Opinion ID: 2637056
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Crimes at Volunteers of America apartments

Text: On December 23, 1992, McLean Currie worked the graveyard shift as a security monitor at the Volunteers of America Independent Living and Readiness Pilot Project (the Project) at 254 Cleveland Avenue in Sacramento. The aim of the Project was to take persons, many of them drug addicts and alcoholics, from nonfunctional environments and prepare them for life in mainstream society. Participants resided in two-bedroom apartments; defendant and the victim, George Martinez, shared apartment 9. Between 5:00 and 5:15 a.m. on that date, Currie, who worked from an office located in apartment 5, saw Martinez enter the office and noted his entrance in the logbook. Soon thereafter, defendant followed Martinez into the office. Currie, who was not acquainted with defendant, asked who he was. Defendant replied, My name's Herb. Currie noted his entrance in the logbook. Defendant and Martinez went into the kitchen of apartment 5, which served as a common area for Project participants, and Currie heard low talking. Martinez came out of the kitchen and walked back down the hall toward Currie's office with defendant following him. Defendant said, Let's go back to the apartment, we can figure this out. Martinez said, No, I don't want to go. Martinez and defendant walked back and forth in the hallway several times. Finally, Martinez entered the office; defendant stood in the doorway. Currie realized there was some problem between the two men: Martinez appeared scared, and defendant looked irritated. Currie asked what was going on. Martinez said, I don't have to put up with this shit this early in the morning. Currie asked what he was talking about. Defendant said, I got a little gas. Currie asked the two men to sit down. When neither moved after 30 seconds to a minute, Currie took out a red incident folder and told them that if they did not help him resolve the problem, he would have to write an incident report. Defendant said, All right, I'll settle it. Defendant entered the office, locked the door, pulled a handgun from the waistband of his pants and demanded Martinez's car keys. Martinez shook his head. Defendant then shot Martinez in the abdomen and said, Goddamn Mexican's been bugging me ever since I have lived here. Martinez fell backward into a chair in the office. Defendant again asked Martinez for his car keys; Martinez said he did not have them. Currie wanted to call an ambulance for Martinez. Still holding the gun in his hand, defendant answered: Shut the fuck up. We are doing things my way now. He drew another gun from the waistband of his pants, saying he had five more rounds in the gun he had used to shoot Martinez, and the other was loaded. As Currie was about to call an ambulance, defendant told him to pull the phone out. Currie pulled the phone to the edge of the desk. Defendant grabbed it by the cord, ripped it out of the wall, and threw it onto Martinez, saying, Let him call. Defendant asked if Currie had a car in the parking lot. Currie said he did, to which defendant responded, Give me your keys. Currie retrieved his keys from his jacket pocket and placed them on the desk. Defendant asked which keys unlocked the car and started it; Currie gave him the information and told him it was necessary to push a button underneath the steering column. Defendant said, That's not going to work. He told Currie they were going to get Martinez's keys and directed him to get up from the desk and walk to defendant's apartment. Defendant and Currie walked the 25 to 35 yards down the sidewalk from the office to apartment 9. Still brandishing a gun, defendant directed Currie to enter, and Currie complied. Defendant told him to wait in a corner of one of the bedrooms. Defendant pulled out a knapsack and laid it on the bed. He began to pull clothes from the closet; Currie packed them into the knapsack. When Currie finished packing, defendant told him they were going to look for George's keys. They then went into the other bedroom. While Currie stood in the corner of the room, defendant searched for the keys. Not finding them anywhere, defendant said, George must have the keys on him. Still holding a gun, defendant walked behind Currie back to apartment 5. There, Martinez was lying prone in the same position as when they had left. Defendant instructed Currie to search Martinez's pockets for the keys. Currie found them in a pocket of Martinez's coat. Currie found no weapons on Martinez, who by this time was silent. Currie handed the keys to defendant, who said, No, you're going to come out and start the car. Defendant and Currie then walked out to the parking lot. Currie got into Martinez's car and eventually succeeded in starting it. He backed the car out of the parking space and, at defendant's direction, turned the headlights on. After Currie scraped some ice off the windshield, defendant got into the car and drove away. Meanwhile, Robert Edwards was coming out of apartment 6 on his way to work, when he heard someone calling for help. As he approached apartment 5, he realized the person calling out was inside. Edwards entered and found Martinez lying on his back at the entrance to the family room with a Christmas tree pulled over on top of him. Martinez asked Edwards to call 911; Edwards did so and reported that Martinez, who was holding his chest, may have suffered a heart attack. After ending the phone call, Edwards returned to Martinez, who had passed out. Edwards administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). He smelled no alcohol on Martinez's breath. When Martinez regained consciousness, Edwards asked him what had happened. Martinez said he had been shot by