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Thread: Marcus Fletcher - California Death Row

  1. #1
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    Marcus Fletcher - California Death Row


    Marcus Fletcher


    Jury selection to get underway in liquor store murder trial

    MURRIETA - Jury selection is slated to get under way today for the trial of two men accused of gunning down a Temecula liquor store clerk during a robbery.

    Marcus Fletcher, 27, and Dale Dante Thomas, 26, could face the death penalty if convicted of killing 34-year-old Rafi Ibrahim at the Rancho Liquor Store on Old Town Front Street in April 2005.

    Both defendants are charged with first-degree murder and attempted murder, with a special circumstance allegation that the crimes were committed during a robbery.

    Fletcher is additionally charged with first-degree murder, gun and great bodily injury allegations in a separate fatal shooting in San Diego County. Along with Ibrahim's death, the defendant will be tried at the same time for the Jan. 26, 2005, killing of 23-year-old Kedran Howard.

    The cases were merged in 2006 after Riverside County prosecutors established that the same .38-caliber handgun was used in both shootings.

    According to prosecutors, Thomas cased the Old Town Temecula liquor store before allegedly returning with Fletcher hours later to rob it.

    One other person was in the line of fire, resulting in the attempted murder charge.

    Thomas allegedly confessed to participating in the hold-up, telling sheriff's investigators that his cut of the stolen cash was $400.

    Both defendants are being held without bail at the Southwest Detention Center in Murrieta.

    http://www.myvalleynews.com/story/54981/

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    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Days before the sixth anniversary of a Temecula liquor store clerk's slaying, a judge Wednesday refused to delay the trial of the remaining defendant who faces the death penalty for the 2005 shooting and robbery.

    After an hour-long meeting with attorneys in his office, Judge F. Paul Dickerson III took the bench and denied the defense's motion to delay Marcus Fletcher's trial.

    "The court feels that (this) case needs to move forward," Dickerson said.

    Fletcher is charged with two counts of murder, one for the April 1, 2005, shooting death of Rafi Ibrahim inside Rancho Liquor on Old Town Front Street. The other murder charge stems from the January 2005 gang-related shooting death of Kedran Howard in San Diego. He also is charged with committing the crimes to benefit a criminal street gang.

    Co-defendant Dale Dante Thomas, 26, faced the death penalty in connection with Ibrahim's death, but pleaded guilty Monday. It is unclear what Thomas pleaded guilty to because, in a rare move, Supervising Deputy District Attorney Sam Kaloustian successfully requested that all records pertaining to the plea agreement be sealed.

    Dickerson also imposed a gag order on all of the attorneys involved in the two-defendant case.

    During Wednesday's hearing, Dickerson responded to The Californian's questions pertaining to the gag orders and the sealing of records.

    "I don't want Mr. Fletcher's jury prejudiced or influenced in any way, shape, or form because of what has happened with Mr. Thomas," Dickerson said. "I made the gag order because the court is very concerned. This is a capital case. ... I want to make sure he has a fair trial."

    Thomas is slated to be sentenced in May.

    Investigators believe Fletcher fired the fatal shots while Thomas drove the getaway car, based on statements Thomas made in 2005. Former prosecutor John Davis has said Thomas was the mastermind of the Temecula liquor store robbery.

    During a prior court hearing, investigators testified Thomas picked Rancho Liquor because he knew it would have a lot of money given that the business also had a check-cashing service.

    In 2003, Thomas and Fletcher were convicted in San Diego County of three separate robberies, including the robbery of a liquor store.

    Jury selection for Fletcher's trial is expected to begin in April.

    http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/te...f00ea08ff.html

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    A man accused of gunning down an unarmed clerk during the robbery of an Old Town Temecula liquor store pursued the mortally wounded man down the aisle to where he had collapsed, a prosecutor told jurors Monday.

    "Did you think you'd get away from me?" prosecutor Sam Kaloustian said, quoting the gunman.

    Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Marcus Fletcher, 27, of San Diego, who is charged with murder in the April 1, 2005 shooting of 34-year-old Rafi Ibrahim. He is also charged with the attempted murder of a customer at the store, as well as a second murder count in the January 2005 killing of a San Diego man authorities have described as a member of a rival gang.

    Although the January 2005 shooting took place in San Diego County, the killings are being prosecuted together at the Southwest Justice Center in French Valley.

    Fletcher has pleaded not guilty.

