Wednesday, February 3, 2016

JURY FINDS GONZALEZ NOT GUILTY OF CAPITAL MURDER; VERDICT BLOW TO D.A. LUIS V. SAENZ'S REELECTION BID

By Juan Montoya
After nearly three days of deliberations, a Cameron County jury has found Marco Antonio Gonzalez not guilty on a capital murcder charge in the shooting of fellow jailer Ivan Reyes last June 4, 2014.
The verdict was rendered by the six-man, six-women jury today in the 404th District Court presided by Judge Elia Cornejo-Lopez. Corneljo-Lopez had ordered the jury to stop deliberating on Tuesday and resume on Wednesday due to an illness of a juror's relative.
The not guilty verdict will likely have repercussions on the reelection bid of Cameron County District Attorney Luis V. Saenz. Asst. DA Peter Gilman was the lead prosecutor in the case.
This morning, the jury requested a copy of the jury charge made by Cornejo-Lopez last Friday.
Prosecutors said Gonzalez has shot Reyes as a result of a love triangle between corrections officers at the Rucker-Carrizales Detention Center that went bad.
Defense attorney Ernesto Gamez represented Gonzalez in the capital murder charge, but made a motion to the court that he willwithdraw after today;s verdict and will not represent his client on other pending charges. Gamez and his daughter Erin said the shooting was done nin self defense after Gonzalez entered the home of Monica Robles and found Reyes inside pointing  agun at him.
Gamez submitted his motion to withdraw Monday morning as the jury continued its deliberations.
Prosecutors say Gonzalez shot and killed Reyes at the home of Robles, his ex-girlfriend, on the 200 block of Orchid Path. During the standoff between Gonzalez and local authorities which lasted for hours, Gonzalez kept Robles captive at gunpoint while the body of Reyes was in the house.
Gonzalez was also arraigned on one count of aggravated kidnapping, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and 10 counts of aggravated assault on a public servant.
Gamez and attorney daughter Erin Gamez defended him over the last two weeks on the capital murder charge only. Still pending are the rest of the charges that included counts of kidnapping, assault with a deadly weapon and assault on the police.
Last Friday, 404th District Court Judge Elia Cornejo-Lopez sent the jury home for the weekend after they asked for the transcripts of the testimony of Gonzalez and Monica Robles, the woman over who prosecutors say the defendant Gonzalez shot Reyes, a fellow corrections officer. Robles was a staff member at the jail's infirmary.
The shooting June 4, 2014 in Brownsville. touched off and eight-hour standoff with authorities.
Prosecutors say Gonzalez shot and killed Reyes at  Robles' home on the 200 block of Orchid Path. During the standoff between Gonzalez and local authorities which lasted for hours, Gonzalez kept Robles captive at gunpoint while the body of Reyes was in the house.
Gonzalez was first tried on a capital murder charge for Reyes’ death in June 2015, but that ended in a mistrial after the jury failed to reach a consensus in the verdict.
The lead counsel for the prosecution then was Gilman.
Gonzalez, who testified on his own behalf in his retrial, told the jury that on the morning of June 4, 2014, he had called Robles because he planned to drop off a .223 Bushmaster rifle she had given him as a Christmas present at her home.
The woman said she told Gonzalez not to go to her home and he insisted on going there.
In her testimony, Robles said Reyes was in the house at the time and was armed with a gun.
She said Gonzalez forced his way into the home pulling her by the hair after accusing her of having another man in the house, she testified.
During her testimony, she said “I was trying to hold the door closed, and I remember saying, ‘He has a gun,’ several times,” Robles said. “At (that) point, I (didn’t) care if anyone (heard)…I wanted anybody to hear.”
Reyes had his gun aimed at Gonzalez, telling him to put the rifle down, Robles testified.
Reyes was shot twice by Gonzalez and died instantly from a shot fired from the .223 Bushmaster rifle to the top of his head.
Police released recordings of the dispatchers’ radio communications in response to an open-records request from the local daily.At first, police were responding to a call from the home that someone being shot. Once there, the officers learned that a suspect inside the home was holding a woman hostage.“Suspect has the (caller’s) sister at gunpoint locked in a room” the recordings reveal.
As more officers were dispatched to the home, police were told that a “victim is male subject laying in the kitchen floor. He’s not moving.”
A few minutes later, one officer quickly shouted on the radio, “Shots fired headquarters. He’s got an AK 47… subject is shooting out of one of the bedrooms in the front. Units stay covered. He’s got an AK 47.”
The not guilty verdict came as a political blow to the reelection campaign of DA Luis Saenz, who opted to retry Gonzalez on the capital murder charge after the first trial ended in a hung jury instaed of lowering the charge .
Gonzalez will remain at the Rucker-Carrizalez corrections unit awaiting his trial on the other pending charges. 