his roommate. Opening Martinez's shirt, Edwards saw a bullet hole in his abdomen. Edwards went outside to seek help and saw Currie returning to the office from the parking lot. A car, which Edwards recognized as Martinez's, was driving out of the lot. Currie told Edwards to get back inside, as the man in the car had a gun. Currie and Edwards returned to apartment 5. Martinez asked Currie for a glass of water; Currie and Edwards helped him sit up. After Currie left to get the water, Martinez fell over. Edwards again administered CPR. A few minutes later, fire department emergency personnel arrived and began to treat Martinez. They found no weapons in the area. Ultimately, Martinez was transported by ambulance to a hospital, where he later died. Sacramento Police Officers Frank Reyes and Currina Pendleton arrived at the crime scene around 6:00 a.m. Officer Reyes obtained a brief statement from Currie, who was quite upset, and then broadcast information regarding defendant and Martinez's vehicle. Reyes searched Martinez's clothing, finding no weapons. Officer Pendleton secured the scene, accompanied Martinez to the hospital in the ambulance, and collected his effects after he was declared dead; she found no weapons in Martinez's clothing, but did retrieve Martinez's uncashed Blue Diamond Growers paycheck. An autopsy established that Martinez had died as a result of a gunshot wound to the abdomen, which severed the aorta, resulting in extensive internal hemorrhaging. Analysis of Martinez's blood was negative for cocaine, methamphetamine, morphine, PCP and alcohol; his blood was not tested for marijuana. A subsequent search of apartment 9 by Sacramento Police detectives yielded a live .38-caliber round in defendant's nightstand. No weapons, bullets, alcohol, drugs or paraphernalia were found in Martinez's room. An expended slug was retrieved from apartment 5. Between 4:00 and 5:00 p.m. the same day, California Highway Patrol Officer William Sullivan, working out of the Buttonwillow Office in Kern County, received two citizens' calls about a driver on Interstate 5. A dispatcher who checked the license number given by one of the callers informed Sullivan that the car had been involved in a homicide. Officer Sullivan observed the suspect vehicle, a silver Buick, driving southbound at 70 miles per hour and weaving from side to side in the lane. The car abruptly pulled into the Buttonwillow rest area and stopped. Officer Sullivan and fellow California Highway Patrol Officer Bill Waterhouse ordered the driver to exit the car, toss the keys out of the car and raise his arms. Defendant slowly got out of the car and eventually extended his arms after reaching several times toward his waist. As Officer Sullivan trained his rifle on defendant, Officer Waterhouse ordered defendant to kneel on the ground. After being ordered several times to kneel down, defendant finally complied. Defendant appeared intoxicated; his breath smelled of an alcoholic beverage, his speech was slurred, and he was unsteady on his feet. After defendant had been handcuffed, the officers searched him. Inside a pocket of his jacket was a loaded .32-caliber derringer pistol. In the rear passenger compartment of the Buick was a knapsack containing a blue steel Smith and Wesson .38-caliber revolver with four live rounds and one expended round in it. Ballistics testing established that the revolver had fired the expended slug found in apartment 5.
Testifying at trial in his own behalf, defendant denied stealing anything from the Woolworth store and sought to establish that he shot Martinez in self-defense after Martinez assaulted him with a knife. Defendant began his testimony by recounting how he had arrived in Sacramento a few months after being released from prison on parole. According to defendant, he was hit on the head at the Greyhound bus terminal in downtown Sacramento and robbed of his paperwork, job leads, auto mechanic course certificates, and other belongings. He then went to a halfway house for recovering drug abusers and alcoholics on Bannon Street in Sacramento, but he felt he did not belong in that environment. Thereafter, defendant went to various social services agencies and volunteered his services. He also worked odd jobs on the weekends. Defendant eventually moved into the Volunteers of America apartments, with George Martinez assigned to be his roommate. Defendant testified he and Martinez got along well in the beginning, but over time they began quarrelling. When Martinez drank, he became a mean drunk. Defendant purchased meat and cheese at a local flea market and stored it in the refrigerator in the apartment he shared with Martinez. Later, he noticed some of it was missing and confronted Martinez. Martinez threatened him with a knife and said, Don't make me use this on you. Defendant claimed he had forced Martinez to back down with a pan of boiling water he was using to prepare oatmeal. He did not report the incident because he was not a snitch. A second similar incident occurred a few days later, when defendant again noticed meat missing from the refrigerator; defendant confronted Martinez, who, smelling of alcohol, again threatened him with a knife. Defendant testified he picked up a kitchen knife and Martinez left the apartment. A few days before December 23, 1992, defendant testified, he bought two handguns from a woman at the flea market; defendant claimed he did not want the weapons, but the woman was insistent because she needed money. Defendant planned to resell the weapons at the flea market the following weekend at a price double what he had paid for them. Defendant kept the guns in an old shoulder bag and often carried them with him because he walked through very tough neighborhoods at