Defense lawyers for the two young men accused of carrying out a
gang-related drive-by shooting last November walked away
disappointed this morning when the judge denied their dismissal
request, paving the way for a possible plea bargain or jury
trial.
Defense lawyers for the two young men accused of carrying out a gang-related drive-by shooting last November walked away disappointed this morning when the judge denied their dismissal request.
Defense attorneys for Joshua Williams, 18, and Israel Juarez, 18, appeared before Superior Court Judge Edward Lee at the San Martin Courthouse Friday morning. The mothers and other close relatives of the defendants, who both remain in custody, also attended and quietly deliberated among themselves in the parking lot after Judge Lee scheduled a trial setting conference 9 a.m. March 26 in San Martin.
During Friday’s appearance, William’s public defender, Ralph Benitez, and Juarez’s private attorney, James Leininger, both argued that the prosecution, led by Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Troy Benson, did not present enough evidence during the preliminary hearing to send the case to trial. The two conceded that the bullet casing police found on the windshield of the Honda – which officers claimed Williams drove and Juarez shot from – was the same caliber as those found at the scene of the drive-by shooting, but they argued forensics experts had yet to conclusively link the shells. The defense attorneys also argued that nobody – including police and witnesses – reported seeing either defendant in the Honda that neither owns. Only officers saw them outside of the car and away from the scene a couple of times before and after the non-fatal shooting, the lawyers argued.
Click here to read the previous story.
“These two individuals were never seen at the scene of the crime or in the car,” Leininger told Lee. “It isn’t our job to prove that. It’s the people’s.”
Lee entertained the notion that others may be involved, but he described the similar shell casings, the defendants’ proximity to the car and relation to its owner – Israel Juarez’s older brother whom police never arrested, much to Leininger’s confusion – and the timing of everything as “moderately to severely persuasive.” Lee illustrated his point by rhetorically asking those in the courtroom to find one shell on the dozens of cars parked outside the chambers – “It would be an unusual circumstance if it were any caliber,” Lee said.
After the ruling, Williams’ mother, Ida Williams, and his sister walked out with three other people. Immediately after her son’s arrest, Ida Williams described his experience in detail to The Dispatch but has since declined to comment because she said she could testify as a witness if the matters goes to trial, though the vast majority of criminal cases end in a plea bargain.
All these uncertainties have put tremendous stress on Williams’ mother, who has claimed police roughed her up during a search of her home last November and unfairly profiled her son before that. For these reasons, she has floated the idea of filing a civil suit against the Gilroy Police Department.
