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Thread: Heriberto Eddie Rodriguez Sentenced to LWOP in 2005 CA Slaying of Chadwick Shane Cochran

  1. #1
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Heriberto Eddie Rodriguez Sentenced to LWOP in 2005 CA Slaying of Chadwick Shane Cochran

    Jurors are deliberating whether two inmates could face the death penalty for torturing a fellow inmate for up to half an hour, then killing him while they were locked together in an unsupervised room at the Men's Central Jail.

    Prosecutors believe that gang members targeted Chadwick Shane Cochran, a 35-year-old with mental problems, who was placed in jail for a nonviolent offense, because they saw him being escorted by deputies and wrongly concluded he was a jailhouse informant. Christian Perez and Heriberto Eddie Rodriguez were charged with Cochran's torture and murder.

    http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lano...ile-cases.html


    Previous Case Coverage

    LA Jail Inmate Murdered Because Of Misunderstanding

    Prosecutors said they believe a jail inmate was stomped to death in an unsupervised room last month because other prisoners mistakenly thought he was an informant.

    A pair of gang members apparently targeted Chadwick Shane Cochran, 35, after seeing him being escorted by sheriff's deputies, according to the district attorney's office.

    Officials initially believed the attack occurred after Cochran cut in front of the gang members in a dinner line.

    Christian Perez, 18, and Heriberto Eddie Rodriguez, 24, were charged Wednesday with Cochran's torture and murder. They could face the death penalty if found guilty.

    Cochran, who had mental problems, was in jail for a nonviolent offense.

    The attack occurred Nov. 16 in a room filled with 30 inmates who were unsupervised and could not be seen by deputies from outside.

    Officials said the assailants screamed "Snitch!" while beating and stomping Cochran for up to a half-hour.

    None of the other 27 inmates tried to stop the attack.

    Cochran's was the eighth killing in the Los Angeles County jail system in two years.

    By placing Cochran in the general inmate population, the jail violated its policy of segregating inmates with possible mental problems.

    A 2004 report also recommended that the sheriff begin segregating violent inmates from nonviolent ones.

    "I haven't investigated this myself, but what it suggests to me is a cascade of errors," said Merrick Bobb, the special monitor who advises county supervisors on Sheriff's Department matters.

    "If so, it's very much like the five inmate deaths that led to the 2004 report. It wasn't just one guy messing up one thing, it was a systemic failure."

    Sheriff Lee Baca said Tuesday that the Sheriff's Department was working on a plan to segregate violent gang members.

    Perez is awaiting trial on a murder charge. Rodriguez is a San Fernando Valley gang member who is awaiting trial on kidnapping and carjacking charges, according to court records and prosecutors.

    http://www.november.org/stayinfo/bre...ailMurder.html
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  2. #2
    Senior Member CnCP Legend JLR's Avatar
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    http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/capital_punis...listsecure.pdf

    Christian Perez was sentenced to death http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/capital_punis...listsecure.pdf


    Heriberto Eddie Rodriguez was far from a model inmate.

    Two months after arriving at the Men's Central Jail, authorities say, the San Fernando Valley gang member beat and kicked his cellmate as he lay on the ground — then forced him to sleep under the bed.

    Weeks later, he allegedly assaulted a new cellmate. The man was clasping at the cell's bars with blood dripping down his face when a sheriff's deputy arrived. He was begging for help.

    Rodriguez, who is 5 feet, 9 inches tall and weighs 165 pounds, stomped on a third cellmate who wouldn't give up his blanket, authorities say, and he was part of a group of prisoners who beat and choked another man who was in custody for a few days for driving on a suspended license.

    But it was his fifth jailhouse victim that could land Rodriguez, 32, on death row. During dinner at the jail on Nov. 16, 2005, Rodriguez and another inmate, Christian Perez, beat and stomped Chadwick Shane Cochran to death as more than 35 inmates watched, according to Deputy Dist. Atty. Shannon Knight.

    Both men have been convicted of first-degree murder, and Perez was sentenced to death in April. On Tuesday, Knight told jurors that even after Cochran's death — and Rodriguez's transfer to a single cell in a disciplinary section of the jail — Rodriguez's violent conduct didn't end. He assaulted one deputy, threatened another and slashed a fellow inmate with a razor blade in the shower, she said.

    "He does not deserve your sympathy, he does not deserve your mercy," Knight said during closing arguments in the penalty phase of Rodriguez's trial. "By his acts, he deserves to die."

    After his jailhouse attacks, Knight said, Rodriguez often told his victims to be silent or he would hurt them again. He told one inmate that he would go after the man's family if he snitched, she added.

    Rodriguez's attorney, Christopher C. Chaney, acknowledged that his client had been involved in some gruesome crimes in his past, but said that didn't mean he was beyond hope. Chaney said Rodriguez grew up in poverty with an abusive, alcoholic father. Proof of the family's dysfunction, Chaney said, lay in the fate of his brothers: two are in prison, one of them on death row.

