Heather Ashford, 18, Larry Martinez's cousin, talks with her lawyer Alfredo Morales during a plea hearing that was continued at the South County Courthouse Tuesday. Ashford and three other defendants face murder charges.
Cristian Jimenez, 21, stands in court with his lawyer Jessica Delgado during a plea hearing that was continued at the South County Courthouse Tuesday. Jimenez and three other defendants face murder charges.
Angel Solorzano, 19, left, stands in court with his lawyer Joseph Barrera, as Robert Barrios, 20, stands with his lawyer Edward Sousa during a plea hearing that was continued at the South County Courthouse Tuesday. Solorzano, Barrios and two other defendants face murder charges.
Four co-defendants in an unusual murder case waived their right to a speedy preliminary hearing and won't enter pleas for another month. In addition, three of the defendants - who some family members said were targets of crime, rather than the perpetrators themselves - requested a judge to rethink her decision to deny bail.
"My client is more of a victim than anything else," said Edward Sousa, a private attorney appointed by the court to represent Robert Barrios, who faces a murder charge. "He's not a perpetrator."
Barrios' charges stem from a gang shooting that took place about 1:20 p.m. Nov. 11, 2008, when Cristian Jimenez and two other Sureno gang members shot Martinez in the chest after Larry Martinez - brandishing a baseball bat - Angel Solorzano and Banrrios approached the group from behind, according to court documents. When the Surenos produced two handguns and opened fire, Solorzao and Barrios escaped in a waiting car, driven by Heather Ashford. Martinez, 18, died at the scene.
Although the Santa Clara County District Attorney Dolores Carr knew that Barrios, Solorzano and Ashford did not fire any bullets at Martinez and did not kill him directly, she invoked a rarely used law - the provocative act murder theory - to charge them with murder. She argued that by attacking the Surenos, the trio should have known that they were taking part in action that could provoke a deadly response and as such, they were equally responsible for Martinez's death.
Barrios, 20, and Heather, 19 - both suspected Norte'o gang members, according to police - joined Ashford, 18, in requesting a bail reduction hearing. Superior Court Judge Teresa Guerrero-Daley gave no indication of whether she would grant the motion to reduce bail at the next hearing.
Ashford's reason for requesting bail is particularly compelling, her family said - she was pregnant at the time of her arrest and gave birth just days after police took her into custody.
Jimenez, 21, rounds out the list of defendants who face murder charges in connection with the death of Martinez. Three Sureno gang members, including Jimenez and two outstanding suspects - Edgardo Centeno and a juvenile whose name police did not release - were involved in the shooting, police said.
Family members of the defendants filled the courtroom for the brief hearing. Seated next to Solorzano, who spoke extensively with his attorney before the hearing, Barrios shot glances at his sister seated only a few feet away. He blew a quick kiss in her direction as a deputy ushered him from the courtroom. Barrios' sister would not comment after the hearing.
Several times during the hearing, Ashford wiped away tears and cast glances toward her co-defendants. Seated in the same row as the female defendants and away from Barrios and Solorzano, Jimenez maintained a blank expression.
In November, half an hour before the shooting, the three Sureno gang members threw a rock at the car Martinez and Solorzano rode in with Ashford at the wheel, according to witness reports. After a brief discussion, Ashford, Martinez and Solorzano picked up Barrios and returned to confront the Sure'os, police said.
Sousa, who received more than one hundred pages of discovery, said the continuance will give him time to sort through the complicated case before the plea hearing.
"It's the first case of its kind in the county that I know of," he said outside the courtroom. As an attorney who practices in Santa Clara County, Sousa said he didn't have any experience dealing with a charge of the kind.
Martinez's and Ashford's family said they were shocked to learn that Martinez's friends and cousin were arrested for his murder and they are still struggling to cope with the loss of their son and brother.
"It's opening old wounds," said Sky Martinez, 20, the victim's sister, at a prior hearing. "It's making healing harder than it should be."
The defendants are scheduled to enter pleas 1:30 p.m. July 29 in Department 109 of the South County Courthouse in Morgan Hill. The bail hearing will be 1:30 p.m. July 13 in the same courtroom.
Sara Suddes Sara Suddes is the education reporter for South Valley Newspapers. Send her an email or (408) 847-7158.
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