Post by Anja on Jun 23, 2006 18:21:26 GMT -5
22 years later, man acquitted of murder----He says it was self defense
Jose Medellin was found lying next to the green crushed-velvet love seat
in his mistress' apartment in Southeast Austin in 1984, dead from 4
gunshot wounds.
The main suspect eluded police by fleeing to Mexico. The case went cold.
20 years later, the man for whom Austin police were looking, Jose Isabel
Benitez, was arrested on a murder warrant after someone complained that he
was drinking Budweiser in an alley in Minneapolis, Minn.
He'd spent 14 years after the shooting in his native Mexico, where he had
married and fathered 3 children before returning to the United States.
On Thursday, Benitez, 48, was found not guilty of murder by a Travis
County jury.
Benitez testified during the trial that he shot Medellin - his
girlfriend's other lover - in self defense.
The case, presented over four days in state District Judge Jon Wisser's
court, was muddled by the passage of time. Some of the police officers
involved in the investigation had retired and left Austin.
2 witnesses had died, and the woman at the center of the men's feud, like
many other witnesses, said her memories of that night had faded.
But Benitez's testimony that he shot Medellin relieved prosecutors Gary
Cobb and Amy Meredith of much of their burden of proof and left only one
question for the jury: Was it murder, or did Benitez fire in self-defense
because Medellin was attacking him with a knife?
"Mr. Benitez was in an apartment romancing a woman, and a crazy man comes
in with a knife," Benitez's lawyer, Brian Coyne of Houston, told the jury
in closing arguments. "You don't have to wait to get killed."
Medellin, 32, was a construction foreman who lived on East Seventh Street
with Mary Medellin, his wife of 12 years, their 3 children, and 3 of his
wife's children from a previous marriage.
In the year - possibly longer - before his death, Medellin was having an
affair with Doris Sabedra, a divorced mother who lived in an apartment on
Interstate 35 near Oltorf Street, according to testimony.
Medellin stayed out several nights a week without explanation, his wife
testified, nights that, Sabedra told the jury, he spent with her.
"To me, she sounded like a happy woman out there trying to get kicks with
men," testified Mary Medellin, who said she knew about the affair.
Sometime in the weeks before the shooting, Benitez and Sabedra met at an
east-side dance hall. Sabedra testified that they didn't know each other
well.
Benitez told the jury that they had met seven or eight times and had slept
together.
Benitez and Sabedra were together in her apartment when Medellin arrived
in the late evening hours of April 2, 1984, according to testimony.
Benitez testified that he didn't usually carry a gun, but had bought one
about a week earlier from a man in an H-E-B parking lot.
He had "an itch" to bring it to Sabedra's that night, he testified, his
words translated from Spanish to English.
Benitez testified that later in the night he heard knocking on the door,
then Medellin came into the apartment yelling, "I am going to kill you"
and waving a pocketknife.
Benitez shot only after Medellin sliced him 3 times with the knife, he
testified. Then he dumped the gun and the knife in the Colorado River,
drove to Hays County and hitchhiked to Mexico, leaving his West Mary
Street home abandoned and starting a new life.
"I was afraid because of what I had done," he said. "And if the police
caught me, they were going to lock me up."
Sabedra, who is legally blind from diabetes, testified that she couldn't
remember much about the shooting - only that Medellin had a knife and had
argued with Benitez in Spanish before the shots went off.
After the shooting, she told police she didn't know who did it, that the
man had come with Medellin. A few days later, she told police that it was
Benitez.
A murder warrant was issued, but Cobb said during closing arguments that
"no one looked too hard for the man for a number of years."
Benitez testified that he needed work and returned to the United States
sometime in 1998 or '99. He worked as a butcher in Minneapolis before he
was arrested.
Cobb told the jury that Benitez's story of the shooting couldn't be true.
He noted that one shot hit Medellin in the middle of the back, something
that didn't match Benitez's story of shooting only from the front.
He also noted that a then-rookie Austin police officer who lived in the
complex testified that two distinct sets of shots were separated by about
a minute, which conflicted with Benitez's testimony about unleashing a
continuous flurry of shots.
"Are you willing to accept that you have to pay for the crime you
committed?" Cobb asked Benitez.
"Yes, sir," Benitez said.
After the verdict, Mary Medellin, who sat through the entire trial, sobbed
in the front row. Cobb walked behind her, put his hands on her shoulders
and said "Sorry."
One juror said the verdict doesn't necessarily mean the jurors believed
Benitez's story, only that they found self defense was plausible and that
they had reasonable doubt that he committed murder.
"We were able to come up with several possible scenarios that supported
self-defense," said juror Dave Matheny, a 34-year-old software engineer
from Cedar Park.
As he left the courthouse, Benitez, a legal immigrant, said he would go to
Houston, where some of his family lives and where he has been living and
working framing houses while out on bail.
When asked whether he had anything to say about the verdict, he said in
English: "Thank you."
