Opinion ID: 2006639
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: ) The Shooter Theory

Text: Defendant's written statement to police provided the jury with solid evidence to conclude that he pulled the trigger: I handcuffed him behind his back and put him into the bathroom. Me and Monica were trying to figure out what we were going to do with him. I walked him down into the basement. I had already made up my mind that I was going to kill him. In the basement I put a dark handkerchief over his eyes. I shot the dude in the left side of his head as he stood there. The dude fell on the floor. The dude wasn't dead so I put a plastic garbage bag over his head. He was alive for about 2½ hours. The dude just laid there on the floor making sucking noises. After awhile I checked on him and saw that he was dead. This was a forceful admission leading to the conclusion that defendant shot Matos. True, defendant appeared confused when police asked him about the blindfold over Matos' eyes. Defendant said there was nothing over the kid's eyes. Of course, defendant admitted covering Matos' head with a plastic bag after the shooting, and never retracted that portion of his statement, so he must have seen the blindfold, which was shot through and bloodied. The jury may have inferred that he had forgotten about it by the time police asked about it. We conclude the jury was justified in finding beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant, having decided to execute the victim, directed Monica to shoot Matos or shot the victim himself, and in rejecting his claim that he was merely guilty of second degree murder as an accomplice.