Opinion ID: 2515784
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Events Surrounding the Double Murder

Text: The testimony of Michael Rojas, Ray Juarez, and Frank Rodriguez formed the heart of the prosecution's case-in-chief. They testified consistently with each other regarding the identity of the key individuals present and certain events occurring that night. Thus, Rojas, Juarez and Rodriguez testified that, on the night of July 31-August 1, about 30 people gathered on the North Hayes property in the expectation of a drive-by shooting. Many firearms were on the property, and some individuals were armed. People were drinking beer and smoking marijuana and PCP. Two young women, Spring J. and Kim F., were brought to the gathering, where they remained for a couple of hours and then left. At the end of their stay or shortly thereafter, two different young women, Dorothy Medina and Arlene Sanchez, were brought to the property. After several hours, defendant, Spradlin, and Rodriguez drove them away in a late-model gray Pontiac Bonneville, returning without them. Rojas, Juarez, and Rodriguez testified inconsistently, at times wildly so, regarding their individual roles and their observations during the night in question. We summarize the relevant portions of their testimony below because the bulk of defendant's claims assert errors stemming from their testimony.
Michael Rojas went to the North Hayes property on July 31, 1991, to back up Richard in case a fight erupted. He arrived about midnight and did not leave until dawn. That night, Rojas drank beer and smoked marijuana cigarettes. Zeek Diaz and some other youngsters brought Spring J. and Kim F. to the property. Spring smoked PCP, commonly known as KJ, with a group of men that included Richard. The group then went inside the main trailer. During this time, Rojas was outside near some trees where others were hanging out. Rojas did not see Spring go into the Wilderness trailer. At some point, Kim left the property with Richard, and Spring left with Mike De Anda and Juarez. When Spring and Kim were still at the North Hayes property, defendant said he was leaving to pick up girls to party. He and David Gomez left in Richard's car and returned with Medina and Sanchez. A group of six to eight men, including Juarez and Robert Chavez, approached the car carrying the two girls. Medina began smoking KJ. Forty-five minutes after Medina and Sanchez arrived, Juarez was talking to Sanchez in the backyard when defendant approached and accused him of trying to act as if Sanchez were his old lady. The two argued. Defendant had a nine-millimeter gun in his hand, but Rojas told him not to use a gun on any of the homeboys. Rojas later saw a group of men take Medina to the abandoned trailer near the fence. Richard and De Anda also took her to the Wilderness trailer. At some point, Rojas heard muffled crying and noises coming from the Wilderness trailer. There were many men standing in front of the trailer door and going in and out. Rojas opened the door to the trailer and saw Medina lying on the bed naked. She appeared unconscious, and six or eight men stood over her with their pants down, grabbing at her. Richard, who was wearing a bulletproof vest but no pants, pulled the door closed. Rojas walked back to the tree. Later, Rojas saw some men, including defendant, Richard, Spradlin, and De Anda, help Medina out of the trailer and toward a late-model gray car. Medina, still naked, was loaded and crying. Rojas heard the men tell her they were going to give her a ride home and saw them put her in the backseat of the car. Defendant placed Medina's head facedown on the seat cushion. Someone also placed Sanchez in the back seat with her head facedown on the cushion. Gomez wanted to take the girls home, but defendant told Richard that he did not want them to leave because he was scared they would snitch on them and identify him. Defendant told Richard he was going to handle his business, meaning he was going to kill the girls. Defendant had a .25-caliber gun in his hand. Everyone believed Rodriguez would snitch on them, and defendant told Rodriguez to get in the car with the girls. Rodriguez did not want to go, but people pushed him into the car. Defendant also got into the car, and Spradlin drove away. Chavez followed in his blue car. About 40 minutes later, the four men returned together in Chavez's car without the girls. Defendant immediately started yelling at Richard. Defendant was angry because the gun he was given jammed when he tried to shoot one of the women in the head. He also complained that when he shot the women, blood splashed on his clothes. He told Richard, I took care of your fucking business, and that Richard better take care of stuff if anyone said anything. Defendant also yelled at Rodriguez because he tried to run when defendant shot one of the women. Richard told defendant not to worry and to be cool, because they would take care of it. Richard then told the group that if anyone said anything, then their heads would be blown off. Defendant was also angry because he got blood on his clothes and on his new shoes. Richard arranged for defendant to get a new set of clothing and shoes. De Anda took the old clothes and said he was going to burn them in a barrel in his backyard. Rojas left at daylight. When detectives initially interviewed Rojas, he denied ever being at the North Hayes property, and denied any and all involvement in Spring J.'s rape and the murders. Rojas was eventually arrested for the Spring J. incident and thereafter admitted to being present at the North Hayes property. Rojas had prior convictions for assault with a deadly weapon (§ 245) and armed robbery (§ 211). He was on parole when this incident occurred.
