Opinion ID: 2637824
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Defendant's family history

Text: Defendant's parents, Eva Martinez and Tommy Martinez (Tommy Sr.), met in Santa Maria when he was 15 years old and she was 13. Tommy Sr. and many of his siblings had problems with alcohol. Although Eva's father objected to her relationship with Tommy Sr., her parents forced them to marry when Eva became pregnant with defendant at the age of 16. On October 10, 1977, defendant was born. Their second son, Isaac, was born on February 27, 1979. When defendant was nearly a year old, Tommy Sr. was incarcerated for rape and he remained largely absent from defendant's early childhood due to repeated violations of his parole. Defendant, however, developed a close bond with his maternal grandmother, Dorothy. In brief periods in which Tommy Sr. was in the household, he and Eva had numerous arguments in front of the boys, some of which became physical. At school, defendant initially had difficulty keeping up with the other children and had to repeat kindergarten, but did well in first grade. Tommy Sr. and Eva also had a third son, Mario. Although Tommy Sr. would often go to bars and stay out late on work nights, on weekends he would take the boys bike riding, which they enjoyed. In 1987, when defendant was 10 years old, Tommy Sr. began having an affair with a woman who lived across the street from their house, and he eventually moved out to live with her. Before he moved out, Eva became pregnant with their fourth child, Angel, but that did not deter Tommy Sr. from leaving. He said goodbye to his children and left the household. The couple's fourth son, Angel was born on November 20, 1987. Soon after, defendant's grandmother, Dorothy, was killed in a car accident. At the end of 1988, Tommy Sr. entered a rehabilitation center for alcoholics, but later secretly moved to Oklahoma. He did not maintain any contact with defendant's family for an entire year. The death of his grandmother and the disappearance of his father upset defendant and made him feel lonely. Around this time, defendant began spending time with the family of Tommy Sr.'s brother, Rick Martinez. Rick often brought defendant to church where he related well with other children in his youth group. During this period, defendant began to get into trouble. At the age of 12, defendant and his brother Isaac were arrested for stealing cassettes from a department store, but were not prosecuted. Defendant also started doing poorly in the seventh grade and began skipping school. Eva did not encourage him to go to school. In fact, on days when she was feeling depressed, Eva would pick up defendant from school in the middle of the day and take him with her to lunch and shopping. Also around this time, defendant began inhaling solvents. Eva once caught defendant and his cousin sniffing glue in his bedroom. She also repeatedly found around the home bottles of glue and bags that had paint sprayed into them so the fumes could be inhaled from the bags. She tried to warn defendant not to inhale solvents because they would affect his brain. Defendant also began using methamphetamine, marijuana, and alcohol. At the end of eighth grade, defendant was expelled and stopped attending school, but was forced to return after he was placed on probation for the ice cream shop robbery. In 1990, Tommy Sr. returned to Santa Maria, but was soon placed in prison for two years for fighting and drunk driving. During this period, Tommy Sr. and Eva divorced, and he remarried. While he was in prison, Tommy Sr. and defendant exchanged letters, and defendant confided in his father that he was getting high. Tommy Sr. counseled him against using drugs, and wanted to get defendant out of Santa Maria because of local gangs. After the robbery of the liquor store, the juvenile court sent defendant to Los Prietos Boys Camp, the same camp his father had been sent to as an adolescent. Defendant eventually fled the camp and returned home. His mother sent him to Northern California, where he lived with his uncle Louie for three months. While there, defendant developed an intimate relationship with Louie's stepdaughter. Defendant returned to Santa Maria with Louie's stepdaughter, hoping they would both be able to stay with his mother, but she disapproved of the relationship and notified the authorities, who then brought defendant back to the camp. By then, his brother Isaac had also been sent to the same camp. Defendant and Isaac fled the camp and stayed at their father's residence in Simi Valley for one day. The next day, Tommy Sr. tried to return them to their mother's residence, but on the way to Santa Maria, Tommy Sr. was stopped and arrested for drunk driving and served four years in prison as a result. As the eldest brother, defendant had a very close relationship with his youngest brother, Angel, whom he cared for like a father. Defendant taught Angel how to play baseball, took him bike riding, and picked him up from school. Defendant had similar relationships with his cousins from his uncle Rick's family and had a positive influence on them as well. During his middle adolescence, ages 15 to 17, defendant had four serious girlfriends. With his mother's permission, at various times, two of them lived at the household and stayed in defendant's room. Defendant's ex-girlfriends all described their relationships with defendant as intimate and loving. Defendant wrote them poetry. None of them experienced any violence from defendant or any abnormal sexual behavior.