    "How can we characterize this as a warm and nurturing home?" Chaney asked.

    In an effort to turn his life around four years ago, Rodriguez disavowed his street and prison gang memberships, imperiling his life in custody, Chaney said. Since 2009, the attorney added, Rodriguez has kept a clean record and married a woman he met while behind bars. He acts as a father to her two children, he said. His wife sat in the back row Tuesday, sobbing throughout the closing arguments.

    Rodriguez's behavior change and family life were "factors of mitigation" that jurors should consider when debating whether to punish him with death, Chaney said.

    As his attorney addressed the jury, Rodriguez, dressed in a tan blazer and striped tie and wearing wire-framed glasses, sat impassively.

    Knight, the prosecutor, questioned Rodriguez's transformation.

    "He's the same manipulative person that he's been," Knight told the jurors. "When was this new leaf turned over?"

    Arguing for the maximum punishment, Knight listed a string of violent crimes committed by Rodriguez that stretched back almost a decade, including kidnapping, robbery, carjacking, assault, resisting a Los Angeles Police Department officer and involvement in a killing when he was 15 years old.

    "He's had enough second chances," Knight said.

    A lesser punishment of life without the possibility of parole is too risky for Rodriguez, Knight told jurors, alluding to his jail assaults.

    "What do we tell the family of his next victim?" she asked. "Sorry? We didn't think he was capable of that?"

    The jury of five women and seven men began considering Rodriguez's fate Tuesday afternoon and is expected to resume deliberations Wednesday.

    matthew.hamilton@latimes.com

  3. #3
    joerodney
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    Jury Favors Life Without Parole for Inmate Who Killed Prisoner

    A jail inmate who killed a fellow prisoner should be sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, a downtown Los Angeles jury decided Wednesday.

    Heriberto Eddie Rodriguez, 32, attacked other inmates before and after killing Chadwick Shane Cochran, said prosecutors, who had urged jurors to give Rodriguez the death penalty.

    Rodriguez and another inmate, Christian Perez, beat and stomped Cochran to death during dinner at the downtown Men's Central Jail on Nov. 16, 2005. More than 35 inmates watched the attack, Deputy Dist. Atty. Shannon Knight told jurors earlier this week.

    Both men were convicted of first-degree murder, and Perez was sentenced to death in April. Knight said Rodriguez was violent with four other inmates, including two cellmates, before killing Cochran. After Cochran's death, Rodriguez was transferred to a single cell in a disciplinary section of the jail. There, he assaulted one deputy, threatened another and slashed a fellow inmate with a razor blade in the shower, Knight said.

    "He does not deserve your sympathy. He does not deserve your mercy," Knight said Tuesday during closing arguments in the penalty phase of Rodriguez's trial. "By his acts, he deserves to die."

    After his jailhouse attacks, Knight said, Rodriguez often told his victims to be silent or he would hurt them again. He told one inmate that he would go after the man's family if he snitched, she added.

    Rodriguez's attorney, Christopher C. Chaney, acknowledged that his client had been involved in some gruesome crimes in his past, but said that didn't mean he was beyond hope. Chaney said Rodriguez grew up in poverty with an abusive, alcoholic father. Proof of the family's dysfunction, Chaney said, lay in the fate of his brothers: Two are in prison, one of them on death row.

    "How can we characterize this as a warm and nurturing home?" Chaney asked.

    In an effort to turn his life around four years ago, Rodriguez disavowed his street and prison gang memberships, imperiling his life in custody, Chaney said. Since 2009, the attorney added, Rodriguez has kept a clean record and married a woman he met while behind bars.

    http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/l...,7018103.story

  4. #4
    Senior Member Frequent Poster stixfix69's Avatar
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    Death sentence really doesn't mean much in Cali, it's really more like a retirement home, sense they rarely execute the condemned...

  5. #5
    Senior Member CnCP Legend JimKay's Avatar
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    He's been clean for four years. I'm sure he's all better now.

  6. #6
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Inmate gets life sentence for role in killing behind bars

    A man involved in the beating death of a fellow Los Angeles County jail inmate was sentenced Friday to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

    A jury in June convicted Heriberto Eddie Rodriguez, 33, in the killing of Chadwick Shane Cochran, 35.

    Rodriguez and a fellow inmate, Christian Perez, beat and stomped on Cochran during dinner at Men's Central Jail while more than 50 inmates looked on, prosecutors said.

    A probation report made public after Rodriguez's sentencing offered new details about the Nov. 16, 2005, slaying. The killers battered Cochran for at least 30 minutes. At one point, they took a break to eat dinner as Cochran lay motionless on the floor. Inmates in an adjacent room served as lookouts for the attackers, who investigators said were leaders of a jailhouse gang.

