Walla Walla double homicide trial begins

Oct. 12--In the opening arguments Wednesday of a Walla Walla double-homicide trial, the prosecution presented point-by-point evidence in its case against Jose M. Quintero, 23.

When the defense attorney addressed the jury, she called the evidence a "manure pile."

Quintero faces two counts of first-degree murder and one count of first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm in the killing of Janette Rojas Balderas, 34 and her boyfriend, 38-year-old Jon Cody Cano. They were shot in their front yard at 40 E. Walnut St. on Aug. 7, 2015.

Quintero's trial in Walla Walla County Superior Court began Tuesday with jury selection, and is expected to last 2 1/2 weeks, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Gabe Acosta said.

Acosta told the jury panel -- 10 women, two men and two alternates -- Rojas Balderas was killed because she was a police informant. He said she had assisted in the drug delivery conviction of a friend of Quintero who was a member of a local street gang. The friend then asked Quintero for help in killing Rojas Balderas.

"You'll hear evidence that he told some of his close associates that he wanted 'this rat or snitch dead,'" Acosta said. "Finally at some point somebody did assist him in that."

Quintero's defense attorney, Andrea Burkhart, called the prosecution's witnesses questionable and motivated by their self-interest.

She contended the Walla Walla Police Department failed to follow all the leads available and pointed fingers at Quintero despite evidence absolving him.

"Sometimes a case is a little bit like a manure pile," Burkhart said. "It can get really tall and stacked up, but you don't eliminate the smell."

Prosecution's case

Acosta said investigators tied Quintero to the killings on statements from several former gang members.

Birzavit Carmona-Hernandez, a cellmate of Quintero's at the County Jail and member of the 18th Street Gang, told officers Quintero confessed to him about the shooting.

Carmona-Hernandez provided law enforcement with details Quintero told him about the crime that only the shooter could have known, Acosta said.

"They knew the caliber of weapons that were used," he said. "They knew the direction and positioning of the victims based on the wounds that they sustained."

Another former 18th Street gang member, Diego Bante-Rivera, came forward after he was shot by fellow gang members July 26 behind grain elevators at Paddock and Harvey Shaw roads, Acosta said.

In a prior interview with law enforcement Bante-Rivera denied knowing anything about the Cano and Rojas Balderas killings. He later changed his story.

"What happened later, this witness will tell you, is that last summer he was with some other gang associates," Acosta said. "Diego got out of the car and when he got out the two in the back shot him about eight times and left him for dead there and then took off."

The gang members thought Bante-Rivera was an informant and shot him in retaliation, he said. He survived the shooting, but was paralyzed and has since testified against several compatriots.

The police department also matched shell casings from the Walnut Street shooting with two other shootings in Milton-Freewater on Aug. 5 and July 20, 2015, Acosta said.

He added that a member of a rival gang, Cisco A. Gonzalez, was present at both shootings and will testify to Quintero's involvement.

"What you'll hear from those two shootings was that the casing and bullets from those two incidents match the bullets and casing here on Walnut Street," Acosta said. "They will tell you in their opinion that the same gun was used."

Defense's case

Burkhart called into question the prosecution's evidence, from its witnesses to the forensics surrounding the bullet casings. Quintero, she acknowledged, was not a saint, but he is also not guilty of the murders of Rojas Balderas and Cano.

The prosecution's key witnesses all have past gang histories, Burkhart said. Their past motivated them to testify against Quintero in return for lighter treatment in their criminal cases.

One witness, Antonio Carmona-Hernandez, faced double murder charges for a shooting that took place outside The Green Lantern in Walla Walla on Oct. 14, 2016, she said. He received a reduced sentence by providing enough information for law enforcement to charge Quintero, Burkhart said.

"What we are going to hear is that in exchange for Carmona-Hernandez's testimony he was given a deal from the state, which is what he wanted," she said.

Bante-Rivera, meanwhile, is covering for himself by testifying, she added. He faced persecution from his former friends and sought protection from police.

"He needs to settle scores. He needs to protect himself and cover his own tracks," Burkhart said. "Then he goes to police and tells them he has all this different information."

Burkhart said she also plans to question the prosecution's use of ballistic evidence, she said. It is difficult to match bullet casings and the science behind ballistics has never been validated, she told the jury.

"The types of claims, the types of scientific claims that the state wants to make about these shell casings. This is not good science," Burkhart said. "It has never been shown to be anything substantially more than somebody looking at two items and saying, 'Do they appear to be similar?'"

The bullet casings from all three shootings also match a fourth shooting where Quintero was not present, she said.

Tony Buhr can be reached at tonybuhr@wwub.com or 526-8325.

___

(c)2017 Walla Walla Union-Bulletin (Walla Walla, Wash.)

Visit Walla Walla Union-Bulletin (Walla Walla, Wash.) at union-bulletin.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.