SAN JOSE, Calif. — A group of protesters gathered in front of the Santa Clara County Main Jail on Wednesday around noon to demand the immediate release of Hugo Chavez. The latest case against Chavez was dismissed on July 21 for insufficient evidence, but Chavez remains in custody, according to his brother, Joey Rodriguez.
In 2012, Chavez was arrested for a murder that occurred in 2008, Rodriguez said. Chavez was tried twice. The first trial ended in a hung jury.
In the second trial in 2018, he was found guilty of two counts of attempted murder and one count of first-degree murder. He was sentenced to 105 years to life in prison, and his co-defendant, Gabriel Franco, was sentenced to 170 years to life.
The case was appealed, and Chavez’s conviction and sentence were vacated in December 2024 due to evidentiary errors in the second trial, according to the appellate court decision. Despite this ruling, the District Attorney’s Office pursued a third trial and kept Chavez in custody.
In the second trial, the court admitted rap lyrics into evidence over the defense’s objection. The appellate court found that the lyrics included “highly inflammatory statements and descriptions of killing and other violent acts.”
However, Chavez did not write any of those lyrics and had a minimal role in producing the music and selling the CDs, the appellate decision stated.
“[W]e conclude the probability that admission of the lyrics would create a substantial danger of undue prejudice substantially outweighed any probative value the lyrics had,” the appellate court wrote. “The trial court’s wholesale admission of the lyrics constituted an abuse of discretion.”
The primary basis for Chavez’s arrest and later conviction was the word of an informant who claimed to have participated in the crime and accused Chavez of being the driver, Rodriguez added.
However, that witness lacked credibility. The appellate decision detailed that the witness had been involved in many shootings, stabbings and violent crimes; testified to lying to the police multiple times; and was described as “dishonest” and a “master manipulator” by his girlfriend on the stand.
The appellate decision added that the prosecutor, Deputy District Attorney David Pandori, “weaved and folded permissible uses of the evidence … into impermissible arguments that directly attacked Chavez’s character as being violent.” As a result, Pandori blurred the lines between permissible and impermissible uses of the evidence, effectively prejudicing the jury.
Following testimony about gangs, one juror wrote a note to the judge that she was scared gang members would follow and hurt her, Rodriguez said. Despite her bias, she was never removed from the jury, he added.
While the defense included the claim about the juror in their appeal, the appellate court found that this claim was “without merit.”
In reviewing the errors in the trial court proceedings, the appellate court concluded that “it is reasonably probable the outcome of the trial would have been more favorable to Chavez in the absence of the error. Chavez’s convictions must therefore be reversed.”
Although the case was vacated, Chavez was still held in CDCR custody until July and then moved to the county jail.
“If your case was vacated and dismissed, why are you still being held for another seven months in the California Department of Corrections?” community member Rudy Cuevas asked at the protest.
Even after the appellate decision, the Santa Clara County District Attorney attempted to prosecute Chavez a third time for the same crime. This third case was dismissed on July 21, but Hugo Chavez is still in custody.
Chavez’s family has been fighting for his freedom since his indictment in 2012.
“This is impacting our family, our friends, our whole community,” Cuevas said.
The protesters marched from the jail to the Hall of Justice and back, chanting, “Free Hugo Chavez!”
The Instagram accounts @sv_debug and @asystemdownscc are posting updates on Chavez’s status.
