Jury selection underway in the death penalty case

Jury selection is underway in the death penalty case against Lorenzo Mateo Cortez, 26, of Vallejo, charged with three murders, two in late 2014 and one in January 2015.

Attorneys and the judge in the pending jury trial in Vallejo return today at 9 a.m. in Department 7 to question more prospective jurors and to air “in limine” motions, requests by attorneys that certain testimony be excluded or included in a case.

On May 5, Senior Deputy District Attorney Julie Underwood who is leading the prosecution with Deputy District Attorney Mark Ornellas, questioned a panel of three prospective jurors about their attitudes, beliefs and feelings regarding capital punishment if the case reaches the penalty phase after convictions.

Underwood, standing at the lectern and facing the prospective jurors seated in the jury box in the Justice Building, said they would be making a moral judgment after hearing both “aggravating” and “mitigating” factors in the case and the factors' “qualitative nature,” requiring them to weigh them “in the balance.”

She polled the jurors, asking them to raise their hands, if they could still the consider the death penalty when the evidence will show that Cortez, seated at the defense table in a dark suit, allegedly killed three men, she noted, “just before he turned 19.”

All three indicated they would not automatically reject the death penalty because of Cortez's age at the time of the killings.

If and when the case is handed over to the jury and they enter the deliberation room to decide Cortez's fate, could they still follow the law, as read by Judge Tim P. Kam, and render the death penalty or life without the possibility of parole, Underwood wondered.

One prospective juror, a man, said not every aggravating factor carries the same weight, but asserted he could make “a fair decision” about them after hearing all other aggravating factors.

A second juror, a woman, told Underwood that the “ultimate decision” would be determined “by the evidence” heard in the courtroom.

As the prospective jurors and Underwood spoke, Cortez, sporting a mustache and a goatee, a neck tattoo visible on his left side, cast an occasional glance toward the jury box but showed no visible emotion or reaction.

At one point, Kam told the jurors that the law requires, in the penalty phase of a trial, to consider the defendant's age.

Kam asked one juror if they “would follow the law as given, even if it conflicted with personal beliefs.”

Out of the presence of the jurors, Cortez's lead attorney, Jon C. Weir of Martinez, told Kam he wanted to dismiss the female prospective juror for cause, saying he questioned the nature of her answers on the juror questionnaire when compared with her statements in open court.

But Underwood countered, noting that the woman “could consider” life without the possibility of parole, depending on the evidence seen and heard in court.

When the jurors returned for more questioning, Kam asked whether the jurors, if they found the murders to be “intentional and premeditated,” could vote for death.

“Does that change your thinking at all?” the judge asked.

Again, out of the presence of the prospective jurors, Weir was concerned the female prospective juror could reverse her decision about the death penalty.

Kam referred to her questionnaire and called her oral and written statements “thoughtful” and denied Weir's challenge.

In previous proceedings, Kam ruled the case would unfold as a single trial rather than three trials on each murder charge, as desired by the other defense attorney in the case, Thomas Kensok of Napa.

Kam also granted a defense motion to review the personnel records in his chambers and, upon review, ordered the City of Vallejo turn disclose information and records to Kensok by April 1. The disclosures, however, are confidential and subject to protective order but the officers' names are not. Public court records show that they include those of Sgt. Jared Kaksch, Sgt. Mat Mustard, Cpl. Richard Botello, Cpl. Sean Kenney, Lt. Fabio Rodriguez, Officer Scott Yates, and Officer Terry Schillinger.

At a previous hearing, Kensok argued that having the City Attorney of Vallejo provide police officer records, especially any showing disciplinary action for “moral turpitude,” may “become part of the defense” and be relevant.

So he filed the Pitchess motion requiring the prosecutor, in accord with the Brady v. Maryland case, a landmark 1963 U.S. Supreme Court case, to turn over all evidence that might exonerate his client.

After listening to Assistant City Attorney Katelyn M. Knight cite “Brady protocols,” Kam authorized the District Attorney's Office to release the personnel records of some Vallejo police officers involved in the case.

Of the case severance question, Ornellas, also at an earlier proceeding, did not see a valid legal reason to sever the charges into three separate trials.

Underwood added that evidence would show that Cortez believed one of his victims was “a snitch” and “was angry about it.”

Court records show that Cortez is charged with the Nov. 3, 2014, murder of Isaac Lopez-Reid, 18; the Dec. 20, 2014, murder of Luis Perez, 18; and the Jan. 10, 2015, murder of William Brown, 20. All were shot in Vallejo.

Vallejo police investigators, who arrested Cortez on March 2, 2015, while he was in Solano County Jail on unrelated felonies, believe Cortez shot the first victim because Lopez-Reid had accused him of being “a snitch.” Investigators also believe the fatal shootings of Perez and Brown were execution-style killings, with both victims robbed of money and their belongings. Cortez was within a few days of turning 19 when he is alleged to have committed the last of the crimes.

Underwood contended that Cortez, using another person, lured his victims to a place, then shot them and that separating the trials would mask “the context” of all three killings. If each charge is tried separately, “the court would hear three killings that are the same,” she added.

She said there is evidence that shows Cortez and Lopez-Reid were in contact with one another via social media.

Court plans are to issue summons and questionnaires to 300 prospective jurors, with jury selection, including determining if each seat juror is “death-penaltyqualified,” expected to last several weeks.

It is unclear when attorney opening statements are likely to begin, but the trial, once underway, is expected to last six months, Ornellas and Underwood said.

Cortez remains in custody without bail on the murder charges in the Stanton Correctional Facility in Fairfield.