Post by Anja Nieser on Sept 26, 2006 15:05:58 GMT -5
Murder charges dropped
In Edinburg, prosecutors dropped capital murder charges Friday against 3
Tri-City Bomber gang members indicted in connection with the 2003 Edinburg
massacre.
A grand jury indicted a total of 13 men on capital murder charges in
connection with the Jan. 5, 2003, drug raid that ended in the shooting
deaths of 6 men.
Reymundo Kito Sauceda and Salvador "Little Sal" Solis were to be released
from county jail Friday evening, said Joseph Orendain, a Hidalgo County
assistant criminal district attorney.
The 3rd man against whom charges were dropped, gang captain Jeffrey
"Dragon" Juarez, was expected to remain in custody, though, on a parole
hold, Orendain said.
Prosecutors said there was sufficient probable cause for police to arrest
them, for the Hidalgo County District Attorneys Office to present the
information to a grand jury and for the grand jury to indict them.
"But all of that probable cause was due to the fact that we were going on
gang-member statements," said Homer Vazquez, Hidalgo County assistant
criminal district attorney and chief felony supervisor.
"It was members of the gang making statements with regards to who was
involved, and these 3 had been named by other gang members."
That wouldn't have been enough to convict them, Orendain said.
"We can't corroborate enough evidence in front of a jury to get these
individuals convicted," he said, explaining it became clear to prosecutors
that fellow gang members would not testify.
"We always had wanted a co-defendant to testify against one of these 3
individuals, and pretty much that wasnt going to happen at this point," he
said. "We felt we had to dismiss at this point."
Juarez was in the Houston suburb of Sugar Land at the time of the crime.
The known leader of the group, he gave the approval to proceed with the
raid, police believe.
He faced an automatic life sentence if convicted under what is known as
the "law of parties," a state law that allows those who played an indirect
role in the crime and were not actually present for the killings to be
found guilty and receive the same punishment as those who pulled the
trigger.
Sauceda and Solis are low-ranking soldiers in the gangs military-style
hierarchy and are believed to be among the shooters in the raid.
Trials are still pending for three other men the grand jury indicted.
Robert "Robbie" Cantu is the only one of the 13 who was not a Tri-City
Bomber at the time. Currently a member of the Valluco prison gang, he is
accused of informing one of the TCB members about the drug stash and
acting as a driver in the raid. He has a court setting for a pretrial
hearing Monday.
Orendain said prosecutors intend to finish with that case before focusing
on Juan "Juanon" Cordova, a gang sergeant accused of helping to plan the
raid and hosting the planning meeting at his house.
And Marcial "Marshall" Bocanegra, a gang soldier and one of the accused
shooters, will be the last one tried, Orendain said.
Since December 2004, 3 men Juan Ram Ramirez, Humberto "Gallo" Garza and
Rodolfo "Creeper" Medrano have been sentenced to death. One of their
co-defendants, Jorge "Choche" Martinez, pleaded guilty and is serving life
in prison for the murders.
Another man charged in the case, Robert "Bones" Garza, is already on death
row in connection with the 2002 murders of 4 women in Donna, which also
was tied to the Tri-City Bombers.
Police are still seeking two other men charged in the murders. They are
Ricardo "Rica" Martinez, an accused shooter believed to be in Mexico, and
Juan "Perro" Nuez, an accused shooter believed to travel between the
United States and Mexico.
Robert Alvarez, an Edinburg police detective and gang intelligence expert
who investigated the raid, was reticent about Fridays developments and
referred questions to the Edinburg police chief or DAs office. But he did
say he supports the prosecutors decision.
"Those guys are great over at the DAs office," he said, explaining
prosecutors sometimes have very little with which to work. "It's their
fight to lose once it gets to court."
Besides, even with the charges dropped those three defendants aren't
necessarily home free, considering the crime in question is murder.
"It's still up in the air," Alvarez said. "Theres no statute of
limitations. You can always go back and find something else or get
somebody else to talk, or do something, and take another crack at them."