31 comments:

aztec warrior said...

Luis que bonito, I knew you would let the people down oh well back to the drawing board. AW

Anonymous said...

I keep telling y'all, Saenz is as incompetent as they come. When he's not sweeping charges under the carpet for family, friends and compadres, he can't even win a case against a jilted jealous ex-lover who went to a house with a loaded assault rifle. Pandejo!

We need a prosecutor who can prosecute, not a prosecutor prostitute.

Anonymous said...

Two pissed off machos pointing guns at each other. Either one could claim self defense if he pulled the trigger first. The Jury got it right.

The Kidnapping and assault on the officers will not be that easy to dodge. He will spend some time on those.

The moral of the story is no piece of pussy is worth all that bother. They are both stupid vatos, but one is a dead stupid vato.

Anonymous said...

Oralle!!!! Was BISD "Police" Chief Oscar Garcia the investigator?!!!!

Anonymous said...

The DA did his job for the victims family. He has no fault that jury saw it as self defense. This has nothing to do with our DA character and ability to continue to do his job. He is proven regardless of what Masso want to get rich followers say. Saenz is our best choice.

Anonymous said...

Wow. Only in Cameron County. How pathetic.... You never know what the jurors will do in Cameron County. How blind could they be not see the picture. It was obvious that his intentions were to kill the victim.....If he was in fear for his life explain to me his actions after he killed the victim..........

Anonymous said...

Most definitely Luis is doing his job !! The jury is the one who cast their decision guilty or not !! Besides Masso can't even speak English correctly!! No vale ese vato!!

Anonymous said...

Stop defending Luis Saenz, Melissa Zamora. It's pathetic...everyone knows it's you Smelly.

Anonymous said...

5:33, Saenz is our best choice? For what? You must be related to him. If your related to him, he is your best choice to get away with murder.

Shit, as Gonzalez proved today, even if your not related to him he's too incompetent to get a conviction.

5:33, I get your point. You must be speaking for criminals of cameron county.

Jeremy SoRelle, will you please step forward and let voters know they have a choice other than Saenz and Masso?


Unknown said...

Why does every writer in town forget to mention that this pig of a man named marco shit himself in the stomach as swat was raiding the house. He is so guilty of killing ivan

Anonymous said...

Only one question so who is guilty of murder cause someone did loose a life....

Anonymous said...

This is not our DA 's fault,he's very busy campaigning for ReElection . We need to look at the bigger picture and realize that our DA is the best thing for Cameron County . Luis has a lot of scores to settle so let's all get together and give him four more years . Viva Saenz !

ANIMO !

Anonymous said...

Tell that to the San BENITO family seeking justice for their dead mother.......17 years and Saenz's solution is to dismiss the case? Proven? Yea, you're right . ......he's proven to be a corrupt prosecutor who needs to be held accountable .

Anonymous said...

prosecutor Peter Gilman returned the favor, that was due.

Anonymous said...

move forward everyone has a sad story to tell but we face a higher judge at the end !! I will vote for Luis Saenz he has rebuilt this county up !! Keep hating we will vote for him regardless Masso sucks !!

aztec warrior said...

HMMM could it be that this Gonzalez guy might be related to Luis saenz? after all luis sanez is related to the Gonzalez clan from Brownsville, aurora del la garza gonzalez, Mariano gonzalez family etc etc etc. just saying. AW

Anonymous said...

1:45 AM, that's the problem. Saenz is too busy running for reelection than getting convictions for the job he was elected to do. He has prioritized keeping the job over doing the job.

You don't get more self-serving than that.

Anonymous said...

