Defense attorney busy with another case
SAN MARTIN
A judge delayed the preliminary hearing of an accused attempted murderer for two weeks because his defense attorney was tied up with another case.
Tomas Martinez Romero, 21, appeared Tuesday afternoon at the South County Courthouse on charges of two counts of attempted murder and three counts of assault with a deadly weapon. If convicted, Romero could go to jail for the rest of his life.
On the night of March 27, Romero walked up to a car with five people and fired almost 10 rounds, injuring two people, police said. Police originally held another man in April on suspicion of the shooting, but released him a few days later.
Romero was arrested in late July. By then, he had been arrested in connection with a grisly stabbing, had the charges dropped and was released from custody, and almost deported because he was in the country illegally. Police dragged him off a bus at the last moment to serve him with new charges.
The start of the preliminary hearing – in which the judge hears testimony to decide if there is enough evidence to order the defendant to stand trial – has been delayed several times because Deputy District Attorney Amir Alem and public defender Javier Rios have been exchanging evidence on the case.
The sticking point has been a set of DVDs of witness interviews, which Rios said he does not have. The district attorney’s provided the information, but Rios lost one of the DVDs, Alem said.
Rios was busy with another case Tuesday afternoon and could not appear at the courthouse to represent Romero. He will next appear in court at 1:30 p.m. Jan. 8.