Ray Juarez first went to the North Hayes property about 9:00 p.m. on July 31 to help his friend Richard. He left and returned several times that night. During one trip to a nearby store with Gomez, Spring, and Kim in Richard's car, a car approached from behind with bright lights, and Juarez shot his .25-caliber gun in the air several times in warning. Back at the North Hayes property, Juarez smoked KJ in the backyard with Spring and Zeek. Later, he saw Spring in the main trailer, and they started making out. At some point, Juarez saw Rojas in the Wilderness trailer with Spring. Rojas had a belt around Spring's neck and a gun pointed at her head, and told her to shut up or I'll kill you. Spring tried to get up, but Rojas pushed her back down. Juarez had consensual sex with Spring; he did not rape her. He and De Anda later took Spring home. Kim left with Richard. During the night, Juarez, Rojas, and two other men got in a blue or gray car that Juarez and Spradlin had stolen earlier and followed a Blazer that drove by the property. When the occupants of the Blazer started shooting at them, Rojas shot back at them with a .357-caliber gun and Juarez shot back with an AK-47 or a nine-millimeter gun. They then drove back to the property. After Spring and Kim left, Medina and Sanchez arrived with Gomez and defendant in Richard's car. Juarez walked up to the car, looked inside, and recognized Medina, his ex-girlfriend, but not Sanchez. Defendant gave Medina some KJ. Juarez talked to Medina and smoked KJ. Then defendant started screaming at him for talking to Medina. Defendant pulled out a nine-millimeter Uzi, but Rojas, who had been talking to Sanchez, yanked the gun away. Richard also came to see what was going on and told Juarez and defendant to stop arguing. A short time later, Juarez joined Rojas, Medina, and Sanchez near Richard's car. Medina and Sanchez were loaded and leaning against the car. By this point, Juarez had drunk about six cups of beer and was a little bit drunk. He also had smoked marijuana all day but was feeling fine. Juarez told Medina not to smoke too much, and Medina told him to leave her alone and that she could smoke as much as she wanted. Juarez went into the main trailer for about 20 minutes and then sat on the porch drinking beer and talking to Zeek. He went to the Wilderness trailer to get some more marijuana and saw a whole bunch of guys. Juarez smoked marijuana and then moved closer to the group to see what was going on. Medina was lying on the bed naked and Rodriguez was having sex with her. [6] Rojas was lying next to her with a belt around her neck and a .357-caliber gun pointed at her head. Every time Medina cried, Rojas would tighten the belt around her neck and tell her to shut up. Medina was crying and asking them to stop. She grabbed Juarez and asked him repeatedly to help her. Juarez just told her to relax and kick back. He also told her to give him a blow job. She complied, but Juarez threw her back on the bed because he did not feel right about it. Spradlin, Chavez, and Robert Ballesteros also had sex with Medina. Richard then came into the trailer and said, I want you to take the girls off my property. Spradlin and Chavez, the last ones to leave the Wilderness trailer, placed a blanket around Medina and carried her to the abandoned trailer. Medina screamed and broke a window in the abandoned trailer with her hand. Juarez then heard a pop, turned around, and saw Sanchez on the ground with Rojas standing over her cussing her out. He did not actually see Rojas hit Sanchez. [7] Juarez followed Spradlin and Chavez into the abandoned trailer, where Spradlin had sex with Medina. Medina was trying to break loose, but Chavez was holding her down, and someone continued hitting her. When Juarez told the men to stop, they told him to get out. He left the trailer and joined defendant, Richard, Rojas, and Rodriguez at the front of the property. Sanchez, who was standing by Richard's car, appeared to be crying. Juarez implored Richard to let him take the women home, but Rojas said no, reasoning: If we let `em go, they're gonna tell on us, what we did to them. And they gonna [ sic ] raid the house. Richard replied: I don't care what you do, just get 'em off my property. I don't want 'em on my property. Around this time, Spradlin and Chavez came out of the abandoned trailer, followed by Medina, who ran