Opening statements begin in 4th escapee trial
Posted on 02/03/2003 5:53:57 PM PST by MeekOneGOP
Opening statements begin in 4th escapee trial
02/03/2003
Dallas County prosecutors on Monday portrayed prison escapee Joseph Garcia as a bully who taunted robbery victims at gunpoint before an Irving patrol officer was fatally shot on Christmas Eve 2000.
Defense lawyers for Mr. Garcia, the fourth escapee to stand trial in the slaying of Officer Aubrey Hawkins, urged jurors to carefully listen to the evidence and "pinpoint what exactly Joseph Garcia did or did not do."
As Mr. Garcia's death-penalty trial opened, lead prosecutor Toby Shook described the defendant's actions as part of a coordinated effort by the group of escaped felons to rob Oshman's SuperSports USA of guns, ammunition and $100,000 in cash. The group fatally shot Officer Hawkins, 29, as he drove up to investigate a suspicious-person call, Mr. Shook said.
AP Joseph Christopher Garcia (center) |
But defense attorney Hugh Lucas told jurors that Mr. Garcia's actions should be judged "separate and apart" from those of the other escapees, saying his client was not guilty of capital murder and shouldn't be lumped in with the rest.
"Was he an accomplice in the taking of a life?" Mr. Lucas asked. "Look at Joseph Garcia and his involvement in that transaction."
Mr. Garcia, who was serving a 50-year term for a murder that he said was self-defense, faces life in prison or the death penalty if convicted of capital murder. The three escapees tried before him, including admitted leader George Rivas, were each convicted on the same charge and sentenced to death.
Prosecutors say Mr. Garcia, now 31, and six other escaped convicts held up the Irving store with prison guns stolen 11 days earlier during their break from a maximum-security unit in South Texas. After the shooting, the men fled to Colorado, where six were captured after a nationwide manhunt. The seventh committed suicide.
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To prove Mr. Garcia guilty, prosecutors don't have to show that bullets fired by Mr. Garcia were the ones that killed Officer Hawkins. Under Texas' "law of parties," Mr. Garcia may be held liable if he promoted or assisted the others during the crime.
Oshman's manager Wesley Ferris testified Monday that Mr. Garcia "gave me the impression he wouldn't hesitate to hurt somebody at the slightest move" during the robbery. He said that after the Oshman's employees had been rounded up, Mr. Garcia made menacing remarks as he stood by another manager, pointing a gun in his back.
He said, "Looks like we have a tough guy here. - Go ahead and try something. I want you to try something," Mr. Ferris said, quoting the escapee.
Testimony is scheduled to resume at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday.
E-mail hbecka@dallasnews.com
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