Suspect in killing at restaurant rejects plea offer
A Yuma County Superior Court judge reaffirmed a trial for the San Luis man who fled to Mexico three years ago, after he allegedly shot and killed another man outside the entrance of a Yuma restaurant, after his attorney informed the court Wednesday morning he was turning down the plea agreement that the prosecution had offered him.
Superior Court Judge Brandon Kinsey, who is presiding over the case of Modesto Cortes-Serrillo, said while it was his right to proceed to trial, he wanted to make sure that he understood the terms of the plea offer, and the risks of not accepting it if he were to be found guilty.
Cortes-Serrillo, who is represented by attorney Jerry Hernandez of the Yuma County Public Defender’s Office, has been charged with 1st-degree murder for allegedly fatally shooting 43-yearold Santiago Olivo-Diaz on the evening of April 13, 2014, outside Lin’s Grand Buffet, 2135 E. 16th St., following a verbal altercation inside the restaurant.
When asked to provide the court with the terms of the plea agreement, prosecutor Karolyn Kaczorowski of the Yuma County Attorney’s Office, explained that if Cortes-Serrillo goes to trial and is convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
However, if he were to plead guilty to 2nd-degree murder, as required by the plea agreement, Kaczorowski said it stipulates that he be sentenced to 25 years in prison instead of life.
“There is no doubt that he committed the murder,” Kaczorowski said. “It was caught on video and seen by dozens of witnesses.”
She added that if Cortes-Serrillo decides to go to trial the prosecution intends to prove the murder was premeditated by showing that he knew about his ex-wife’s relationship, that he was on a date at the same restaurant, and that he had parked his car behind the building.
She further stated that Cortes Serrillo attacked the victim with a fork and chased him outside the restaurant. It had even appeared that the incident was over at that point, but the defendant went to his car and got the gun he used to kill Olivo-Diaz.
In response, Hernandez said he has spoken with Cortes-Serrillo at great length about the plea agreement and the reason his client is rejecting it is that, at his age, the life imprisonment and the 25-year sentence are essentially the same sentence.
But at trial, Hernandez continued, if he is successful at proving that the murder was not premeditated, there is a chance that his client would be found guilty of a lesser included offense such as manslaughter or negligent homicide, both of which carry a lesser sentence than the 2nd-degree murder being offered in the plea agreement.
“In essence, we have nothing to lose,” Hernandez said.
Kaczorowski responded by saying if Cortes-Serrillo is found guilty of a lesser included offense the prosecution would seek to have any sentence he receives enhanced by presenting aggravating factors during the penalty phase of the trial.
After Cortes-Serrillo turned down the plea offer, Kinsey reaffirmed 9 a.m. on Nov. 21 as the first day of his trial and a final trial management conference for 8:30 a.m. on Nov. 8.
According to Yuma police, on the evening of April 13, 2014, Cortes-Serrillo, who was 44-years-old at the time, and Olivo-Diaz were involved in a disturbance inside the restaurant. After the disturbance became physical, Olivo-Diaz ran outside and was chased by Cortes-Serrillo.
Cortes-Serrillo then allegedly shot Olivo-Diaz multiple times, killing him. Police say Cortes-Serrillo then fled the scene in a black 1996 Toyota Camry that was later found abandoned in San Luis, Ariz.
He was taken into custody in Mexico City on Dec. 13 on a warrant for his arrest on murder charges that was issued after the shooting and was brought back to Yuma County by U.S. Marshals.
Both of Cortes-Serrillo’s children, Daisy Cortes and Modesto Cortes, have since been convicted of helping him evade arrest and flee the country following the shooting.
Daisy Cortes, who drove her father to Mexico, was sentenced to a year of supervised probation in September 2014. She had pleaded guilty to one count of attempted hindering prosecution in a plea agreement.
Modesto Jamie Cortes, who withheld information about his father’s whereabouts and gave him money, was found guilty of hindering prosecution in February 2015 following a three-day trial. He was also sentenced to a year of supervised probation.
James Gilbert can be reached at jgilbert@yumasun.com or 539-6854. Find him on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/YSJamesGilbert or on Twitter @YSJamesGilbert.