Saturday, June 16, 2007

Jury begins deliberation Monday in murder case

Clara Garcia News-Bulletin Staff Writer; cgarcia@news-bulletin.com

A jury has heard all the testimony and has seen all the evidence and on Monday will start deliberating the fate of a 21-year-old man charged with killing two men in February 2006.

Timothy "T.J" Sandoval, formerly of Peralta, is charged with two open counts of murder. He's accused of shooting and killing Meadow Lake residents 24-year-old Ross "Chino" Ramos Jr. and 27-year-old Jeff McCormick on Feb. 11, 2006.

The trial, which began earlier this week, comes nearly a year and a half after gunshots rang out in a rural Los Lunas neighborhood, killing the two men and critically injuring a third. The district attorney's office dismissed one count of attempted murder as to the shooting of the third man, James "Jaime" Arbizu, who was shot six times during the incident.

During opening statements on Tuesday morning, Assistant District Attorney Aaron Jordan told the jury that Sandoval wasn't being prosecuted for shooting Arbizu because he (Arbizu) was holding a gun when the defendant shot him. District Judge John Pope also dismissed a charge of tampering with evidence during the trial, saying that the state hadn't offered evidence that Sandoval hid the gun used in the incident.

Sandoval's defense attorney, Tom Esquibel, told the jury that his client doesn't deny shooting the men that day but said that it was in self-defense. Esquibel said that it was Ramos and Arbizu, who were brothers, who were the aggressors that day and that Sandoval was protecting himself and his girlfriend when confronted.

The first witness to take the stand was Valencia County Sheriff's Lt. Jeff Noah, the first officer on the scene. Noah told the jury that he arrived just minutes after he was dispatched to the intersection of Jerome and Sais Roads that day.

Noah testified that when he walked up to the crime scene, he saw one man lying lifeless on the ground behind a red Ford Explorer, another in the vehicle's back seat with a gunshot wound to his head, and a third on his hands and knees bleeding on the ground in front of the vehicle.

"I asked him his name, and he said something, but I couldn't understand him," Noah said. "I asked him who did this to him and he said 'TJ.' I asked him something else, but I couldn't understand him because of the blood in his mouth."

Arbizu testified that he hasdspent most of the day with his brother, Chino, working on another brother's car. He said that, later that afternoon, he received a call from McCormick, a family friend, asking for a ride home after work. Arbizu testified that it was after he and his brother picked up McCormick that they ran into Sandoval at J and J's Country Mart on North El Cerro Road.

"He came up to the Explorer saying he knew us from school," Arbizu said. "He was talking to me, and after that he took off."

Arbizu, who testified that his memory of that day was not that clear because of his injuries, said he wasn't sure why or in which direction his brother drove to where the incident took place. He said that the next thing he remembered was getting out of the passenger seat on the side of the road.

When asked why he got out of the vehicle, Arbizu replied, "Because TJ got out too." Arbizu admitted that he had a gun, but said that it was in his back pocket.

He said that he noticed Sandoval had his hand on his hip as if he was holding a gun, but he didn't see it until it was pointed at him and his brother, who also got out of the truck.

"Me and my brother told him to put down the gun," Arbizu said. "Then I reached for my gun, and all I heard was a bunch of gunshots. That's when I looked at my brother and he fell down. Then I got shot."

Arbizu, who was shot a total of six times, including in his left wrist, his shoulder, and behind his ear, said he was in and out of consciousness but remembered seeing his brother trying to reach for him.

"I passed out, and when I woke up, he was dead," Arbizu said of Ramos. "I saw TJ put the gun toward the Explorer and heard gunshots."

Under cross-examination by Esquibel, Arbizu told the jury that he was carrying a gun because he and his brother had planned to go target shooting later that day.

"My brother told him to put down his gun and fight like a man," Arbizu said. "I told him 'no, let me fight him,' and then all I heard was gunshots."

Arbizu testified that he knew Sandoval because they were involved in a physical altercation several years prior to the shooting.

Eyewitness Perry Sanchez said he was in his barn that day with his two daughters when he saw the incident. He testified that he was in the process of saddling up his horses when he saw two vehicles park in the road.

Sanchez told the jury he could see the driver of the Explorer and the passenger of a dark-colored Acura get out at the same time and start arguing.

"I couldn't hear about what, and that's when my daughter said, 'Dad, he's got a gun,'" Sanchez said. "I turned around, and the guy who got out of the car had a gun (pointed at) the other guy. He had his hands up, and the only thing I could hear was someone say, 'Put the gun down.' I turned around, and that's when I heard the gunshots."

According to Sanchez, he immediately picked up his 4-year-old daughter and threw her in a nearby horse trailer for safety. He said when he turned around again he saw the passenger of the car shooting inside the window of the Explorer, then get into his car and leave.

Dr. Rebecca Irvine, a forensic pathologist with the Office of the Medical Investigator's Office in Albuquerque, testified that it was determined after an autopsy that Ramos sustained two gunshot wounds, one underneath his chin and another to the head. McCormick sustained one gunshot wound to the face. She determined that the muzzle that fired the bullet into McCormick's face must have been at least six inches away because of the injuries he sustained.

Sandoval's girlfriend, 19-year-old Vanessa Crouch, testified Thursday afternoon that she and the defendant were living together and working at McDonald's in Bosque Farms.

Crouch said that after work, they went to her mother's home to take her a birthday present and on their way home, they decided to stop for gas at J and J's Country Mart.

Crouch testified that Sandoval went inside the station to pay and that she remained outside and pumped the gas. As Sandoval came out of the station, Crouch said she continued pumping gas as she heard voices coming from a red Explorer calling to her boyfriend and yelling, "East side."

Crouch testified that Sandoval told them that he didn't want any problems and got into the passenger side of Crouch's car and she drove away down Monica Road.

She said that when she looked into her rearview mirror, she realized the men in the red Explorer were chasing them. She said at this point she feared for her life. Crouch claimed that the Explorer forced her off the road and she had no choice but to pull the car onto the side of the road.

"I was scared. I just wanted to go home. We just wanted to go home," Crouch cried.

Crouch said that when she pulled over, the Explorer pulled up in front of them and the passenger got out of the vehicle and had a gun in his hand. She said as he walked closer to her car he pointed and cocked his gun. Crouch said only then did Sandoval get out of the vehicle with his gun. Crouch said that she did not know that Sandoval had a gun with him.

She said that when the driver got out of the vehicle, it looked to her as if he was reaching for a gun behind his back. No weapon was found on him.

She also testified that she was not aware that anyone was in the back seat of the Explorer until the passenger's rear door opened from the inside and she saw legs start to exit the vehicle. Crouch said that the position the legs were in led her to believe that whoever was inside was getting something from inside the car.

Crouch said that she doesn't remember who was shot first or where the bodies lay afterward. She said that she thought she was going to die and is certain she would have had Sandoval not done what he did.

"I was scared for my life," Crouch said as she sat on the witness stand crying. "All I was thinking about was my family. I thought I was going to have to sit there and watch them shoot my boyfriend. I didn't think I was ever going to see my family again."

News-Bulletin Intern Melissa Hubbell contributed to this story.

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