The man facing two counts of premeditated attempted murder
stemming from a shooting at the Stoney Court Apartments in 2007
pleaded not guilty at his Monday arraignment.
The man facing two counts of premeditated attempted murder stemming from a shooting at the Stoney Court Apartments in 2007 pleaded not guilty at his Monday arraignment.
After a tedious, two-day preliminary hearing two weeks ago, Superior Court Judge Hector Ramon held Tomas Martinez Romero over for trial. After the preliminary hearing, Martinez Romero’s defense attorney, Steven Woodson said he would be looking to strengthen his case by finding anybody who would testify to his client’s whereabouts the evening of the shooting. He would not name any specific witnesses, however.
The shooting occurred the evening of March 27, 2007, when Martinez Romero walked up to a white Toyota occupied by the brother of one of Martinez Romero’s acquaintances and four other males. Martinez Romero then fired almost 10 rounds in the car, which was parked outside the Stoney Court Apartments – located just south of San Ysidro Park and west of U.S. 101 in east Gilroy – police said.
According to police reports and testimony given by Gilroy police officer Eustaquio Rodriguez, the two brothers – one who was shot and one who police believe was in the same car that Martinez Romero got out of prior to the shooting – had an argument in the parking lot minutes before the shooting occurred. After the argument, the brothers retreated to their respective cars – the white Toyota occupied by the victims and another car, described as an older model brown Cadillac. According to Rodriguez, who interviewed both brothers, the brown Cadillac then began to leave the apartment’s parking lot before Martinez Romero told the driver to stop, saying he had to urinate. Martinez Romero then got out of the car and disappeared. While Martinez Romero was gone, gunshots rang out and Martinez Romero hurried back to the car, telling the driver to step on it because he had heard shots fired.
Two of the Toyota’s occupants – the brother of Martinez Romero’s acquaintance and a juvenile who was 14 at the time of the shooting – were wounded.
Though Woodson acknowledged the possibility of settling the case before trial, “I think the chances are good that that won’t happen because of the seriousness of this case,” he said.
A trial setting hearing is scheduled 9 a.m. May 7 in Department 110 of the South County Courthouse in Morgan Hill. Woodson, expects the trial to last about two weeks, he said. However, with the amount of work he still needs to put into the case, he said the trial would probably not take place until the summer.
“I am not ready,” Woodson said. “We still have a lot of investigation to do.”