    The killing prompted an internal investigation by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and cost the county a nearly $1-million settlement with Cochran's family.

    Perez was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death in April.

    Prosecutors sought the death penalty for Rodriguez, but his attorney successfully argued that the onetime gang member had changed his ways.

    During the penalty phase of his trial, Rodriguez took the stand — an unusual move, said his lawyer — and told jurors he'd had a difficult upbringing and accepted responsibility for his violent past.

    Family members confirmed that Rodriguez's childhood was marred by his alcoholic, abusive father. Rodriguez's two brothers are also in prison, one on death row — which his attorney offered as proof of the family's dysfunction.

    In the years after the killing of Cochran, Rodriguez had put his past behind him, said defense attorney Christopher C. Chaney: He disavowed gang life, married a single mother from behind bars and is now a father figure to her two daughters.

    But Deputy Dist. Atty. Shannon Knight called Rodriguez's testimony "manipulative" and reminded jurors that a life sentence in prison would put him exactly where the crime took place: behind bars.

    "What do we tell the family of his next victim?" Knight said to jurors. "Sorry? We didn't think he was capable of anything like that? We didn't see it coming?"

    On Friday, Rodriguez — shackled at the waist and wearing wire-rim glasses — appeared relaxed in the downtown courtroom

    , smiling and waving at family members, including his wife and her daughter.

    After Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Curtis B. Rappe delivered the sentence, Rodriguez asked to speak privately with Knight, the prosecutor.

    "It was an interesting case," said Rodriguez, grinning as he looked into Knight's eyes. He vowed to continue on his path of transformation.

    Although she had told jurors repeatedly that he was beyond hope and deserved to die, Knight afterward made a slight concession.

    "Nothing would make me happier," she said, "than to have him prove me wrong."

    http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la...,2852504.story
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

  7. #7
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    Man’s Conviction Upheld in Jail Inmate’s Fatal Beating

    A state appeals court panel on Wednesday upheld a man’s conviction for a fellow prisoner’s beating death in a Los Angeles County jail.

    A three-justice panel from California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal rejected the defense’s contention that the trial court improperly instructed the jury that convicted Heriberto Rodriguez of first-degree murder for the Nov. 16, 2005, killing of inmate Chadwick “Shane” Cochran at Men’s Central Jail.

    The jury also found true the special circumstance allegation of murder involving the infliction of torture.

    Cochran was punched, hit with food trays, kicked and stomped in a TV room at the jail. The victim lost consciousness at least once, and a second attacker poured water on the victim to keep him awake to the pain, prosecutors said.

    Rodriguez also was convicted of two counts each of second-degree robbery and kidnapping during a carjacking and one count each of attempted carjacking and evading.

    Rodriguez was sentenced in August 2013 to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Jurors opted against recommending the death penalty for Rodriguez, who testified that he had quit a gang, gotten married and gotten serious about his role as a family man.

    Another jail inmate, Christian Perez, was tried separately for Cochran’s killing.

    Perez — who was 18 at the time of Cochran’s killing — was convicted and sentenced to death for that murder, and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the October 2004 shooting death of Carlos Bran, which occurred when Perez was 17. His appeal is still pending before the California Supreme Court.

    http://mynewsla.com/crime/2014/09/24...fatal-beating/

  8. #8
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    California Supreme Court won’t review man’s appeal in L.A. inmate’s fatal beating

    The California Supreme Court refused Wednesday to hear the case of a man appealing his conviction for the fatal beating of a fellow inmate in a Los Angeles County jail.

    The state’s highest court denied a defense petition seeking review of the case against Heriberto Rodriguez.

    Rodriguez was convicted of first-degree murder for the Nov. 16, 2005, killing of inmate Chadwick “Shane” Cochran at Men’s Central Jail.

    The jury also found true the special circumstance allegation of murder involving the infliction of torture.

    Cochran was punched, hit with food trays, kicked and stomped during the attack in a TV room at the jail. The victim lost consciousness at least once and a second attacker poured water on the victim to keep him awake to the pain, prosecutors said.

    Rodriguez also was convicted of two counts each of second-degree robbery and kidnapping during a carjacking and one count each of attempted carjacking and evading.

    Jurors opted against recommending the death penalty for Rodriguez, who testified that he had quit a gang, gotten married and gotten serious about his role as a family man. He was sentenced in August 2013 to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

    Another jail inmate, Christian Perez, was tried separately for Cochran’s killing.

    Perez — who was 18 at the time of Cochran’s killing — was convicted and sentenced to death for that murder, and sentenced to life in prison without parole for the October 2004 shooting death of Carlos Bran, which occurred when Perez was 17. His appeal is still pending before the California Supreme Court.

    http://mynewsla.com/crime/2014/12/17...fatal-beating/

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