POST ON TRUJILLO JR. FOR WHICH WE WERE TAKEN TO TASK

(When Cameron County District Attorney Luis v. Saenz, two Texas Rangers (wasn't it one riot one ranger?) and former BPD Chief Orlando Rodriguez held a press conference to say a county grand jury had no-billed officer Rolando Trujillo Jr. for the shooting of 24-year-old Roman Rodriguez after they presented them with evidence showing no crime occurred, we posted this. We were taken to task for it. But now, in light of a federal appeals court agreeing with the district court in denying the officer a motion for summary judgment and ruling that questions of fact should be decided by a federal jury, we repost.) 

El Rrun-Rrun

Sept. 3, 2015

...When was officer Rolando Trujillo Jr.'s statement taken by the Rangers? Was it after he had consulted with police officials and his attorneys so that he could pull off all the right "buzz" words that would justify deadly force on the part of a policeman?

The fact that Trujillo admitted that he had fired four shots at very close range and missed two indicates that the officer was not emotionally stable. The two times he shot him he hit him in the back. And the crocodile tears in his taped statement reek of a rehearsed performance seemingly aimed at eliciting sympathy for his plight.

Anyone who sees the video will see that at one point Trujillo has the door to Rodriguez's SUV open and that the cab light is on and the inside is open to view. If there was a "deadly" weapon in the cab (and no on has proven that yet), it would have been plainly visible.

(DA Luis V.) Saenz fairly bristled when he was asked what specific evidence was presented to the grand jury to lead to the no-bill.

"Why am I going to stand here and give you a synopsis when you are gonna see it? That's why I'm going to give you the video," he snarled at the reporters.

Since Saenz is asking that the "evidence"in the edited disk should be taken at face value by the public and he refuses to show the media what and how the "evidence" was presented to the grand jury, we are asked to imagine what it was. An imagined scenario of the presentation follows follows below:

DA; Ladies and gentlemen of the grand jury, we are here for you to determine whether this fine public servant and keeper of law and order who shot an alcohol-crazed aggravated barrio thief in self defense was guilty of anything else but of defending his life and the safety of the public. The name of this fine officer is Rolando Trujillo Jr. and I will ask him the questions.

DA: Officer Trujillo, how are you today?
TRUJILLO: Fine, sir. I feel safe now.

DA: Why is that fine officer?
TRUJILLO: Because at the time when I stopped that alcohol-crazed barrio thief I was IN FEAR FOR MY LIFE!

DA: Tell us about the events, officer.
TRUJILLO: I was on patrol and got a call about a beer run at a convenience store and rushed over to follow the suspect's SUV and eventually stopped him. I then walked over and opened his door. He looked at me and I could sense that my life was in danger and I FEARED FOR MY LIFE!

DA: What do you remember most of all as you focused on the suspect's hands?
TRUJILLO: The tattoo of the star. I didn't know if it was the tattoo that corresponded to Los Vallucos, La Eme, El Syndicato, or any of those prison gangs. At the very moment I saw the tattoo, I FEARED FOR MY LIFE!

DA: What led you to believe that fine officer?
TRUJILLO: I saw him with a long gray object that I took to be a deadly weapon and I FEARED FOR MY LIFE!

DA: At what time did you feel justified in shooting the alcohol-crazed barrio suspect?
TRUJILLO: When I saw him look at me with those shifty eyes. I've seen that look before and my dad Rolando Trujillo Sr. who used to patrol 14th Street bars and keep those punks in line told me not to trust those shifty barrio types. He shot one, too. Now every time I see one I FEAR FOR MY LIFE!

DA: When you searched the car and looked for a deadly weapon, what did you find?
TRUJILLO: We found a screwdriver, a weapon of choice against a regulation 9 mm handgun by alcohol-crazed barrio thieves. One look at the screwdriver and I FEARED FOR MY LIFE!