Harveylives
02-26-2004, 06:34 PM
Killer offers Smurf defense
BY JOE DUGGAN
MADISON - A cloud of gun smoke hangs over the U.S. Bank teller counter and three people lie dead on the floor.
Their killer jumps and lands with one foot on the counter before momentum carries him to the other side.
Jose Sandoval, making his first sworn statement since he was convicted of the Sept. 26, 2002, Norfolk bank shootings, is asked why he jumped the counter.
"Because somebody was talking s--," Sandoval replies.
Madison County Attorney Joe Smith asks who.
"A Smurf."
"A smirk?"
"A Smurf," Sandoval repeats, as in the blue TV cartoon character.
"I take it from your answer you don't want to answer that question," Smith says. "Or is it really your testimony that a blue Smurf was in the bank?"
"That's what I said."
The prosecutor tries once more: "Did you jump the counter because you wanted to make sure everybody was dead?"
"No, I jumped the counter because the Smurf was talking s--," Sandoval says.
Sandoval gave a two-hour deposition late Monday in the murder trial of his half-brother, Gabriel Rodriguez. A 79-page transcript of that deposition was read aloud to the jury on Tuesday.
Rodriguez, 27, faces five counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Evonne Tuttle, Lisa Bryant, Samuel Sun, Lola Elwood and Jo Mausbach. Although he never fired a shot in the bank, the prosecution considers him equally culpable, alleging he assisted the gunmen by driving them to the bank and casing the interior before they entered.
Rodriguez knew nothing about the robbery beforehand and played no role in it, his attorney has argued. His presence in the bank before the shootings was coincidence - he was there to inquire about a savings account.
The defense rested its case Tuesday after calling seven witnesses, including Sandoval. The prosecution called an equal number of rebuttal witnesses before resting its case. Madison County District Court Judge Robert Ensz scheduled closing arguments for this morning.
The prosecution requested Sandoval give a sworn statement outside the presence of the jury to avoid the risk of a mistrial, Smith explained.
The attorneys and the judge reviewed the transcript Tuesday morning, removing some portions that he found did not apply to the trial. Then Kelly Murph, a certified court interpreter, read the transcript aloud.
Sandoval, the self-described leader of the bank robbery, gave yet another account of what happened on the morning of Sept. 26, one in which Rodriguez, his half-brother, had nothing to do with it. This was his version:
Sandoval awoke about 4:30 a.m. and about an hour later woke Erick Vela, who was staying with him. Sandoval dropped two hits of LSD before driving his car across town to pick up Jorge Galindo. They then drove back to Sandoval's east Norfolk rental house, where they met up with Vela.
The trio walked from the house to the bank. As they drew within a few blocks of their destination, Sandoval was surprised to see Rodriguez in the bank parking lot.
"We was talking about how it was a bad omen," he said. "Not me, but Erick Vela. He said it was a bad sign."
Sandoval repeatedly asked Vela whether he was "down" with the robbery - did he still have the courage to through with it. To urge Vela on, Sandoval said, he lifted his shirt to display his "strap," a slang term for a handgun.
With his two friends still on board, Sandoval changed the plan. He told the others to stay together while taking a different route to the bank before meeting him in the parking lot several minutes later.
Sandoval walked to the front of the bank and looked in the windows to note the locations of employees and to make sure his brother had left. Galindo and Vela then arrived and the three entered the bank.
Sandoval's version differed from earlier testimony offered by Galindo, who said Rodriguez drove the gunmen to the bank and reported locations of the employees inside via walkie-talkie. Galindo's girlfriend, Cortney Barritt, said she saw Rodriguez pick up Galindo at her apartment shortly before the killings.
The county attorney conducted a pointed cross-examination that elicited vague and puzzling answers from Sandoval. The 24-year-old Norfolk man also seemed reluctant to accept responsibility for the shootings.
"Mr. Sandoval, did you yourself shoot three people?" Smith asked.
"I don't know."
One by one, Smith asked whether Sandoval shot Mausbach, Sun and Tuttle, the victims he is recorded gunning down on the bank surveillance video. Each time, Sandoval replied, "I don't know."
"I didn't see nothing," he said. "I didn't see nobody fall."
The prosecutor also wanted to know whether Sandoval later derided Galindo for leaving two witnesses alive in the office of slain bank manager Lola Elwood. Sandoval denied it.
Because Sandoval was a witness for the defense, the prosecutor offered no immunity for his statements. Harry Moore, who represents Sandoval, said he did not believe the testimony would hurt his client at sentencing because he would have to discuss his role at that time anyway.
During rebuttal, Smith called Norfolk Police Sgt. Michael Bauer to the stand. Bauer brought photographs taken from where Sandoval said he was standing when he saw his brother in the bank parking lot.
The photos cast serious doubts on Sandoval's statement. They showed that an office building would have blocked any view of the bank parking lot from where Sandoval said he stood.