toward Sanchez, holding a blanket over herself. Rojas grabbed Medina, pushed her facedown on a chair under a tree, placed a belt around her neck and a gun to her head, and asked her, Do you know who we are? She cried, No, no, but Rojas said, You're lying. Rojas then let Medina go, and she ran to Sanchez. Rojas said: We can't let these girls go home. They know too much. We got to take `em out. Defendant agreed. Juarez again implored Richard to let him take the women home, and Richard said he did not care what they did as long as the women were off his property. Spradlin brought around the car they had stolen earlier. Defendant and Rojas grabbed Medina and placed her in the backseat of the car with her face on the seat cushion. Defendant, who had a nine-millimeter Uzi in his hand, also placed Sanchez in the car. [8] Defendant also had a .25-caliber gun with two or three bullets in it that Juarez had given him earlier. [9] Spradlin had a .380-caliber gun in the waistband of his pants. Rojas pressed Rodriguez, who had a nine-millimeter Uzi, to get in the car. Defendant got in the front passenger seat, and Spradlin drove away. Twenty to twenty-five minutes later, the men returned without the women. Rojas asked what happened, and defendant said he shot the women in the back of their heads twice. Someone asked where they shot the women, and defendant said he shot one woman on the canal bank and the other in the grapevines. Defendant commented, You should have seen how [the women's heads] cracked. Holding a nine-millimeter Uzi in his hand, defendant told Richard: Next time you give me a gun, make sure it works. This one got jammed on me. He told Richard that one of the women tried to run. Defendant also complained to Richard that Rodriguez had dropped the gun and tried to run. Richard asked if they threw the women in the canal. When defendant said no, Richard was angry and said: It would have been harder for them to find. It would have been a couple more days. Defendant offered to go back and throw the bodies into the canal, but Richard said they should [j]ust let it be. Richard told defendant to change his clothes because they had bloodstains on them. Defendant gave Juarez back the .25-caliber gun, which contained no bullets. Defendant handed the nine-millimeter gun to Richard, who gave it to Juarez. Juarez cleaned the gun, which had blood on it, and placed it in a bag along with a pair of shorts belonging to Medina. He then gave the bag to De Anda, who said he would burn it at his house. But De Anda returned with the gun later in the day, and Richard told Juarez to bury it elsewhere. Juarez did so near Lake Avocado. Richard also ordered the stolen car that had carried the women away be washed, taken somewhere far away, and burned. Juarez, Spradlin, Chavez, and Rodriguez washed the car. Spradlin drove off in it, and Chavez followed in his small blue Toyota. Spradlin and Chavez returned together. Spradlin did not say where they burned the car. Juarez went to the Wilderness trailer, where he heard on a police scanner that two female bodies were found on a canal bank. Juarez then fell asleep and awoke at noon. When he woke up, Rojas pulled out a black leather pouch containing some jewelry. Juarez asked Rojas where he got it, and Rojas said he got it off one of the girls. Rojas offered a piece of jewelry to Juarez, but Juarez declined. When Juarez was arrested for the rape of Spring J., he denied any involvement in Spring's rape and in the murders, and further denied that Rojas was involved. But during an interview sometime after his arrest, Juarez acknowledged having had sex with Spring. Juarez testified that he had spoken to Rojas on a couple of occasions while he was in jail following this incident. The two concocted a plan to blame defendant, Richard, and Spradlin for the murders. Rojas told Juarez that he had heard Richard was looking out for himself and did not care about anyone else. Rojas said he was going to make a deal with the detectives and encouraged Juarez to do the same. Rojas assured Juarez that if they stuck together they would both get out of jail. Juarez initially went along with Rojas's plan, but backed out when he found out that Rojas got out of jail while he remained. Sometime in 1992, Juarez told detectives that it was Rojas's decision to kill the women and that Rojas had ordered Rodriguez to get in the car.
