Suspected gang member is charged with two separate counts of
attempted murder
San Martin – A soft-spoken Anthony Aguilera took the stand in his own defense to “clear up everything that was falsely stated” in the previous five days of his attempted murder trial at Santa Clara County Superior Court Monday.
Aguilera, 22, is a suspected Norteño gang member charged with two separate attempted murder counts, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, shooting into an inhabited vehicle and evading arrest. He is the primary suspect in the shooting of a Gilroy man in a liquor store parking lot Oct. 23, 2004 and in the stabbing of a 24-year-old suspected drug dealer at Extended Stay America hotel Jan. 26, 2005.
A second suspect – 21-year-old Daniel Zuniga of Gilroy – faces separate attempted murder charges in the October shooting.
Aguilera admitted to stabbing Gilroy resident Mike Hernandez in a fight in November 2004 at a mutual friend’s house after Hernandez insulted him. The two stepped outside to talk and began fighting. He pulled out his pocket knife in defense when the victim kept coming at him, Aguilera said.
Aguilera’s mother and sister sat together, clasping hands as he testified wearing a light blue dress shirt and tie, speaking calmly to defense attorney Andy Tursi.
During the three-hour testimony, Aguilera admitted to Tursi that he hit alleged San Martin drug dealer Scott Bargar in the back of the head with an unloaded BB gun in an attempt to make off with both the marijuana and the money.
But the man did not hit the ground. Instead he took the gun away from Aguilera and pointed it at his head, Aguilera testified.
“He said I’m walking out of here alive and you’re staying here dead,” he said. “He kept reaching (into his shirt) and he started walking towards me … I saw something shiny.”
Bargar testified earlier that he was “fighting for (his) life” when he stabbed Aguilera with a box cutter in a Morgan Hill hotel room. Both men required stitches for their facial wounds, however, Bargar suffered life-threatening injuries when he was stabbed in the neck.
Aguilera denies pulling the trigger in the Oct. 23 shooting. He told Tursi that he approached a vehicle in a liquor store parking lot to talk to the female passengers inside when he heard gunshots and took off running.
Despite accusations by police and witness testimony regarding his gang affiliation, Aguilera said he is not a gang member, but was labeled one early on by educators and police because some of his friends growing up were.
“Whoever it was, they gave me that label,” he said. “If you hang out with those people and you associate with those people then you’re categorized as one.”
But Aguilera’s mild manner changed to small outbursts of frustration when cross-examined by Deputy District Attorney Stuart Scott.
Stuart pressed him about his gang membership, bringing up incidents from Aguilera’s youth and questioned his involvement in the October shooting. Scott played a jail-tape recording between Zuniga and Aguilera and asked what he meant by telling Zuniga, “Homies are willing to bat for you if it comes down to it,” and questioned whether he was helping create a false alibi.
Aguilera testified with his hands folded and debated Scott during much of his testimony. He said he was not helping Zuniga lie, but offering “to assist him in any types of needs he may have.” Aguilera told Scott that the slang words he uses and his tattoos do not necessarily mean he is gang member.
“It doesn’t specifically mean what you are trying to make it sound,” he said.
In the days before the trial, Aguilera debated whether to testify, Tursi said outside the courtroom.
“We talked about it all along. We always said it was his decision to make,” he said. “He said there’s a lot of false information and he wanted to tell his side.”
Aguilera told his mother Barbara he felt he had to testify Monday.
“He said, ‘Mom, I gotta say what I need to say, because nobody else is,'” she said.
Trial continues today with the conclusion of Aguilera’s testimony.
