Accused shooter appears in court via video
A jailed Tuolumne man accused of fatally shooting 17-year-old Eric Aguiar in a parking lot by the Sonora High
School campus on Sept.
16, appeared via video in a Sonora courtroom Wednesday and Thursday, and a judge set his bail at $2.5 million.
Joshua Amondo Rodriguez, 20, is charged by the Tuolumne County District Attorney’s Office with one count of murder, three counts of attempted murder, and one count of threatening a witness. All five charges carry firearm enhancements.
Rodriguez faces a maximum sentence of 144 years to life in prison if he is convicted of all the charges he faces, prosecutors have calculated.
Arraignment for Rodriguez began Thursday and will continue at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Rodriguez has not yet entered a plea to the charges he faces. He’s being represented by Martin Baker, a Modesto attorney, who is not a courtappointed public defender.
Rodriguez appeared just after 4:30 p.m. Thursday on live video from Tuolumne County Jail wearing an orange-red top with a collar. He expressed himself clearly and in an upbeat tone as he answered questions and spoke to Superior Court Presiding Judge Donald Segerstrom and his attorney in Department 1 in the Historic Tuolumne County Courthouse on Yaney Avenue.
Segerstrom presented Baker with a copy of the criminal complaint against Rodriguez, told Baker his client’s bail is set at $2.5 million, and asked if Baker wanted to enter a plea for Rodriguez.
Baker requested time to review the criminal complaint against his client. Segerstrom, District Attorney Laura Krieg and Baker agreed to return to Department 1 at 1:30 p.m. Oct. 21.
“Mr. Rodriguez, your attorney is here and he has a copy of the charging document,” Segerstrom said.
“OK perfect,” Rodriguez said. “Is it possible after this I can speak to my attorney?”
Baker turned up a microphone designated for
his use and said to Rodriguez, “I will be out to visit with you, likely tomorrow.”
“Alright perfect,” Rodriguez responded. “I’ll see you then.”
Shortly after 5 p.m. Wednesday in the same courtroom, Segerstrom read out the charges against Rodriguez, saying explicitly that he’s charged with the murder of Aguiar in which he discharged a handgun.
Segerstrom said Rodriguez is also charged with the attempted murders of three individuals who he identified by first name and last initial. He also said Rodriguez is charged with attempting to dissuade a separate witness by means of force or implied threat of force.
Rodriguez was on an own-recognizance release for an unspecified case in Stanislaus County at the time of the killing of Aguiar, Segerstrom said.
During the initial hearing for Rodriguez on Wednesday this week, Segerstrom asked Rodriguez if he wanted to be represented by an attorney. Rodriguez said he has an attorney, who he identified as Baker, and asked if his appearance could be Thursday when Baker would be present.
On Wednesday, Krieg brought up the fact that Rodriguez was at present held on no-bail status. She and Segerstrom agreed that because Rodriguez is not facing death penalty charges, he qualifies for bail. Krieg asked that bail for Rodriguez be set at $2.5 million, and Segerstrom agreed.
Krieg said her office’s investigation is continuing and she had no comment on whether others will be charged when asked Wednesday outside court if prosecutors intend to charge any other suspects with crimes in connection with the killing of Aguiar.
Rodriguez is accused of killing Aguiar, a Jamestown resident, the night of Sept. 16 in a parking lot off School Street on the Sonora High School campus. He was arrested Sept. 26 by special weapons and tactics officers in Centerville, Utah, north of Salt Lake City.
Tuolumne County sheriff’s personnel provided information to the Centerville Police Department that led them to Rodriguez.
Rodriguez was extradited earlier this week from a jail in Utah, transferred by employees of a private transport company that specializes in extraditions, and booked into Tuolumne County Jail Monday night.
Moments before Rodriguez came on the video screen Wednesday in Department 1, a group of nine people, adults and children, came into the courtroom and sat where they could see the courtroom video screen. Later, they conferred outside with Assistant District Attorney Eric Hovatter in Courthouse Square.
The same number of people came into Department 1 on Thursday to view the beginning of the arraignment for Rodriguez.