BY JOE DUGGAN
MADISON - A cloud of gun smoke hangs over the U.S. Bank teller counter and three people lie dead on the floor.
Their killer jumps and lands with one foot on the counter before momentum carries him to the other side.
Jose Sandoval, making his first sworn statement since he was convicted of the Sept. 26, 2002, Norfolk bank shootings, is asked why he jumped the counter.
"Because somebody was talking s--," Sandoval replies.
Madison County Attorney Joe Smith asks who.
"A Smurf."
"A smirk?"
"A Smurf," Sandoval repeats, as in the blue TV cartoon character.
"I take it from your answer you don't want to answer that question," Smith says. "Or is it really your testimony that a blue Smurf was in the bank?"
"That's what I said."
The prosecutor tries once more: "Did you jump the counter because you wanted to make sure everybody was dead?"
"No, I jumped the counter because the Smurf was talking s--," Sandoval says.
Sandoval gave a two-hour deposition late Monday in the murder trial of his half-brother, Gabriel Rodriguez. A 79-page transcript of that deposition was read aloud to the jury on Tuesday.
Rodriguez, 27, faces five counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Evonne Tuttle, Lisa Bryant, Samuel Sun, Lola Elwood and Jo Mausbach. Although he never fired a shot in the bank, the prosecution considers him equally culpable, alleging he assisted the gunmen by driving them to the bank and casing the interior before they entered.
Rodriguez knew nothing about the robbery beforehand and played no role in it, his attorney has argued. His presence in the bank before the shootings was coincidence - he was there to inquire about a savings account.
The defense rested its case Tuesday after calling seven witnesses, including Sandoval. The prosecution called an equal number of rebuttal witnesses before resting its case. Madison County District Court Judge Robert Ensz scheduled closing arguments for this morning.
The prosecution requested Sandoval give a sworn statement outside the presence of the jury to avoid the risk of a mistrial, Smith explained.
The attorneys and the judge reviewed the transcript Tuesday morning, removing some portions that he found did not apply to the trial. Then Kelly Murph, a certified court interpreter, read the transcript aloud.
Sandoval, the self-described leader of the bank robbery, gave yet another account of what happened on the morning of Sept. 26, one in which Rodriguez, his half-brother, had nothing to do with it. This was his version:
Sandoval awoke about 4:30 a.m. and about an hour later woke Erick Vela, who was staying with him. Sandoval dropped two hits of LSD before driving his car across town to pick up Jorge Galindo. They then drove back to Sandoval's east Norfolk rental house, where they met up with Vela.
The trio walked from the house to the bank. As they drew within a few blocks of their destination, Sandoval was surprised to see Rodriguez in the bank parking lot.
"We was talking about how it was a bad omen," he said. "Not me, but Erick Vela. He said it was a bad sign."
Sandoval repeatedly asked Vela whether he was "down" with the robbery - did he still have the courage to through with it. To urge Vela on, Sandoval said, he lifted his shirt to display his "strap," a slang term for a handgun.
With his two friends still on board, Sandoval changed the plan. He told the others to stay together while taking a different route to the bank before meeting him in the parking lot several minutes later.
Sandoval walked to the front of the bank and looked in the windows to note the locations of employees and to make sure his brother had left. Galindo and Vela then arrived and the three entered the bank.
Sandoval's version differed from earlier testimony offered by Galindo, who said Rodriguez drove the gunmen to the bank and reported locations of the employees inside via walkie-talkie. Galindo's girlfriend, Cortney Barritt, said she saw Rodriguez pick up Galindo at her apartment shortly before the killings.
The county attorney conducted a pointed cross-examination that elicited vague and puzzling answers from Sandoval. The 24-year-old Norfolk man also seemed reluctant to accept responsibility for the shootings.
"Mr. Sandoval, did you yourself shoot three people?" Smith asked.
"I don't know."
One by one, Smith asked whether Sandoval shot Mausbach, Sun and Tuttle, the victims he is recorded gunning down on the bank surveillance video. Each time, Sandoval replied, "I don't know."
"I didn't see nothing," he said. "I didn't see nobody fall."
The prosecutor also wanted to know whether Sandoval later derided Galindo for leaving two witnesses alive in the office of slain bank manager Lola Elwood. Sandoval denied it.
Because Sandoval was a witness for the defense, the prosecutor offered no immunity for his statements. Harry Moore, who represents Sandoval, said he did not believe the testimony would hurt his client at sentencing because he would have to discuss his role at that time anyway.
During rebuttal, Smith called Norfolk Police Sgt. Michael Bauer to the stand. Bauer brought photographs taken from where Sandoval said he was standing when he saw his brother in the bank parking lot.
The photos cast serious doubts on Sandoval's statement. They showed that an office building would have blocked any view of the bank parking lot from where Sandoval said he stood.