Verdict split in case of man accused of shooting
Suspect, who awaits murder trial in another incident, convicted of aggravated battery for beating with gun
A Santa Fe jury delivered a split verdict in a shooting case against Caleb Calandro after deliberating for about three hours Thursday.
Calandro, 35, who still awaits trial for murder in a separate December 2016 shooting incident, claims he acted in selfdefense when he later the same day fired multiple bullets at the torso of Samuel Dillon, wounding but not killing him, after they got into an argument while drinking in the back of a van.
Ten of the 12 jurors on Thursday favored convicting Calandro on two counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon but were unable to reach a unanimous verdict on whether Calandro was defending himself when prosecutors say he shot at Dillon twice, stopped firing, then opened fire again.
The judge declared a mistrial on those two charges.
However, the jury convicted Calandro of aggravated battery for beating Dillon about the head with his gun after shooting him and aggravated assault for trying to fire his then-empty gun at another passenger in the van, Aireyon Pero.
Assistant District Attorney Blake Nichols told jurors at the outset of the case that Calandro had been cruising in a van with Dillon and two other men when a dispute broke out between Calandro and Dillon.
“A joke is made about Mr. Dillon being a cop,” Nichols said. “That upsets [Calandro], who is carrying a pistol that day and he puts his hand on the gun. Mr. Dillon stands up and says, ‘Like what are you doing? Why are you putting your hand on the gun?’ Not long after than, the defendant raises up the gun and puts two bullets in Mr. Dillon.”
After that, Nichols said, Calandro fired more shots, “upwards of five times” in all.
After shooting Dillon, Nichols said, Calandro turned his .40-caliber pistol on Pero, who was sitting in the passenger side of the van, but when Calandro realized the gun was empty, Nichols said, he turned around and began to pistol whip Dillon.
Calandro testified Wednesday that he had shot Dillon in self-defense because Dillon was standing over him and beating him about the head with his fists while trying to grab Calandro’s gun, which he was wearing in a holster on his hip.
Calandro also told jurors that Dillon was known to carry a .25-caliber pistol in an ankle holster and he hit Dillon twice in the head after shooting him because he saw Dillon reaching for his pant leg and feared Dillon was reaching for a gun.
After the incident, Calandro got out of the van and fled on foot. Pero and the driver then rushed Dillon to the hospital, where they dropped him off and drove away without waiting to speak to police.
Officers later located the .40-caliber
handgun, ammunition and a holster in Calandro’s vehicle.
No .25-caliber pistol was ever recovered during the investigation, but a box of .25-caliber ammunition was found in the glove box of Dillon’s car.
Calandro faces up to four and a half years in prison for the two charges he was convicted of Thursday.
Nichols said Thursday the state had not yet decided whether to retry Calandro on the charges on which the jury was unable to agree.
Jury selection in Calandro’s murder trial is set to take place next month. Prosecutors say Calandro shot Rustin Radcliffe to death at a parking lot a block south of the Santa Fe Plaza.