Maybe some of you remember a post i made at the end of June, that I had jury duty in the case of 3 illegal Mexican children allegedly murdered by their uncle and cousin in 2004. The mothers of the children, along with other family members, insisted that these fellas had nothing to do with these murders, even though all three kids' blood was on each otheir pants and on gloves that were found in their car. The first trial ended in a highly divisive mistrial. Every Monday through Friday, since the first week of July, I have had to listen to gruesome testimony about the crime scene, view autopsy pictures, and have a 10-day crash course on high-level DNA (think OJ). BUT, at 10:30 this morning, the other 11 jurors and myself came to a concensus and sent these bastards to jail for the rest of their lives. The same parents who swore when they testified that there was no way these losers did this heinous crime, hugged the prosecutors and told them thank you after the verdicts. So I say, for the first time in over a month, i can sleep with a clear and happy heart. I had to use a week of jury duty, 3 weeks of my sick time and two weeks of my vacation time, but providing justice for these three young innocent victims made it okay.
If any of you guys have any questions, please let me know--it's therapeutic for me to talk about his ordeal.

that's all i wanted to say to you guys--that, and if you have any kids in your life--hug them and kiss them on their heads

People line up to pay their respects to three children killed in their Northwest Baltimore home last week.
(Sun photo by Karl Merton Ferron)
Jun 3, 2004


Lucero, 9



Alexis, 10


Ricardo, Jr.10


The murderers



City jury finds 2 men guilty in Fallstaff slayings
Announcement follows initial confusion on verdicts in murders of 3 children

By Julie Bykowicz
Sun Reporter
Originally published August 8, 2006, 4:40 PM EDT
Two Mexican immigrants accused of slashing the throats of three young relatives were found guilty of murder today in a case in which prosecutors and police had been unable to pinpoint a clear motive in brutal killings that shocked the city two years ago.

Policarpio Espinoza, 24, and Adan Canela, 19, were each convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and one count of second-degree murder. Lucero Espinoza, 8, her brother, Ricardo Espinoza, 9, and their male cousin, Alexis Espejo Quezada, 10, were beaten and slashed in their bedrooms. All were nearly decapitated; the boys were strangled.

Jurors, who had spent four days locked in deliberations, also convicted both men of conspiracy to commit murder. The panel made their final declarations after a half-hour delay to sort out confusion that at one point threatened to derail the case.

After initially announcing Policarpio Espinoza guilty, some jurors shook their heads as the judge turned to Canela. It seemed they disagreed on what was supposed to be a unanimous verdict, and then jurors appeared to be confused on what they had decided on Policarpio Espinoza.

The judge sent them back to resume deliberations; later, it was learned that the jury had been confused on legal definitions as to what constituted a first- and second-degree murder charge. It is still unclear why they convicted on two counts of first-degree murder and one count of second-degree murder.

The men face up to life in prison without parole.

This was the second time the two defendants had been tried. The first trial, which began in July 2005, lasted nearly two months, with five weeks of testimony and 300 pieces of evidence. Circuit Judge Thomas Ward declared a mistrial Aug. 30, after 10 days of deliberations. Jurors reported being split 6-6 on whether to convict Canela and 8-4 in favor of convicting Policarpio Espinoza.

In this latest trial, city prosecutors had to figure out how to explain complicated and confusing evidence, knowing that jurors who failed to convict last year had said they had trouble following the convoluted case that seemed to lack a coherent storyline.

Assistant State's Attorney Sharon R. Holback, who gave the state's final closing argument, told jurors it was the "most complicated evidence" she'd ever presented in her two decades as a prosecutor.

Holback still didn't have any answers about motive after the verdicts today. She said all authorities know for sure is that family members are "very frightened," and it's unclear of what they are afraid.

The killings May 27, 2004, in a Northwest Baltimore apartment stunned the city. Policarpio Espinoza and Canela, an uncle and cousin of the children, respectively, were quickly considered suspects. The two came to the crime scene to comfort their grieving relatives, and a neighbor told police she had spotted them acting suspiciously outside the children's apartment days earlier.

In both trials, the main pieces of evidence to emerge were several bloodstained articles of clothing attributed to the defendants.

Prosecutors said DNA tests showed the men wore blue jeans with the children's blood on them, though defense attorneys said close family ties among the defendants, victims and others rendered the tests inaccurate.

Assistant State's Attorney Tony N. Garcia, who gave the first closing argument, urged jurors to apply "good old-fashioned common sense" to the complicated DNA evidence. Both defense attorneys called the evidence "flawed" and "incomplete."

After the verdicts were read today, Maria Andrea Espejo Quezada, the mother of Alexis, hugged both prosecutors outside the courtroom with tears in her eyes. Garcia said she repeatedly thanked them.

"She's happy for justice for Alexis," Garcia said.

Ricardo Espinoza Perez, the father of Lucero and Ricardo Espinoza, said he still doesn't think the men are responsible for the killings.

"This decision is not good," he said.

Defense attorneys said they would appeal. James Rhodes, who is representing Canela, said the jury hurried through their deliberations because a juror was experiencing a work-related problem due to the lengthy trial, which began in June.

"We asked for the court to step in and do something about it, but nothing was done," Rhodes said

Nicholas Panteleakis said his client, Policarpio Espinoza, was "in shock" at hearing the verdict.

"I really feel an innocent man was convicted today," Panteleakis said.

But juror Greg Hooker said "it wasn't difficult for me to come to a decision of guilty."

Hooker said testimony by Dana Jones, who lived upstairs from the apartment where the children were murdered, was very convincing. Jones testified to seeing Policarpio Espinoza and Canela walk behind the apartment building at night near the children's apartment two days before the murders. Jones, who saw them from her car, said the two men made her uncomfortable.

Policarpio Espinoza and Canela, like most of the victims' and defendants' relatives, are illegal immigrants from Mexico who speak little English. Policarpio Espinoza gave police a statement saying he and his cousin had driven to the children's apartment that afternoon but that Canela had gone inside alone.

Because of evidence rules against self-incrimination and the right to confront one's accuser, prosecutors were not able to tell jurors that Policarpio Espinoza implicated Canela, rendering the statement confusing to some jurors in the first trial.

"It seemed so weird for police not to ask about Adan," juror Keith Brown said in an interview days after the first trial. "We couldn't figure out what was going on with that statement."

But Hooker said today that the statement by Policarpio Espinoza putting him at the scene was strong evidence.

Prosecutors also presented DNA evidence that they said linked the pair to the children's deaths. Two pairs of blue jeans stained with the children's blood, one containing skin cells consistent with Policarpio Espinoza and one with skin cells consistent with Canela, were found at the defendants' home.

But defense attorneys questioned -- as did some jurors in the first trial -- why a police forensic scientist used a DNA vacuum that he had invented rather than one more widely used.

The Associated Press contributed to this article
[Edited 8/8/06 15:34pm]

thanks for your service, Melt..the jury system is part of what makes us a society

purplerein said:

thanks...when i look at the pictures of those kids, and then have to think about the pictures we had to look at with the horrific way they were murdered--each child was hit on the head with an aluminum bat, strangled and then nearly decapitated--i just don't think i will ever be able to forget this for a very long time. But i also want to say, for anybody who watches a trial on tv or think they can follow it in the newspaper--you can't. there are so many things that make it into the media that is never admissable in court. the fact that these two animals pointed the finger at each other never made it into our deliberations. basically, we had to figure a lot of this out with only 75% of the evidence--and that was no easy task when you're deciding to lock people up for the rest of their lives