Post by SoulTrainOz on Jul 19, 2006 7:58:14 GMT -5
After his 18-month-old son was shot and killed during a botched drug deal and robbery last year, the father said he'd recognize the toddler's killer by his "cold eyes."
But Ernest L. Naquin now claims he identified the wrong man, forcing a capital murder charge against Miguel Angel Castro to be dropped Monday - the day jury selection was to begin.
Naquin's son, Aiden, was shot in the head on April 12, 2005, at the family's mobile home park in Huffman when a drug deal turned into a robbery attempt.
Naquin had sold Xanax to a gang member's wife just before the shooting and was then followed by a group of men who tried to rob him of the drug sale money, according the Harris County Sheriff's Office.
Naquin told the Chronicle last year that he would never forget his son's killer.
"If I see his eyes, I can pick him out. They were without a soul, evil, like he was a demon possessed," Naquin said.
Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal said the boy's father, who had said he saw Castro shoot his son, now claims someone else did the shooting.
"This weekend was the first time he had ever come with the new version of the facts," Rosenthal said.
He said his office had no choice but to dismiss the charge.
"We certainly also don't want to try someone for the offense if we believe there may be somebody else who may have committed the offense," Rosenthal said.
Naquin recanted his story from his Harris County Jail cell where he is being held pending trial on two charges of delivery of a controlled substance and 2 charges of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance.
Authorities believe Castro, 22, is a member of the violent Central
American gang known as MS-13.
5 gang members were arrested in connection with the April 2005 shooting incident, but only Castro was charged with capital murder.
Rosenthal said authorities have no reason to believe that anyone
intimidated Naquin into changing his story, but he couldn't explain why he singled out someone else 2 days before the trial.
Naquin's attorney, Lucinda "Cindy" Marshall, could not be reached for comment.
The defendant's attorney, Elihu Dodier, said Castro will remain in custody until he can be handed over to immigration authorities. Dodier said he believes immigration officials will return him to his native Honduras.
Though he expects the district attorney's office to pursue other charges against Castro, he doubts any further charges will be filed against his client.
"It's very unusual for a capital murder case to be dismissed in Harris County, but I just felt the state had a very weak case without a key witness," he said.
He said the prosecution's case hinged on Naquin's eyewitness testimony.
He did not know why Naquin changed his story at the 11th hour, but suspects he did not want to testify about his involvement in a drug transaction when he's facing his own drug-trafficking trial.
"The guy is looking out for himself," Dodier said of Naquin. "The bottom line is that the guy is looking out for himself - that father, I have absolutely zero respect for."
But, he said, Castro had always maintained he had not pulled the trigger when the toddler was killed.
"The father is the one who created this whole thing by bringing the child with him, and the father was the one who ran away from the car and left his children behind," Dodier said.
(source: Houston Chronicle)
But Ernest L. Naquin now claims he identified the wrong man, forcing a capital murder charge against Miguel Angel Castro to be dropped Monday - the day jury selection was to begin.
Naquin's son, Aiden, was shot in the head on April 12, 2005, at the family's mobile home park in Huffman when a drug deal turned into a robbery attempt.
Naquin had sold Xanax to a gang member's wife just before the shooting and was then followed by a group of men who tried to rob him of the drug sale money, according the Harris County Sheriff's Office.
Naquin told the Chronicle last year that he would never forget his son's killer.
"If I see his eyes, I can pick him out. They were without a soul, evil, like he was a demon possessed," Naquin said.
Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal said the boy's father, who had said he saw Castro shoot his son, now claims someone else did the shooting.
"This weekend was the first time he had ever come with the new version of the facts," Rosenthal said.
He said his office had no choice but to dismiss the charge.
"We certainly also don't want to try someone for the offense if we believe there may be somebody else who may have committed the offense," Rosenthal said.
Naquin recanted his story from his Harris County Jail cell where he is being held pending trial on two charges of delivery of a controlled substance and 2 charges of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance.
Authorities believe Castro, 22, is a member of the violent Central
American gang known as MS-13.
5 gang members were arrested in connection with the April 2005 shooting incident, but only Castro was charged with capital murder.
Rosenthal said authorities have no reason to believe that anyone
intimidated Naquin into changing his story, but he couldn't explain why he singled out someone else 2 days before the trial.
Naquin's attorney, Lucinda "Cindy" Marshall, could not be reached for comment.
The defendant's attorney, Elihu Dodier, said Castro will remain in custody until he can be handed over to immigration authorities. Dodier said he believes immigration officials will return him to his native Honduras.
Though he expects the district attorney's office to pursue other charges against Castro, he doubts any further charges will be filed against his client.
"It's very unusual for a capital murder case to be dismissed in Harris County, but I just felt the state had a very weak case without a key witness," he said.
He said the prosecution's case hinged on Naquin's eyewitness testimony.
He did not know why Naquin changed his story at the 11th hour, but suspects he did not want to testify about his involvement in a drug transaction when he's facing his own drug-trafficking trial.
"The guy is looking out for himself," Dodier said of Naquin. "The bottom line is that the guy is looking out for himself - that father, I have absolutely zero respect for."
But, he said, Castro had always maintained he had not pulled the trigger when the toddler was killed.
"The father is the one who created this whole thing by bringing the child with him, and the father was the one who ran away from the car and left his children behind," Dodier said.
(source: Houston Chronicle)