FAYETTEVILLE — The cousin of a Springdale man who was killed in a driveby shooting pointed confidently across the courtroom Monday and identified Rodolfo Alberto Martinez as the man he saw point a gun and shoot at them.
Martinez, 21, is charged with accomplice to capital murder and accomplice to the unlawful discharge of a firearm from a vehicle in the drive-by slaying April 11, 2015, of Jimmy Rodriguez, 20. Martinez’ trial started Monday in Washington County Circuit Court. Martinez faces life in prison if convicted because prosecutors waived the death penalty.
Eric Rodriguez, the cousin, said he and friends and relatives were at his parents’ house at 609 Savage St. Three of them were standing in the front yard when an unfamiliar car drove by and a passenger looked back.
A few minutes later, four people in the blue Ford Focus pulled up in front of the house. Rodriguez said he knew the driver of the car, Giovanni Vasquez-Sanchez, who asked, “What do you gang bang?”
Rodriguez said he didn’t answer.
“I’m just staring then a gun comes out and they started firing,” Rodriguez told the nine men and three women hearing the case.
Rodriguez said he took cover behind a car. When he came out, the shooters were gone and Jimmy Rodriguez was lying by the car holding his chest. He was pronounced dead at a hospital a short time later.
Rodriguez said he didn’t know Martinez’ name at the time.
Viviana Romero told jurors Martinez and Vasquez-Sanchez came to her home that morning and asked her and her brother to hide a gun for them. They buried the .22-caliber pistol in the backyard where it was later found by police.
“He said he had shot Jimmy,” Romero said Martinez told her. “He was nervous but at the same time proud.”
Romero, who was dating Jose Delatorre, who was a passenger in the car, said Martinez and others left her house, saying they were going to a car show.
Omar Cervantes testified he picked the group up at Romero’s house on Water Street because he invited Martinez to go to a car show, but things changed quickly.
“I was driving and that’s when he told me he’d shot Jimmy,” Cervantes said. “As soon as they told me that, I wanted to get rid of them.”
Cervantes said he made an excuse to drop them off and didn’t answer the phone when Martinez called later.
Cervantes couldn’t immediately identify Martinez in court. Martinez was sitting at the defense table with his lawyers. After staring at Martinez a few moments, Cervantes said, “I see him now.”
Deputy prosecutor John Snyder said in an opening statement Jimmy Rodriguez was just hanging out on a nice spring day in front of his aunt and uncle’s house.
“It’s a nice day, a good day to be outside. He’s visiting, laughing, joking, drinking beer, minding his own business,” Snyder said. “What happens next is like a scene from a movie, only it’s not a movie, this is real life. The front-seat passenger holds a gun out his window and fires three shots.”
Snyder said Jimmy Rodriguez, who had been leaning on a car in the driveway, was hit in the left lung, heart and liver. Another shot hit the house.
“I believe the evidence will show you beyond a reasonable doubt that Looney fired three shots from a vehicle at or towards the residence and one of those shots caused the death of Jimmy Rodriguez,” Snyder said. Looney is Martinez’ nickname.
The trial is expected to continue today with the prosecution presenting its case.
Doctors who examined Martinez at the Arkansas State Hospital said he didn’t display signs of a mental disease or disorder during their psychiatric evaluation. Doctors diagnosed Martinez with an anti-social personality disorder and malingering, or faking of symptoms.
Vasquez-Sanchez and Delatorre are expected to be tried on similar charges at a later time.
Lawyers for Vasquez-Sanchez, who was 17 at the time but is almost 21 now, earlier asked Judge Mark Lindsay to transfer the case to juvenile court. Prosecutors opposed the move and Lindsay denied the motion.
In his order, Lindsay noted the killing happened three days before Vasquez-Sanchez turned 18. The judge said Vasquez-Sanchez if convicted could be held at the state Division of Youth Services only until he was 21, which wouldn’t be enough time to rehabilitate him.
Lindsay added Vasquez-Sanchez is an admitted gang member who has an extensive juvenile court history.
Delatorre, like Martinez, faces life in prison without parole if convicted.
Martinez and Vasquez-Sanchez fled after the shooting and were captured two days later near Hartman, outside of Clarksville. Delatorre and a juvenile were arrested in Springdale the day after the shooting.
The juvenile is a boy who was 13 at the time of the killing and police say was the other passenger in the car. His case is being handled in Washington County Juvenile Court. State law prohibits the release of information about juvenile arrest records and court proceedings.
Opening statement
The introduction to the case by the attorneys for both sides at the beginning of a trial, explaining what will be proved. Unlike a closing argument, the opening statement is limited to what the evidence will show. It cannot be argumentative. The defendant’s attorney may present the opening statement for the defense after the plaintiff’s evidence has been introduced.
Source: uslegal.com
Ron Wood can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter @NWARDW.