(source: The Monitor)
In Edinburg, prosecutors dropped capital murder charges Friday against 3
Tri-City Bomber gang members indicted in connection with the 2003 Edinburg
massacre.
A grand jury indicted a total of 13 men on capital murder charges in
connection with the Jan. 5, 2003, drug raid that ended in the shooting
deaths of 6 men.
Reymundo Kito Sauceda and Salvador "Little Sal" Solis were to be released
from county jail Friday evening, said Joseph Orendain, a Hidalgo County
assistant criminal district attorney.
The 3rd man against whom charges were dropped, gang captain Jeffrey
"Dragon" Juarez, was expected to remain in custody, though, on a parole
hold, Orendain said.
Prosecutors said there was sufficient probable cause for police to arrest
them, for the Hidalgo County District Attorneys Office to present the
information to a grand jury and for the grand jury to indict them.
"But all of that probable cause was due to the fact that we were going on
gang-member statements," said Homer Vazquez, Hidalgo County assistant
criminal district attorney and chief felony supervisor.
"It was members of the gang making statements with regards to who was
involved, and these 3 had been named by other gang members."
That wouldn't have been enough to convict them, Orendain said.
"We can't corroborate enough evidence in front of a jury to get these
individuals convicted," he said, explaining it became clear to prosecutors
that fellow gang members would not testify.
"We always had wanted a co-defendant to testify against one of these 3
individuals, and pretty much that wasnt going to happen at this point," he
said. "We felt we had to dismiss at this point."
Juarez was in the Houston suburb of Sugar Land at the time of the crime.
The known leader of the group, he gave the approval to proceed with the
raid, police believe.
He faced an automatic life sentence if convicted under what is known as
the "law of parties," a state law that allows those who played an indirect
role in the crime and were not actually present for the killings to be
found guilty and receive the same punishment as those who pulled the
trigger.
Sauceda and Solis are low-ranking soldiers in the gangs military-style
hierarchy and are believed to be among the shooters in the raid.
Trials are still pending for three other men the grand jury indicted.
Robert "Robbie" Cantu is the only one of the 13 who was not a Tri-City
Bomber at the time. Currently a member of the Valluco prison gang, he is
accused of informing one of the TCB members about the drug stash and
acting as a driver in the raid. He has a court setting for a pretrial
hearing Monday.
Orendain said prosecutors intend to finish with that case before focusing
on Juan "Juanon" Cordova, a gang sergeant accused of helping to plan the
raid and hosting the planning meeting at his house.
And Marcial "Marshall" Bocanegra, a gang soldier and one of the accused
shooters, will be the last one tried, Orendain said.
Since December 2004, 3 men Juan Ram Ramirez, Humberto "Gallo" Garza and
Rodolfo "Creeper" Medrano have been sentenced to death. One of their
co-defendants, Jorge "Choche" Martinez, pleaded guilty and is serving life
in prison for the murders.
Another man charged in the case, Robert "Bones" Garza, is already on death
row in connection with the 2002 murders of 4 women in Donna, which also
was tied to the Tri-City Bombers.
Police are still seeking two other men charged in the murders. They are
Ricardo "Rica" Martinez, an accused shooter believed to be in Mexico, and
Juan "Perro" Nuez, an accused shooter believed to travel between the
United States and Mexico.
Robert Alvarez, an Edinburg police detective and gang intelligence expert
who investigated the raid, was reticent about Fridays developments and
referred questions to the Edinburg police chief or DAs office. But he did
say he supports the prosecutors decision.
"Those guys are great over at the DAs office," he said, explaining
prosecutors sometimes have very little with which to work. "It's their
fight to lose once it gets to court."
Besides, even with the charges dropped those three defendants aren't
necessarily home free, considering the crime in question is murder.
"It's still up in the air," Alvarez said. "Theres no statute of
limitations. You can always go back and find something else or get
somebody else to talk, or do something, and take another crack at them."
(source: The Monitor)