Thread: CA: Judge rejects Mexico's bid to halt death penalty trial

Comments are being left at the source link.

~~~

Monday, August 18, 2008
Judge rejects Mexico's bid to halt death penalty trial

Daughters of elderly couple slain during a burglary later testify that the murders devastated their close-knit family.
By LARRY WELBORN
The Orange County Register


SANTA ANA – An Orange County judge on Monday rejected a motion by the Mexican government for a delay in an ongoing murder trial of a Mexican national who faces a potential death sentence.

Berkeley Attorney Skyla V. Olds argued in a 38-page motion that defendant Carlos Martinez – who was convicted last week of murdering an elderly Santa Ana couple during a botched burglary – should have been told following his arrest that he could get legal advice and help from the consulate.

Olds contended that Mexico was prevented from exercising its right to talk with, provide lawyers for and to help prepare a legal defense for one its citizens. Olds says she works for the Mexican Capital Legal Assistance Program, which provides legal assistance for Mexican national accused of capital crimes.

She asked for a two-week delay in the penalty phase of the case, which is to determine if Martinez gets the death penalty or life without the possibility of parole.

But Judge William R. Freoberg quickly rejected the motion to intervene, commenting that Olds had no legal standing in the case, that her motion was untimely, and that the motion does not comply with the California Rules of Court.

Froeberg also noted that Martinez, 32, has been living in the United States since he was 2 and is represented by two highly qualified court-appointed attorneys – George Peters and Richard Schwartzberg.

"I don't see any merit in this document whatsoever," Froeberg said.

Martinez was found guilty on Friday of the stabbing and slashing deaths of Nicholas Casas, 83, and his Emilia Casas, 73, in their home on 9th Street in Santa Ana on Dec. 29, 2004.

Nicolas Casas, the patriarch of a large family, was stabbed 25 times with a steak knife during the assault. Emilia Casas was stabbed 35 to 40 times.

The motion to delay the penalty came Monday just as Elva Morin and Emma Lozano, the two daughters of the murder victims, were scheduled to testify in Martinez' penalty phase about the impact that their parents murders had on the Casas family.

After Froeberg rejected the delay, Emma Lozano reminded jurors that she was the one who discovered her parents' bodies when she came for an evening visit to watch a Spanish soap opera.

"Every time I close my eyes I see them there on the floor … I see their bodies," Lozano testified through teary-eyes. "I don't have any pictures of them in my house anymore. I don't watch any Spanish shows on television anymore… I don't want to remember.

Elva Morin testified that her mother continued to work in nursing homes after she retired because she wanted to help others. She said that the most important thing in her parents' 55 years or marriage, was the love and respect of their children and grandchildren.

As the two sisters testified about how the murders had devastated their family, about 25 other family members sat quietly with tears in their eyes in the courtroom gallery.

Martinez' jury should get the penalty question for deliberations later this week.

www.ocregister.com

A JUDGE IN CALIFORNIA DID THIS? THERE IS HOPE AFTER ALL.

thank you Judge for not bowing down to the mexican government

"Froeberg also noted that Martinez, 32, has been living in the United States since he was 2 and is represented by two highly qualified court-appointed attorneys – George Peters and Richard Schwartzberg. "

Been here for 30 years and didn't know he could contact the consulate? What a load! He's hoping Mexifornia will bow down to Mexico's wishes. What he did to his victims "Nicolas Casas, the patriarch of a large family, was stabbed 25 times with a steak knife during the assault. Emilia Casas was stabbed 35 to 40 times. " speaks for itself. This guy is an animal who DESERVES to be put down, we don't hesitate to destroy a dog who shows these kind of tendencies this guy deserves even less consideration!