    His attorney, Michael Duncan, told jurors Monday during opening statements in the trial that the prosecution's case rests on an unreliable witness -- Dale Thomas. He said Thomas, who was also charged in the April 1 killing, is getting what Duncan described as a sweet deal in exchange for testifying against Fletcher.

    Thomas, 26, of Temecula, has been described by authorities as a childhood friend of Fletcher and the mastermind of the robbery. He was charged with murder and attempted murder, and also faced the death penalty, but accepted a plea deal from prosecutors in March, court records show. The details of that agreement, including the charges to which he pleaded guilty, were sealed by a judge. Thomas is scheduled for sentencing May 9.

    Kaloustian said Monday he could not discuss the plea agreement.

    But Duncan told jurors that Thomas is no longer facing the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole.

    Authorities say the gunfire at the Rancho Liquor Store erupted when a customer walked in while Ibrahim was filling a bag with cash. The robber pointed the gun at the customer, Celesdino Olea, and fired a shot as Olea ran to the back of the store and fell to the ground, according to search warrant documents. The robber then shot Ibrahim three times. Ibrahim tried to run but collapsed next to Olea with the bag of cash in his hand, court records say. The robber walked up to them, took the bag and left.

    Authorities say Thomas and Fletcher targeted the liquor store because it also housed a check-cashing business. Surveillance images showed Thomas visiting the store hours before the robbery and using the ATM, court records say. Investigators linked Thomas to the robbery through ATM transaction records, court records say.

    After his arrest, Thomas admitted to investigators that he helped plan the robbery, but said he and a friend waited in the car while Fletcher robbed the store. Thomas also implicated Fletcher in the San Diego killing.

    Thomas said that he received no more than $400 from the robbery, court records say.

    Kaloustian said Ibrahim, who was a Christian, was originally from Iraq but had fled his home country to avoid religious persecution.

    http://www.pe.com/localnews/stories/...3.26aeb6d.html

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    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Grandmother of Accused Liquor Store Killer's Victim Mourns

    The last time Jimmie Lee Cunningham saw her grandson, she was telling him to be careful. Somebody was shot near their home days earlier, she recalled today.

    Within the hour, he was dead of a gunshot to the head.

    He was killed by the same man who gunned down a Temecula liquor store clerk months later, a prosecutor told a jury Monday.

    The Temecula killing was one in a string of murders and robberies committed by Marcus Fletcher, 27, of San Diego, said prosecutor Sam Kaloustian.

    Kedran Howard, 23, Cunningham’s grandson, was killed near his home in January, 2005. The same gun was used to kill Rafi Ibrahim, of Temecula, in April of that year, the prosecutor said.

    The ballistics evidence was inconclusive, and nobody saw the San Diego killing happen, said defense attorney Michael Duncan.

    Cunningham took the stand and told a story with a wobbling voice about the last time she saw Howard, occasionally dabbing her eyes with tissue.

    She cared for Howard, his sister and his cousin in their San Diego home. The last time she saw him, he helped bring groceries into the house.

    He then put on a blue jacket with an embroidered picture of Bugs Bunny – a gang symbol in their neighborhood, Kaloustian said – and left for a walk.

    She told him to be careful, because a shooting happened nearby days before, she said. “That was the last time I saw him.”

    Later, several teenaged girls came to the door and said somebody was shot nearby. Cunningham rushed to the scene, but was blocked by an officer. She asked numerous questions to figure out whether it was her grandson, but the officer said he couldn’t say, Cunningham recalled.

    Her grandson never came home, and the police never called her to tell her, she said.

    At least four other people testified today to hearing the gunshots, each saying they did not see the defendant.

    One witness, Terreal Shegog, said he saw a car that matched the description of Fletcher’s. “I saw a white car run a stop sign and shoot down the street,” he said.

    Fletcher was accused of robbing Rancho Liquor on Old Town Front Street with Dale Dante Thomas, 26, of Temecula in April, 2005. Thomas struck a plea deal and is scheduled for sentencing on Friday.

    They were charged with first-degree murder and attempted murder for the fatal robbery. If convicted, Fletcher faces the death penalty.

    http://temecula.patch.com/articles/k...cula-robberies

  5. #5
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    UPDATE:

    The death penalty trial of Marcus Fletcher will resume next week. The trial was set aside due to scheduling conflicts. The same courtroom is being used for Kesaun Sykes, one of four Marines charged in the deaths of Marine Sgt. Jan Pawek Pietrzak, and Quiana Faye Jenkins-Pietrzak.

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    Key Evidence in Liquor Store Murder Case Destroyed

    A key piece of evidence in the case of a murdered liquor store clerk may have been destroyed.