Shortly after 10:00 p.m. on July 31, 1991, Frank Rodriguez ran into Chavez, Zeek, Spring, Kim, and Juarez. There was a discussion about a possible drive-by shooting at the North Hayes property, and everyone drove there. On the North Hayes property, Rodriguez drank beer throughout the night and spent most of the evening in the main trailer and in the Wilderness trailer. Spring went into the main trailer and remained there for some time. Later, Rodriguez saw her go into the Wilderness trailer with Zeek. When Rodriguez walked into that trailer, Rojas asked him for help in holding Spring down. Rodriguez refused and left when Rojas told him to get out. A couple of hours later, Spring walked out of the Wilderness trailer and left with De Anda. Thereafter, Kim left with Richard. Before Spring and Kim left, two different women arrived on the property with Gomez and defendant. Rodriguez saw one of the women coming around the abandoned trailer with defendant, Richard, Spradlin, and Robert Chavez. The group walked toward a 1990 or 1991 gray Pontiac Bonneville. Chavez put one of the women in the backseat. The woman was on her knees on the floor of the car, with her hands on the seat and her head down. She was crying and repeatedly said, Help me. The other woman was in the front passenger seat, also crying. Rodriguez did not see who put the woman in the front seat. [11] Defendant said, We got to get rid of these bitches. Richard said, Take care of 'em, and Got to take care of business. You got to do what you got to do. Defendant, Richard, and Spradlin told Rodriguez to get in the car, and Rodriguez complied because he was fearful of defendant. Rodriguez was unarmed, and he did not intend to assist in murdering the women. Defendant also got in the car, and Spradlin drove them to the canal bank. At the canal bank, Spradlin took the woman sitting in the backseat and led her away from the car. The woman was on her knees, and Spradlin was holding her by the back of her neck. Rodriguez turned around and heard a pop. When he turned back, the woman was lying on the ground. Defendant led the other woman toward the grapevines. Rodriguez heard defendant say she was trying to get away and heard him yell for Spradlin's help. Rodriguez saw the woman attempting to crawl away from defendant. Spradlin then walked down the canal bank toward the grapevines. Rodriguez heard three gunshots, though he did not actually see defendant or Spradlin with a gun. Rodriguez next remembered getting back into the car and defendant yelling at him. When the men returned to the North Hayes property, defendant continued to yell, telling everyone present that Rodriguez was a rookie who should not have gone, and that defendant should have taken him out, too. Rodriguez defended himself, stating that he had not wanted to go in the first place. Richard told Rodriguez to be quiet or he would be next. When Rodriguez first spoke to detectives after his arrest on September 6, 1991, he told them he had been out of town the night of the murders and did not know who was responsible for them. Rodriguez was placed in a jail cell with Rojas for about five days, during which time Rojas suggested several times to Rodriguez that it would be better if Rodriguez turned state's evidence. Rodriguez testified he suffered alcoholic blackouts in the past. He could not remember portions of the night of July 31 and August 1 because he had been drinking excessively and blacked out.