night, where he would encounter gang members. Late on the night of December 22, 1992, defendant went to visit some friends, intending soon to sell the two guns and move out of the Volunteers of America apartments. At his friends' house the lights were out, so he turned around and walked back downtown. At the Greyhound bus station, he took a taxi to a nearby restaurant. [1] About an hour later, he took another cab ride back to his apartment. [2] Entering the apartment, defendant testified he tossed his backpack onto his bed and went to turn on the wall heater. Martinez, who smelled of alcohol, came out of his bedroom and said, I am tired of this shit, you always turn on the gas. Martinez was holding a knife in his hand. When defendant pulled a gun, Martinez backed away and put his knife back in his jacket pocket; defendant likewise put his gun back. As Martinez was about to leave the apartment, he threatened defendant, saying, I am going to get you, I am going to cut you in half. Martinez walked out the front door of the apartment. Defendant followed him to the office where Currie was sitting at a desk writing in a logbook. Defendant testified that when he entered the office, Martinez was looking at a bulletin board. Suddenly, defendant claimed, Martinez rushed him. Defendant grabbed and hit Martinez in self-defense, causing Martinez to fall into a Christmas tree, knocking it over. Defendant backed away, knowing that, with a gun, he held an advantage in the fight. Currie asked defendant who he was, and defendant identified himself. Martinez picked up the fallen Christmas tree and again threatened defendant. Martinez then walked into the office; defendant followed, trying to calm him down. Martinez continued to repeat his threats. Currie said he smelled alcohol and would have to separate the two men. Defendant testified that when he took his eyes off Martinez to tell Currie he did not drink, Martinez suddenly rushed defendant with a knife, and defendant shot him. Martinez stopped, but said nothing and did not look like he was hurt. He put his knife back in his pocket and sat on a nearby chair, still looking red and angry. According to defendant, Currie said: I am a white man. You are not going to shoot me, too, are you? Defendant replied that he had put the gun back in his waist, that he had another in his pocket, and the guns were going to stay there, as he had no fight with Currie. Defendant asked Currie for the keys to his car. According to defendant, Currie said all he had was a little truck, but he offered to get Martinez's keys. Defendant denied pointing any guns at Currie and claimed he followed Currie to the apartment he shared with Martinez. They did not find any keys there and, after putting some clothes in defendant's pack, returned to the office. Martinez had moved to the floor and was holding his wound. He appeared to be in pain, although defendant still did not think he had been badly hurt. Defendant admitted throwing a telephone on the floor, but denied throwing it on Martinez. Defendant testified that Currie reached into Martinez's coat pocket and removed his car keys. Defendant told Currie to start the car. Defendant asserted he was not guilty of stealing any car because Currie had taken the keys and started the car. Defendant had not wanted Martinez's car because, as a certified mechanic, he knew it was worthless. When defendant drove away, he did not call the police because he was preoccupied with thoughts of getting a lawyer. He was heading to Riverside for that purpose; he knew an attorney there. Defendant soon encountered problems with Martinez's car. Although the digital fuel gauge showed three gallons, the car ran out of gas and stalled on the freeway. Defendant claimed a California Highway Patrol officer stopped and asked him, What's the trouble, Sarge? The officer asked him if he had any money, and defendant showed him three $100 bills. The officer then called a tow truck operator, who sold defendant three gallons of gas for $20. Later, just outside Bakersfield, the electrical system failed when defendant tried to start the car. Another highway patrol officer came along, and a second tow truck driver was able to start the car. Defendant paid him with a $100 bill. After getting back on the freeway, defendant saw a sign for a rest area. It was cold, and he pulled in to get some coffee. It was there he was arrested. Defendant explained that he had initially refused to kneel on the ground when ordered to do so by highway patrol officers because it was cold. Defendant denied reaching toward the pocket containing the derringer. On cross-examination, defendant acknowledged his prior felony convictions for burglary in 1963, assault with a firearm in 1967, receiving stolen property in 1978, a felony involving dishonesty in 1982, and robbery in 1983. Patrick O'Farrell testified for the defense that Martinez had stabbed him on August 16, 1992. O'Farrell, who admitted having been convicted of various felonies, testified he was sitting on Del Paso Boulevard drinking with two friends on that date; one of the men, named Steve, asked Martinez about repaying some money he owed him. Martinez became embroiled in a verbal argument over the money. O'Farrell stood up and struck Martinez in the face with a whiskey bottle. Martinez then stabbed O'Farrell in the abdomen, turned, and walked away.
Craig Wire, the safety coordinator for the Volunteers of America, opined that Martinez did not have a reputation for violence, but rather was generally softspoken and timid. Defendant, according to Wire, had a reputation for aggressive behavior. Anthony Kotko, Martinez's supervisor at Blue Diamond Growers, testified he had never observed any type of aggressive or violent behavior by Martinez.