(source: Austin American-Statesman)
Jose Medellin was found lying next to the green crushed-velvet love seat
in his mistress' apartment in Southeast Austin in 1984, dead from 4
gunshot wounds.
The main suspect eluded police by fleeing to Mexico. The case went cold.
20 years later, the man for whom Austin police were looking, Jose Isabel
Benitez, was arrested on a murder warrant after someone complained that he
was drinking Budweiser in an alley in Minneapolis, Minn.
He'd spent 14 years after the shooting in his native Mexico, where he had
married and fathered 3 children before returning to the United States.
On Thursday, Benitez, 48, was found not guilty of murder by a Travis
County jury.
Benitez testified during the trial that he shot Medellin - his
girlfriend's other lover - in self defense.
The case, presented over four days in state District Judge Jon Wisser's
court, was muddled by the passage of time. Some of the police officers
involved in the investigation had retired and left Austin.
2 witnesses had died, and the woman at the center of the men's feud, like
many other witnesses, said her memories of that night had faded.
But Benitez's testimony that he shot Medellin relieved prosecutors Gary
Cobb and Amy Meredith of much of their burden of proof and left only one
question for the jury: Was it murder, or did Benitez fire in self-defense
because Medellin was attacking him with a knife?
"Mr. Benitez was in an apartment romancing a woman, and a crazy man comes
in with a knife," Benitez's lawyer, Brian Coyne of Houston, told the jury
in closing arguments. "You don't have to wait to get killed."
Medellin, 32, was a construction foreman who lived on East Seventh Street
with Mary Medellin, his wife of 12 years, their 3 children, and 3 of his
wife's children from a previous marriage.
In the year - possibly longer - before his death, Medellin was having an
affair with Doris Sabedra, a divorced mother who lived in an apartment on
Interstate 35 near Oltorf Street, according to testimony.
Medellin stayed out several nights a week without explanation, his wife
testified, nights that, Sabedra told the jury, he spent with her.
"To me, she sounded like a happy woman out there trying to get kicks with
men," testified Mary Medellin, who said she knew about the affair.
Sometime in the weeks before the shooting, Benitez and Sabedra met at an
east-side dance hall. Sabedra testified that they didn't know each other
well.
Benitez told the jury that they had met seven or eight times and had slept
together.
Benitez and Sabedra were together in her apartment when Medellin arrived
in the late evening hours of April 2, 1984, according to testimony.
Benitez testified that he didn't usually carry a gun, but had bought one
about a week earlier from a man in an H-E-B parking lot.
He had "an itch" to bring it to Sabedra's that night, he testified, his
words translated from Spanish to English.
Benitez testified that later in the night he heard knocking on the door,
then Medellin came into the apartment yelling, "I am going to kill you"
and waving a pocketknife.
Benitez shot only after Medellin sliced him 3 times with the knife, he
testified. Then he dumped the gun and the knife in the Colorado River,
drove to Hays County and hitchhiked to Mexico, leaving his West Mary
Street home abandoned and starting a new life.
"I was afraid because of what I had done," he said. "And if the police
caught me, they were going to lock me up."
Sabedra, who is legally blind from diabetes, testified that she couldn't
remember much about the shooting - only that Medellin had a knife and had
argued with Benitez in Spanish before the shots went off.
After the shooting, she told police she didn't know who did it, that the
man had come with Medellin. A few days later, she told police that it was
Benitez.
A murder warrant was issued, but Cobb said during closing arguments that
"no one looked too hard for the man for a number of years."
Benitez testified that he needed work and returned to the United States
sometime in 1998 or '99. He worked as a butcher in Minneapolis before he
was arrested.
Cobb told the jury that Benitez's story of the shooting couldn't be true.
He noted that one shot hit Medellin in the middle of the back, something
that didn't match Benitez's story of shooting only from the front.
He also noted that a then-rookie Austin police officer who lived in the
complex testified that two distinct sets of shots were separated by about
a minute, which conflicted with Benitez's testimony about unleashing a
continuous flurry of shots.
"Are you willing to accept that you have to pay for the crime you
committed?" Cobb asked Benitez.
"Yes, sir," Benitez said.
After the verdict, Mary Medellin, who sat through the entire trial, sobbed
in the front row. Cobb walked behind her, put his hands on her shoulders
and said "Sorry."
One juror said the verdict doesn't necessarily mean the jurors believed
Benitez's story, only that they found self defense was plausible and that
they had reasonable doubt that he committed murder.
"We were able to come up with several possible scenarios that supported
self-defense," said juror Dave Matheny, a 34-year-old software engineer
from Cedar Park.
As he left the courthouse, Benitez, a legal immigrant, said he would go to
Houston, where some of his family lives and where he has been living and
working framing houses while out on bail.
When asked whether he had anything to say about the verdict, he said in
English: "Thank you."
(source: Austin American-Statesman)