ounce of marijuana and carrying a concealed 9-inch knife, according to court documents. Jimenez has been previously convicted of discharging a BB device in a grossly negligent manner and possession of an illegal weapon, according to court documents.
In November, half an hour before the shooting, Jimenez and two other Sureños who are still at large – Edgardo Centeno 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.
Instead of charging only those Sureños suspected of killing Martinez, District Attorney Dolores Carr used a rarely-invoked rule – the provocative act murder theory – to charge all three of Martinez’s associates for contributing to his death for the benefit of a criminal street gang. Solorzano and Barrios are both Norteño gang members, police said.
A judge will rule on Sousa’s discovery motion 1:30 p.m. Jan. 25 in Department 109 of the South County Courthouse in Morgan Hill.
