By Sophie Marconi and Jade Wolansky
On August 17 in Department 8 at 9:03 am, Judge David Reed presided over the case against two defendants, Joseph Lopez and Stephon Ramirez. The reconvening of the trial began with the continuation of witness testimony from an Officer Regan, who detained Jose Ramirez at the time of the incident on May 8, 2016.
The trial began with the People playing the footage from the officer’s dashboard camera the day of the incident. Throughout the video, Officer Regan described the incident. Regan testified that he saw the black pickup truck while he was driving, recognized the vehicle as being associated with a firearm, and immediately pulled the vehicle over. At this point, the driver began to slow the vehicle without stopping completely. Next, the passenger of the vehicle opened the door of the vehicle and jumped out while the car was still moving.
One can then see Officer Regan leave his vehicle with his K-9 to chase after the passenger of the vehicle. After this point, the court no longer had video footage of the event and had to rely solely on the testimony of Officer Regan. Regan testified that he chased Mr. Ramirez and eventually lost sight of him.
At this point in the video, Officer Regan was near a cement enclosure and he assumed that the fleeing subject must be within the enclosure, because he could see no sign of the man elsewhere. In reaction to this, Officer Regan lifted his K-9 over the cement enclosure in an effort to find out if Mr. Ramirez had climbed over the wall.
The K-9 barked when lifted above the enclosure, which Officer Regan interpreted as confirmation that the subject was hiding on the other side. At this point, Mr. Ramirez was discovered and detained, and soon after taken to the hospital as a result of moderate injuries that he sustained during his detainment.
Once at the hospital, Officer Regan used a kit to test for gunpowder residue on Mr. Ramirez, as protocol. At this point in the trial, the People asked Officer Regan questions about the weapon that was found in the black truck that Mr. Ramirez originally jumped out of. Regan testified that the gun that his fellow officers found was a 25 caliber ACP (Automatic Colt Pistol) with live round in the vehicle.
At this point in the testimony, the People brought their next witness to the stand, Officer Daniel Gill. Officer Gill is a West Sacramento Police Officer, and has had this position for 12 and a half years. He is also part of the K-9 unit and was present on the day of the incident.
At the beginning of Officer Gill’s testimony, the People presented the footage from his dashboard camera to help the jury understand the context of the incident. This video showed the court that on May 8, 2016, at approximately 5 pm, the black truck, the defendant’s vehicle, began to turn into the parking lot of an apartment complex. Officer Gill turned his lights on because he did not want to endanger the individuals living in the apartment complex.
Next, the court again saw the footage of Mr. Ramirez exiting the moving vehicle, and reviewed the events from that day from the viewpoint of Officer Gill.
Trial on Possible Gang Shooting Resumes
by Jade Wolansky
On August 17, 2016, Judge David Reed in Department 8 presided over the third day of the case against co-defendants Jason Lopez and Stephon Ramirez. The attorneys present for the defense included Deputy Public Defender Martha Sequeira for Stephon Ramirez, and Attorney James Granucci for Jason Lopez. Deputy District Attorney Kyle Hasapes represented the prosecution.
Prior to the jury entering the courtroom, the defense established with Judge Reed how evidence would be presented.
They discussed how Mr. Lopez’s tattoos would be shown to the court. Ms. Sequeira objected to having Mr. Lopez remove his shirt in the courtroom to display the tattoos on his body. She suggested that, instead, Mr. Lopez be permitted to approach the center of the room and place his hand on the projector. In this way, his hand tattoos could be displayed with the projector screen on the wall. The bailiff stated that several more officers would need to be present for security purposes.
Next, the first witness, Detective Ken Fellows of the West Sacramento Police Department was brought in. The defense and prosecution questioned him and determined the parameters of what could be brought up during testimony. It was established that Mr. Lopez’s parole status when Det. Fellows made contact with him would not be mentioned to the jury. This is because there were concerns about causing jury prejudice. Judge Reed ruled that a reading of Miranda rights were not required for temporary detentions.
The trial resumed when the jury entered the courtroom.
The prosecutor began by asking Det. Fellows about November 11, 2003, when he encountered Lopez and another individual.
Det. Fellows described that Mr. Lopez wore a red t-shirt, black leather jacket with red sleeves and a belt with a chrome buckle that had the initial “L.” Mr. Lopez admitted he had been a gang member for three years. Det. Fellows listed off several of Lopez’s tattoos: four dots on his face, the roman numeral “XIV” on his left hand, and the name “Selena” on the left part of his chest.
Ms. Sequeira questioned Det. Fellows about why he wrote in his report that Lopez’s “BRK” tattoo was on his arm, when in fact, it is placed on his ear. Det. Fellow admitted to this discrepancy.
Ms. Sequeira then inquired of Det. Fellows if he had asked Mr. Lopez what the tattoos meant to the defendant. Fellows stated that Mr. Lopez’s tattoos indicated that he had gang associations. Sequeira informed Fellows she did not want his input, only the answer to her actual question. Det. Fellows admitted that he did not ask Mr. Lopez what the tattoos signified to him.
At this point, Det. Fellows began to answer in an irritated and annoyed manner.
Ms. Sequeira proceeded to ask if Mr. Lopez had a tattoo specifically spelling out “Norteño.” Det. Fellows replied that Lopez did not, however, his other tattoos strongly suggested that Lopez had gang affiliations. Ms. Sequeria again informed Det. Fellows that he did not answer her question. Judge Reed intervened and reiterated Sequeira’s specific question.
The jury and the witness were dismissed.
The next witness to take the stand was Officer Cody Coulter, also of the West Sacramento Police Department.
For similar reasons, the attorneys established limits on what could be mentioned during the witness’ testimony. Judge Reed again ruled that Miranda rights did not apply to temporary detentions. The issue would not be brought up during the trial. Mention of the defendants’ past probation and parole statuses would not be permitted.
The jury returned to the courtroom again and the trial resumed.
The prosecutor asked Officer Coulter to describe his encounter with Jason Lopez and several other individuals. He stated that he pulled over a white vehicle for a broken headlight and observed several passengers. There were four males who were in the back seat of the vehicle.
The prosecutor inquired whether Michael Lopez, Jason Lopez’s cousin, was known to be a gang member. The defense attorneys objected to this query and approached the bench.
Judge Reed told the prosecutor to change his line of questioning.
The prosecutor proceeded to ask if Jason Lopez was known to be associated with the Broderick Boys, a Sacramento gang affiliated with the Norteño gang. Officer Coulter affirmed this and continued to describe the other passengers in the vehicle. Coulter stated that the other passengers wore red and had several tattoos.
Officer Coulter stated Mr. Lopez was cooperative and was not arrested.
At this point, Judge Reed ended the testimony for the day. The case is scheduled to resume on Monday, August 22, at 10am.
