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Thread: Angel Anthony Esparza - California Death Row

  1. #11
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    Angel Anthony Esparza convicted in double-murder retrial

    A Coachella man was convicted today of robbing, abducting and killing two farm workers in Thermal days after he gunned down a teenage boy.

    Angel Anthony Esparza was found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder for the Dec. 19, 2009, deaths of Gregorio Juarez and Pedro Garcia, along with special circumstance allegations of multiple murders and murder in the commission of robbery and kidnapping.

    Esparza, 30, was tried earlier this year for the double murder and the Dec. 3, 2009, killing of 16-year-old Angel Luna, but the jury deadlocked on the vineyard killings, triggering a retrial on those counts.

    Jurors deliberated about half a day before reaching their decision. The penalty phase of the trial — during which the panel will recommend whether Esparza should be sentenced to death or life in prison without the possibility of parole — will start next Wednesday.

    Deputy District Attorney Jake Silva said in his closing argument that the facts of the case present “a picture of Angel Esparza robbing, kidnapping and murdering Gregorio Juarez and Pedro Garcia, and for good measure, burning their flesh and the evidence.”

    Silva told jurors that Esparza was staying at the Thermal residence of Christina Zapata and her daughter, Cecilia Morin, while on the run from law enforcement. On Dec. 19, Juarez and Garcia arrived with plans to pay to have sex with Morin, he said.

    Esparza entered Morin’s bedroom with a revolver and ordered Garcia and Juarez to the floor, took their wallets and bound them with cords and duct tape, Silva alleged. He and Zapata drove them to a vineyard at Avenue 58 and Pierce Street, and Esparza dragged them into the vineyard, the prosecutor said.

    Later, Zapata’s boyfriend, who had a can of gasoline with him, drove Zapata and Esparza back to the vineyard, and Esparza took the gas and a bag of the victims’ belongings into the vineyard. The next morning, Juarez and Garcia were found shot in the head and burned, the prosecutor said.

    Esparza was arrested in San Bernardino on Dec. 24, 2009, and authorities found a gun that matched a bullet in Garcia’s head, Silva said.

    Defense attorney John Patrick Dolan said in his closing argument that the jury had to believe Morin and Zapata to believe the charges against Esparza, “and you can’t believe these people.”

    He reminded the jury that Morin and Zapata refused to testify in the trial — their previous testimony was read in court — and called them prostitutes, drug addicts and murderers.

    “These women ... lied to you and said Mr. Esparza was involved in this and he wasn’t,” Dolan said.

    Morin and Zapata each pleaded guilty in the case to two counts of second- degree murder last year in exchange for sentences of 15 years to life in prison.

    Esparza was sentenced to 75 years to life in prison for killing Luna.

    http://www.desertsun.com/story/news/...rial/13430543/

  2. #12
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Angel Anthony Esparza penalty phase begins

    A prosecutor told jurors Wednesday that they would hear about the “cruelty and callousness” of a 30-year-old Coachella man who robbed, abducted and killed two farmworkers in Thermal weeks after he gunned down a teenage boy.

    Angel Anthony Esparza was convicted last Thursday in a retrial of two counts of first-degree murder for the Dec. 19, 2009, deaths of Gregorio Juarez and Pedro Garcia, and jurors found true special circumstance allegations of multiple murders and murder in the commission of robbery and kidnapping.

    He was previously convicted of the Dec. 3, 2009, killing of 16-year-old Angel Luna and was sentenced to 75 years to life in prison.

    The jury that convicted him of the double murder must now decide whether to recommend that Esparza be sentenced to death or life in prison without the possibility of parole.

    Deputy District Attorney Jake Silva said in his opening statement in the penalty trial that jurors should put themselves in the farmworkers’ shoes as the two were bound and gagged in a Thermal trailer, put in their truck and driven to a vineyard, then put “on their knees and executed.”

    He said Esparza has committed other violent crimes — he shot at a vehicle in 2001, robbed a man the same month he killed Luna, Juarez and Garcia, and beat a fellow jail inmate in 2011.

    Defense attorney John Patrick Dolan reserved his opening statement for later in the penalty phase.

    http://www.desertsun.com/story/news/...hase/13708757/
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

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

  3. #13
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Angel Anthony Esparza


    Jury recommends death penalty for Angel Esparza

    Jury recommends death penalty for Angel Esparza, who was convicted last month of two counts of first-degree murder for the vineyard killings in Thermal which occurred days after taking the life of a teenager.

    Esparza was tried earlier this year for the double murder and the Dec. 3, 2009, shooting death of 16-year-old Angel Luna, but the jury deadlocked on the vineyard killings, triggering a retrial on those counts.

    Esparza was staying at the Thermal residence of Christina Zapata and her daughter, Cecilia Morin, while on the run from law enforcement, and on Dec. 19, Juarez and Garcia arrived with plans to pay to have sex with Morin, Deputy District Attorney Jake Silva said.

    Esparza entered Morin's bedroom with a revolver and ordered Garcia and Juarez to the floor, took their wallets and bound them with cords and duct tape. He and Zapata drove them to a vineyard at Avenue 58 and Pierce Street, and Esparza dragged them into the vineyard, the prosecutor said.

