Opinion ID: 844251
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The murder of Gregory Martin

Text: During the evening of February 12, 1994, Gregory Martin was shot twice in the head in front of the Meadowbrook Apartments in Banning. His wounds were fatal. It was common knowledge that Martin, whose nickname was Moto, was a member of the Bloods street gang. Palmer [7] and other Banning police officers arrived at the crime scene, secured the area, and searched unsuccessfully for relevant physical evidence. Officers knocked on doors to see if they could locate any witnesses. Lloyd Marcus was identified as a potential witness and was interviewed by Palmer at the Banning Police Department, within one to one and a half hours of Palmer's arrival at the murder scene. Marcus told Palmer that during the evening hours of February 12, 1994, he was standing under a carport at the apartment complex when he saw two people arguing in the street, something about money. Marcus said he was able to see them well because they were standing directly under a streetlight. Marcus identified one of the men as Moto. Initially, he could not identify the other man, but subsequently told Palmer that his name was Popeye. Marcus said Moto asked Popeye, Where's my money? The two men began pushing each other, and Popeye pulled a gun from his waistband and fired two rounds at Moto. Marcus described Popeye as an adult Mexican or Asian male, six-two, six-three, dark shoulder-length hair, weighing about 190 to 220 pounds. Palmer associated defendant with the name Popeye and knew that Martin was a Blood and defendant was a Crip. Palmer put the word out that he needed to talk to Popeye and wanted him brought in for questioning. Palmer and patrol officers searched for defendant at various locations where he was known to hang out, but were unable to locate him until months later, when defendant was in Ironwood State Prison in Blythe, on an unrelated matter. Riverside County Forensic Pathologist Joseph Choi conducted an autopsy on Martin's body. Martin suffered two gunshot wounds to his head, one just below the eyebrow of his right eye, and the other on the back right side of his head. The presence of gunpowder tattooing on Martin's forehead and between his eyelid and eyelash indicated his eye was open and the lid was folded up when the first wound was inflicted. Dr. Choi estimated the distance between the muzzle and the wound at the time the gun was fired to be approximately six to 12 inches. The wound was fatal, and death occurred within minutes. Dr. Choi recovered the bullet from the back left side of Martin's head. The second gunshot wound was behind Martin's right ear and also would have been rapidly fatal. On February 19, 1994, at around 11:00 p.m., Riverside County Deputy Sheriff Peter Herrera stopped a light blue Cadillac for driving too slowly. Kimiya Gamble, defendant's girlfriend, was driving and defendant was in the front passenger seat. When Herrera stopped them, there was a gun on the front seat between them. Defendant told Gamble to put the gun in her purse, and she did because she knew he was on parole. During a search of the car, Herrera found the loaded gun in Gamble's purse, which was on the front seat of the vehicle. Gamble told Herrera she had borrowed the gun from some unknown person. Herrera arrested defendant and Gamble. [8] Before they were taken to the precinct station, and while Gamble was in the police car, defendant told her that she should tell police she bought the gun on the street. [9] Ballistics testing revealed that the gun found during the search of the car was the Martin murder weapon. In late February 1994, Harold Black was incarcerated with defendant at Chino state prison. Black grew up in Banning, was a drug user, and occasionally associated with gang members. He knew those who claimed to be Crips and those who claimed to be Bloods, and associated with both. Black and defendant were acquainted with each other, but they were not friends. They were housed in the same dormitory, and Black slept in close proximity to defendant. One night, Black asked defendant why he was in jail. Defendant said that he was in for a gun violation; that he and his girlfriend were riding in a car and had been pulled over; and that he had put a gun in her purse. On another night, defendant asked Black if he knew Moto. Black answered yes, and that he had heard Moto had been shot. Defendant looked at Black, gave a little smile, and he says, `I did it.' Defendant said he stayed that night with a friend at the Meadowbrook Apartments, and as he was leaving he saw Moto, crept up on him, pointed a gun at him, said, this is for Scotty, and shot him in the head. Defendant said Moto just crumbled, the body just fell. Defendant also told Black that he shot that white boy down at the Desert Edge motel. Black explained that this is for Scotty referred to Scotty Ware, a Crip who was killed at a party, supposedly by a Blood, and that defendant was a Crip. It was common knowledge that the person who killed Ware was a Blood, supposedly from the Pomona Island Bloods, and was hanging out in Banning. Black said he did not hear defendant's words when he continued to talk about the Coder murder because he was stunned by defendant's description of how Moto crumbled to the ground. In September 1995, Black ran into defendant again at the Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside. Defendant asked him whether the police had contacted him and whether he had said anything. Black told him no. When he asked defendant why, defendant said that Gregory Taylor had said something to the police or the district attorney. During this conversation, Black recalled that he had mentioned the shootings to Taylor. Black told defendant that he had not talked to the police or anyone, and had not been questioned.