    A gun that could connect the murder of Rafi Ibrahim, 34, of Temecula, to the slaying of Kedran Howard, 23, of San Diego, was possibly confiscated and disposed of by the sheriff’s department, an investigator said.

    The gun was likely used in the accidental suicide of 18-year-old Keeyon Cross, an ex-running back for the Rancho Verde Mustangs, in April of 2005, said David Grande, an investigator with the District Attorney’s office.

    The gun belonged to Cross’ friend, Durrell Peters, who the DA suspects bought it from Dale Dante Thomas, a Temecula resident and the mastermind behind the deadly liquor store robbery.

    The young football star and the gun's owner were sitting in a parked car in a garage in Perris playing with the weapon, according to news reports.

    Cross pointed the gun under his chin and pulled the trigger thinking it was not loaded. It was, and he was killed instantly, reports stated.

    The gun was confiscated by investigators after the suicide and later destroyed, Grande said.

    Numerous forensics experts analyzed bullets from the Temecula and San Diego killings, and the results were contentious during the trial.

    The results were inconclusive, the defense argued. Experts said the bullets could be from the same gun, prosecution told the jury.

    Marcus Fletcher, 27, of San Diego, was charged with murdering the two men with Thomas’ gun. The Temecula killing happened only a few days before the Cross suicide.

    Fletcher was accused of walking into Rancho Liquor on Front Street wearing a mask and demanding money.

    Just then, a customer walked in and he fired several times at him. For that, Fletcher and Thomas, who was allegedly waiting outside in an escape car, face attempted murder charges.

    When Ibrahim tried to escape with a bag of money, Fletcher shot him in the torso, according to testimony given on Tuesday.

    To read more about the liquor store killing, click here.

    Fletcher was also charged with killing Howard on a street in San Diego in what investigators believe was a gang vendetta.

    If convicted, Fletcher could face the death penalty. Thomas struck a plea deal with the DA in exchange for a release date.

    http://temecula.patch.com/articles/k...case-destroyed

  7. #7
    Administrator Michael's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Heidi View Post
    Cross pointed the gun under his chin and pulled the trigger thinking it was not loaded. It was, and he was killed instantly, reports stated.
    Cross could be nomintaed for the Darwin Award.

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    June 28, 2011

    Missing Weapon Surfaces in Liquor Store Murder Trial

    A key piece of evidence in a murder trial officials thought was destroyed turned up intact, an investigator said today.

    Officials believe the gun was used to kill Rafi Ibrahim, 34, of Temecula, and Kedran Howard, 23, of San Diego.

    The black revolver was found in evidence storage at the sheriff’s station in Perris, said David Grande, a senior investigator with the Riverside County District Attorney.

    Do to a paperwork mix-up, the gun was originally reported as destroyed during an evidence purged, Grande said. Staff at the station found it earlier this month.

    The gun was also used in the accidental suicide of 18-year-old Keeyon Cross, a former running back for the Rancho Verde Mustangs, sheriff’s officials said.

    To read more about the accidental suicide, click here.

    Three lives, one gun


    Fletcher and an accomplice, Dale Dante Thomas, a Temecula resident, allegedly planned the killings together, said prosecutor Sam Kaloustian.

    Thomas struck a deal with the district attorney to testify against Fletcher in order to avoid the death penalty, though he implicated himself and Fletcher years earlier during interviews with investigators, Kaloustian said.

    Thomas took the stand today in an orange prison uniform as his alleged former accomplice sat next to his attorneys in slacks and a collared shirt.

    Fletcher used the gun to shoot Howard to death in January, 2005 to get even with him for a gang dispute, investigators testified.

    To read about the killing, click here.

    Fletcher then used the gun to kill Ibrahim in the robbery of Rancho Liquor on Old Town Front Street in April, 2005.

    To read about the robbery, click here.

    After the killing, Thomas took the gun and sold it to a friend. That friend let his football star friend hold it one day, and he accidentally shot himself in the head, sheriff’s officials reported.

    Relevance of the gun


    The gun is irrelevant for several reasons, said Miles Clark, an attorney defending Fletcher.

    No testing was done to the weapon to match it with the bullets found at the crime scenes, he said.

    Also, the only thing connecting the gun from the accidental suicide to the murders is Thomas’ testimony.

    “He is not a credible witness,” Clark said. Thomas admitted to lying to investigators during four interrogations, he said.

