Attorney: Sotolongo defending himself
The defense for a man accused of a 2016 stabbing that killed another man urged the jury Thursday to acquit his client.
Zach Curtis, defense attorney for Gearold Sotolongo, accused of fatally stabbing Rodger Yale in
2016, argued Sotolongo was acting in self-defense when he stabbed Yale, 30, in front of the Hoopa MiniMart. Curtis cited statements Sotolongo made during his testimony that he heard Yale threaten to “lay him out like his uncle.”
“Mr. Sotolongo took that to mean beating him into a coma with the stick in (Yale’s) hand,” Curtis said.
Sotolongo’s uncle Robert Blake testified earlier in the trial that he had once been attacked and beaten into a coma by an unseen attacker, but that he later heard rumors that Yale had been the perpetrator.
Curtis’ arguments focused on the theory that Yale was a combative person — citing a previous arrest, a January 2016 confrontation with Sotolongo and how at the time of his death, he had roughly seven times a potentially toxic level of methamphetamine in his system — that Sotolongo was defending himself and that there is not sufficient evidence of intent to kill.
Curtis pointed out that the single stab wound Sotolongo inflicted on Yale was in the middle of a physical struggle, and slid in the inches between Yale’s ribs and reached his heart.
“If Mr. Sotolongo was trying to kill Mr. Yale, that was the luckiest shot in the world,” Curtis said.
The jury must find that Sotolongo had a reasonable belief that he was in danger of great bodily injury or death and responded proportionately, in order to agree that he killed Yale in legally justified self-defense.
One of the most important and most argued aspects of the trial was the gas station surveillance cameras which captured the fight between Sotolongo and Yale that resulted in Yale’s death. In the video, Yale is seated on the
curb in front of the gas station’s entrance, Sotolongo approaches the curb, Yale jumps up and takes a few steps towards Sotolongo, which puts the two in arms reach of each other, then the men begin grappling.
Deputy District Attorney Roger Rees argued Sotolongo was attempting to flank Yale, and Curtis argued that he was merely trying to get past him and enter the mini-mart.
Part of Curtis’ argument that Sotolongo had a reasonable fear for his safety hinged on Sotolongo’s testimony that, before entering the view of the gas station’s cameras, Yale had pulled a folding knife out of his back pocket and waved it at the group Sotolongo was in. Sotolongo testified that he was part of a group following Yale because one member was demanding money from him.
“(Sotolongo) did not have to wait for Mr. Yale to break the stick across his head and pull the knife out,” Curtis said.
Because the burden is on the prosecution to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Sotolongo committed murder, Rees had another opportunity to offer closing arguments to the jury.
In his second round of closing arguments, Rees attempted to convince the jury that Sotolongo was lying during his time on the stand, pointing out that two other witnesses to the scene who said that they never saw Yale get aggressive.
Rees showed the jury the video of the fight again, noting that seconds after the men approach each other, Yale begins rapidly backing up as Sotolongo charges forward while the men are grabbing each other. Rees argued that, while the video does not show exactly what was in Sotolongo’s hand during that moment, it was then Sotolongo began attempting to stab Yale.
“Rodger’s doing the wrestling move called ‘running for your life so you don’t get stabbed,’” Rees said.
As of the Times-Standard’s print deadline, the jury was still in deliberations. If a decision is not reached by the end of Friday, deliberations will continue Tuesday.