Most places I've ever seen, the DA tries these high-profile cases himself rather than let an assistant handle it. But Saenz is too busy running for re-election to be bothered.
How does it feel, Luis, to have this blow up in your face? You don't prosecute cases you should then lose the cases you shouldn't. The worst DA this county has ever seen. Worst than Villalobos! At lease Villalobos could get convictions! You're to stupid and impotent.

Scales of Justice To Tilted! said...

WTF! What a blow to the CCDA! Either that prosecutor was very lousy? It wasn't that devil looking jerk in Garza, was it? Or this jury is very dumb! Did they buy that Ernesto Gamez BS that he puts out during trial and for what reason the Judges allow to make a farce of the court? Didn't the bitch testify that Gonzalez shot the guy unprovoked?

Anonymous said...

Gonzalez is guilty no doubt about it

Anonymous said...

Marco Antonio Gonzalez is a killer

Anonymous said...

The DA gets all evidence and uses it to best of his ability to get justice for victims. The jury and the judge then makes the decision of guilt, and sentence. You can not be dumb enough to think that the DA has last word. Don't be ignorant or try to use this to favor Masso. The DA is transparent, if you had serious accusations on him , you would bring them up. Go put up signs, walk streets, put your work in, let the people decide who our next DA is going to be. Don't play the dirty card, it's only showing what character is Masso bringing to table. Mr. Saenz has open door policy, he is always available for the public. Mr. Saenz is best candidate hands down.

Anonymous said...

Well guess what?!?! A man got away with murder while our District Attorney was in Harlingen waving signs on county time! Wednesday morning he was spotted looking for the pity vote while having a sad face waving at people! Freaking PATHETIC! Go away Luis, you have worn out your welcome!

Anonymous said...

This idiot should be on death row for simply shooting at B.P.D officers personally I don't like judge people but the moment you take someone's life and even shoot at the police that's an automatic death sentence I really don't care who you are Police officers should always be respected this asshole didn't care who he was shooting at watch him do it again knowingly he will get away with it really feel bad for the victim the officers who responded to that call cause this shows our system doesn't have respect for the law....

Anonymous said...

Open door policy? Seeing that you are part of Mr. Saenz team, if not him directly, know that it's too late to play the nice card. You turned your back on your constituents. You wouldn't see my aunt when she desperately needed your help. You just shushed her away. You are not a nice man.

Anonymous said...

Agree 100 Gonzalez Is a criminal

Anonymous said...

Marco Gonzalez belongs in hell .

chief cool arrow said...

Bad ass mother fucker this gonzalez guy.

Anonymous said...

I strongly agree it is the District attorney's fault for letting this criminal walk like he did because remember how DA presented the case of the boy who got murdered for the beer run some months back by Brownsville PD, making him look to the jury like the boy was a bad influence to the community,to let officer Trujillo walk free, so that tells you how the DA works dirty to then wash their hands saying it was the jury's fault. Luis Saenz needs to try this cases personally instead of throwing his workers in front of him to not look bad himself,think about it? no wonder lots of prosecutors have been leaving their jobs lately.

Anonymous said...

It's not over yet.....he still hasn't been tried on the other charges (kidnapping , shooting at police ,etc . ..) this trial was only the reyes shooting .

Anonymous said...

Charging this guy with Capital Murder was very very weak case and the jury saw it that way also. However, had the DA not charged him and took him to trial, what would the public have said? They would have howled and screamed about a fix being in.

So the DA is in a bind, charge and try a very weak case with the high risk of an acquittal or not charge with murder and go with the kidnapping charge which is much stronger? What to do? The DA did the political thing and tried the guy knowing there was a probably acquittal. I guess that is OK, but the trial cost lots of taxpayer dollars and that is not OK.

A good prosecutor should not charge and try weak cases and just take whatever fall out comes his way from the public. His job is to get convictions and husband public resources. The public should know that, but they don't. You don't hold a wet finger up to see which way the wind is blowing before decided what to do.

I understand why things fell they way they did, but understanding does not mean approval. I detest prosecutors who are more politicians than anything else. It is a chicken shit job at best and any good lawyer can make more money doing something else. The only real reason to be a prosecutor is to serve the public by keeping them safe by enforcing the laws. If you are not going to do that, go chase ambulances!

rita