    Later, Zapata's boyfriend, who had a can of gasoline with him, drove Zapata and Esparza back to the vineyard, and Esparza took the gas and a bag of the victims' belongings into the vineyard. The next morning, Juarez and Garcia were found shot in the head and burned, Silva said.

    Esparza was arrested in San Bernardino on Dec. 24, 2009, and authorities found a gun that matched markings found on a bullet in Garcia's head, Silva said.

    Morin and Zapata refused to testify in the trial -- their previous testimony was read in court. They each pleaded guilty in the case to two counts of second-degree murder last year in exchange for sentences of 15 years to life in prison.

    Esparza was sentenced to 75 years to life in prison for killing Luna.

    http://www.kesq.com/news/jury-recomm...parza/27478506
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

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

  4. #14
    Death penalty levied for Thermal vineyard killings

    A man who killed two farm workers in a Thermal vineyard, days after taking the life of a teenager, is to be executed for the crimes, a judge in Indio ruled Friday.

    Angel Anthony Esparza, 30, showed no emotion as Superior Court Judge James S. Hawkins upheld a jury's capital punishment recommendation.

    Two separate groups of people in the courtroom for the sentencing hearing at the Larson Justice Center declined to comment or say on whose behalf they attended the hearing. At least one woman sobbed.

    Outside the courtroom, Esparza's attorney reiterated his philosophical opposition to the death penalty.

    "This is an example of man's inhumanity to man,'' attorney John P. Dolan said. ``I understand that the population still supports the death penalty. I can't see human beings being executed by the state -- referring to this case in particular and in general.''

    Prior to issuing the ruling, Hawkins denied defense motions to dismiss the conviction on grounds of insufficient evidence, and for a new trial.

    "The court finds that the evidence supports the jury's verdict of death,'' Hawkins said.

    Esparza was convicted last July of two counts of first-degree murder for the Dec. 19, 2009, vineyard killings. The jury also found true special circumstance allegations of multiple murders and murder in the commission of robbery and kidnapping, making him eligible for a death sentence.

    Esparza was tried earlier in 2014 for the double murder and the Dec. 3, 2009, shooting death of 16-year-old Angel Luna, but that jury deadlocked on the vineyard killings, triggering a retrial on those counts.

    "When you look at death and use your courage, you'll be able to look at Angel (Anthony) Esparza and say, `You deserve death for what you did to Gregorio Juarez and Pedro Garcia,''' Deputy District Attorney Jake Silva told jurors before they decided on a sentence last summer.

    "Does he deserve something less than what he gave to Gregorio Juarez and Pedro Garcia?'' Silva asked rhetorically. ``Make no mistake -- in that vineyard on Dec. 19, 2009, Angel Esparza chose the death penalty.''

    He said Esparza decided where, when and how the victims died, and showed no remorse.

    Dolan told jurors his client was born into "depravity'' to a mother who was a chronic drug addict. Esparza took care of her and was a good student until high school, when he was "crushed by our judicial system'' and imprisoned for driving a car in a pursuit during which shots were fired, Dolan said.

    "Are we to conclude Angel Esparza is a stone-cold, evil person who has no redeeming value?'' he told jurors during the trial's penalty phase. "... Is life without the possibility of parole enough? I hope each of you can see the answer to that question is 'yes.' It is holding Angel Esparza accountable, it is holding him responsible ... it's justice tempered with mercy.''

    In the last month of 2009, Esparza was staying at the Thermal residence of Christina Zapata and her daughter, Cecilia Morin, while on the run from law enforcement, and on Dec. 19, Juarez and Garcia arrived with plans to pay to have sex with Morin, Silva said.

    Esparza entered Morin's bedroom with a revolver and ordered Garcia and Juarez to the floor, took their wallets and bound them with cords and duct tape. He and Zapata drove them to a vineyard at Avenue 58 and Pierce Street, and Esparza dragged them into the vineyard, the prosecutor said.

    Later, Zapata's boyfriend, obtained a can of gasoline, drove Zapata and Esparza back to the vineyard, and Esparza took the gas and a bag of the victims' belongings into the vineyard. The next morning, Juarez and Garcia were found shot in the head and burned "beyond recognition,'' Silva said.

    Esparza was arrested at a relative's home in San Bernardino on Christmas Eve 2009, and authorities found a gun that matched markings found on a bullet in Garcia's head, Silva said.

    Morin and Zapata refused to testify in the trial -- their previous testimony was read in court.

    They each pleaded guilty in the case to two counts of second-degree murder last year in exchange for sentences of 15 years to life in prison.

    Esparza was sentenced to 75 years to life in prison for the Dec. 3, 2009, shooting death of the teenager in Coachella. In a complicated legal calculation of his sentence, Esparza faces a total of 141 years-to-life in addition to the death sentence.

    Source

  5. #15
    Senior Member CnCP Legend JLR's Avatar
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    On February 22, 2018, counsel was appointed to represent Esparza on direct appeal before the California Supreme Court.

    http://appellatecases.courtinfo.ca.g...tTMCAgCg%3D%3D

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