    Kaloustian had the gun reassembled and showed a picture of it to Thomas on Monday, who said it was the gun Fletcher used.

    http://temecula.patch.com/articles/m...e-murder-trial

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    Temecula liquor store murder case goes to jury

    After two months, more than 70 witnesses and some 30 days of testimony in a grueling death-penalty murder trial, the fate of a man accused in the slayings of a Temecula store clerk and a rival gang member in San Diego is now in the hands of the jury.

    Marcus Fletcher, 27, of San Diego, pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder, attempted murder, gang activity and other charges.

    Fletcher is accused of gunning down 34-year-old Rafi Ibrahim during the robbery of an Old Town Temecula liquor store in April 2005. Prosecutors have said he opened fire when a customer walked in on the robbery.

    Fletcher is also charged with the attempted murder of a customer, Celesdino Olea, as well as a second murder count in the January 2005 killing of Kedran Howard, a San Diego man authorities have described as a member of a rival gang.

    Although the January 2005 shooting of Howard took place in San Diego County, the killings are being prosecuted together at the Southwest Justice Center in French Valley.

    Prosecutor Sam Kaloustian, during his closing arguments Monday, called Fletcher "a soulless murderer" who decided to take the lives of two men "on a whim" without provocation.

    Fletcher's attorney, Michael Duncan, told jurors in his closing that the prosecution's case hinges witness Dale Dante Thomas, who is lying to save his own skin.

    Authorities have described Thomas as the mastermind of the robbery, the getaway-car driver, and a childhood friend of Fletcher. Thomas, 27, of Temecula, had faced murder and attempted murder charges, and prosecutors sought the death penalty against him as well. As part of a plea agreement, Thomas testified against Fletcher. Thomas pleaded guilty in March to attempted murder, gang activity and other charges, but not murder, court records show. He is scheduled for sentencing in September.

    Duncan said Thomas struck "a heck of a deal."

    Authorities say Thomas and Fletcher targeted the liquor store because it also housed a check-cashing business. Surveillance images showed Thomas visiting the store hours before the robbery and using the ATM, court records say. Investigators tracked down Thomas through ATM records and he implicated Fletcher in both killings.

    Ibrahim's brother, 26-year-old Fadi Ibrahim, who moved to the United States from Iraq after his brother's death and now lives in the San Diego area, attended the trial Monday.

    Although six years have passed since his brother's death, Fadi Ibrahim said, "It's just like yesterday. We miss him ... He was a very good person."

    Ibrahim said his older brother had been living in the United States for little more than year when he was killed. Ibrahim, a Christian, had been the victim of religious persecution in Baghdad and sought asylum in the United States.

    "Back home, the war was starting," Ibrahim said. "He thought this was going to be a safe place."

    http://www.pe.com/localnews/stories/...2.3b00556.html

  10. #10
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    Jurors deliberating two murder charges and an attempted murder charge against a San Diego street gang member told the judge in a Southwest Justice Center courtroom Wednesday they had reached verdicts on two of the counts, but are divided on a third.

    Marcus Fletcher, 27, faces the death penalty if convicted in connection with the shooting death of Rafi Ibrahim in April 2005 during a robbery inside Rancho Liquor on Old Town Front Street and the January 2005 gang-related shooting death of Kedran Howard in San Diego.

    Fletcher also faces an attempted murder charge for allegedly firing a handgun at a customer during the Temecula liquor store hold-up and allegations that he committed all three crimes to benefit a criminal street gang.

    Jurors informed Judge F. Paul Dickerson they had reached verdicts on the murder and attempted murder that took place in Temecula, but were divided on the San Diego slaying.

    San Diego County prosecutors agreed to let Fletcher be tried in Riverside County for both slayings.

    Dickerson sealed the two verdicts that had been reached and asked the jury foreman what the vote split was on the undecided count, but not which way the vote was leaning.

    The foreman advised the judge of the 11-1 vote, adding it was the jurors' consensus that further deliberations would not "move us off this number."

    However, Dickerson asked the seven-man, five-woman jury, which sat through two months of testimony, to continue its deliberations, which began late Monday afternoon.

    "If you can't reach a verdict, you can't reach a verdict," the judge said. "But I don't think you should give up so quickly."

    Ibrahim was a clerk in the Temecula liquor store when he was shot and killed during the robbery. A customer in the store was shot at, but not hit.

    Prosecutors contend Howard was a member of a rival San Diego street gang when Fletcher shot and killed him during a drive-by shooting.

    Deliberations are scheduled to resume Thursday morning.

    http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/te...#ixzz1S7OGoMnH

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