Opinion ID: 2599073
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Murder of Rudy Rubalcava (Count I)

Text: On January 8, 1989, at approximately 3:45 a.m, defendant robbed and fatally stabbed Rudy Rubalcava while he was pumping gas at the Shell station on 7th and Market Streets in Oakland. The murder occurred approximately 12 hours after the robbery and attempted murder of Fakoury, and only several blocks distance from the scene of those earlier crimes. Four witnesses observed Rubalcava's murder. Defendant's brother, Isaac Stanley, and Golden Garner and Norma Moss, both of whom knew defendant from the neighborhood, all witnessed the incident and positively identified defendant as Rubalcava's assailant. Gas station attendant Tosha Dunson, the principal witness for the defense, testified defendant was not the man she had seen rob Rubalcava. Isaac Stanley was sitting on a bus stop bench drinking beer across the street from the Shell station and observed his brother walk over to the station and become engaged in a tussle with Rubalcava. [2] Issac observed defendant punching and swinging his arm at Rubalcava while he was down on the ground, striking the victim at least three or four times in the head and chest. Isaac heard Rubalcava yelling, Help this guy is trying to rob me. Afterwards, defendant ran into the apartment building at 1050 Market Street where Isaac had been staying, in apartment No. 307, and where defendant had spent several nights. Isaac followed defendant into the building and the two spent about 20 minutes in the apartment. Defendant's hand was bleeding and wrapped in a bandanna; he told Isaac he had cut himself. Defendant was angry at Isaac for not helping him. Defendant changed his clothes before leaving the apartment. On cross-examination, Isaac admitted giving a somewhat different account of the incident to police when he was taken in for questioning about the murder, and several months thereafter, when he spoke with a defense investigator. Isaac claimed he had been drinking and was under the influence on both occasions. Golden Garner worked as a maintenance man for the buildings at 1050 7th Street, where Isaac Stanley had an apartment, and 725 Market Street, where he (Garner) shared an eighth floor apartment with Norma Moss overlooking the Shell station. [3] Garner knew defendant and Isaac Stanley from the neighborhood. He had seen both brothers in the lobby of his building on Market Street at various times, and had experienced a little difficulty with them and their cousin, Clifford Williams, in the past. Garner knew defendant as D, and testified defendant has a distinct, deep froggie voice. He described Isaac Stanley as having a turned eye. At 3:45 a.m., Moss awoke Garner after seeing two men struggling at the Shell station through their window. Garner went to the window and witnessed defendant struggling with another man, whom he thought may have been of Chinese descent. The man was yelling, Help, I'm being robbed, and defendant appeared to be dragging him on the ground as he (defendant) tried to get away. Garner also saw Isaac Stanley sitting on a bench at the bus stop across the street. After defendant fled on foot, several persons appeared at the gas station and tried to assist Rubalcava. Garner testified that Moss telephoned the police anonymously to report the attack and summon an ambulance. Certain he knew the identity of Rubalcava's assailant, Garner also telephoned the police later that day. Moss and Garner gave the police the addresses of the 725 Market Street and 1050 7th Street buildings as places where Rubalcava's assailant might be found. A few days later, Garner spoke with the Oakland police and identified a photograph of defendant as Rubalcava's assailant. Moss testified she witnessed the attack on Rubalcava at the Shell station from her eighth floor apartment window. She initially heard loud talking and saw two men, whom she could not identify, arguing and shoving one another. One of the men started yelling for help. She saw the larger man fall to the ground; when he tried to get up she could see his pants pulled down around his thighs. Then the smaller man, whom Moss by then could make out as defendant, fled toward her apartment building. Moss called the police to report the crime. Moss also saw a man with a wandering eye standing at the bus stop across the street from the station throughout the altercation. He did not intervene when the victim cried out for help and did not leave until after the attack. Moss identified a photograph of Isaac Stanley as looking like this man. Several days later, upon defendant's arrest, Moss gave a statement to Oakland police and identified defendant's photograph as Rubalcava's assailant. Moss also identified a photograph of defendant's cousin, Clifford Williams, as someone she had seen together with defendant and Isaac Stanley on occasions in the past. Officer John Mendez was dispatched to the Shell station at approximately 3:45 a.m. on January 9, 1989. An ambulance was already at the scene and paramedics were attending to Rubalcava. Officer Mendez observed a bloodied folding buck knife with its tip broken off under Rubalcava's vehicle. Officer Thomas Viglienzone photographed and searched the crime scene for evidence and took the bloodied buck knife (People's exhibit No. 2) into evidence. Rubalcava was transported to the emergency room of Highland Hospital, arriving shortly after Dr. Badger completed surgery on Mr. Fakoury. Dr. Badger testified that, like Fakoury, Rubalcava suffered a deep stab wound to the right side of his neck, penetrating the muscles underneath his jaw bone and severing many branches of the carotid artery. Rubalcava also suffered a stab wound to the lower chest-abdominal area, which penetrated his diaphragm and liver, and three stab wounds to the right side his head; two just above his right ear. Dr. Badger concluded that, given the timing and similarity of the nature and locations of the wounds to Fakoury and Rubalcava, the same person had attacked and stabbed both victims. Rubalcava lost over seven quarts of blood, underwent two surgeries, and died shortly thereafter from cardio-respiratory arrest due to his multiple stab wounds. Both Dr. Badger and Dr. Rogers, the pathologist who performed the autopsy on Rubalcava, believed the knife received into evidence (People's exhibit No. 2) could have caused Rubalcava's fatal wounds. During the autopsy, a small piece of metal was recovered from the inner surface of Rubalcava's skull (People's exhibit No. 6) matching the broken tip of the blade of the knife received into evidence. Fred Stewart lived with Paula Ward and several others in apartment No. 903 at 1050 7th Street, the building in which Isaac Stanley had an apartment. When defendant and Isaac Stanley returned to the building after the incident, Stewart and Ward helped clean and bandage defendant's hand which was bleeding real bad. Stewart heard defendant tell Isaac he was upset with him for not helping him while he was fighting this crazy Mexican. Stewart also heard defendant tell Isaac, I got the money, I went in the pocket, that [ sic ] I got the money. Two weeks earlier, Stewart had seen defendant in possession of a folding buck knife similar to the one received into evidence, except at that time its tip was not broken. Three search warrants were executed in connection with the investigation of the Rubalcava murder. Credit cards and identification belonging to robbery victim Joseph Sieder were recovered from Cynthia Williams's apartment (No. 505) at 1050 7th Street in Oakland. Bloodstained clothing and tennis shoes were among the items of evidence recovered from Isaac Stanley's apartment (no. 307) in the same building. The testimony of a forensic serologist established that the blood on the tennis shoes was consistent with Rubalcava's blood and inconsistent with the blood of defendant and Mr. Fakoury.