Six guilty verdicts were brought in by a jury made up of seven
women and five men late Friday afternoon in the trial of a
22-year-old Gilroy man charged with two counts of attempted murder,
two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, one charge of shooting
into an occupied vehicle and one charge of reckless driving while
fleeing from a peace officer.
San Martin – Six guilty verdicts were brought in by a jury made up of seven women and five men late Friday afternoon in the trial of a 22-year-old Gilroy man charged with two counts of attempted murder, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, one charge of shooting into an occupied vehicle and one charge of reckless driving while fleeing from a peace officer.
The prosecution could seek between 30 and 52 years of jail time for Anthony S. Aguilera. Five of the six charges are felonies, except the charge related to reckless driving, which is a misdemeanor.
Aguilera stood tall, hands clasped behind his back, eyes forward, as the Santa Clara County Superior Court clerk read aloud the complex verdicts. Several of the counts had allegations attached, all of which were pronounced “true” by the jury, including a gang enhancement and a weapons enhancement.
“Of course we’ll appeal, always,” said Andrew Tursy, Aguilera’s defense attorney. “There were a number of legal issues in question here, including having all of the charges tried at the same time.”
Asked how his client, who was dressed neatly in brown slacks, white button down shirt and demure tie, was holding up after hearing the verdict, Tursi replied, “Very well. He’s a man.”
His mother, Barbara, and other family members, however, sobbed quietly, as the still courtroom listened to all the charges and enhancements.
Friday morning, Deputy District Attorney Stuart Scott had the final say as he addressed jurors in a rebuttal after Tursi’s closing arguments the day before. Jurors had to decide if Aguilera attempted to commit murder in two separate incidents, or if he just made bad choices and was trying to defend himself in one instance and an innocent bystander in another.
He was found guilty of attempted murder in the stabbing of Scott Bargar, 24, at the Extended Stay America in Morgan Hill on Jan. 26, 2005, and attempted murder of Dustin Baldwin in an Oct. 23, 2004, shooting incident in the parking lot of a liquor store in Gilroy.
Bargar was seriously wounded in the stabbing, but survived. No one was injured in the shooting, although police reports indicate as many as six shots may have been fired, with four striking a truck with four people inside.
Scott told jurors in his closing argument that their duty was clear.
“By the grace of God, we don’t have three dead bodies,” he said, pointing out the positions of the bullet holes in the truck in police photos on a large projection screen in the courtroom.
“There is no self-defense available to this defendant,” he said, taking point by point the instructions to the jury from Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Kenneth Shapero.
But Tursi said though his client had “made mistakes,” the jury has to compare conflicting testimony from witnesses, Aguilera and Bargar, which, he said, should give them reasonable doubt that Aguilera is guilty of attempted murder.
“There’s no evidence,” he repeated several times. “When you’re worried you might lose your life, you do whatever you have to do to stay alive.”
The trial, which reconvened Wednesday after a two-week hiatus, has continued for more than six weeks, with jurors listening to testimony from a variety of witnesses, including a gang expert.
Scott showed jurors police photos of gang-type tattoos on Aguilera, comparing them to photos of similar tattoos on Aguilera’s friend, 21-year-old Daniel Zuniga of Gilroy. Zuniga faces separate attempted murder charges in the October shooting.
Aguilera’s mother, Barbara, said she had a hard time sitting in the courtroom while Scott talked about her son in his rebuttal Friday morning following Tursi’s closing argument at the end of the day Thursday.
Scott told jurors Aguilera’s trademark is coming up behind people or surprising them in attack.
“The common theme is, he sneaks up on people, ambushes them … In not a single situation does he confront someone face to face in a fair fight,” he said.
The woman said the comments were hard to take.She said her son is “not a monster.”
“He didn’t hurt any children, he loves children,” she said of the young man who spent two years in a California Youth Authority facility before becoming involved in the violent acts for which he was found guilty.
“He made a lot of bad choices. He acted Mr. Macho around all the wrong people. But he is the kind of young man who opens doors for people, who helps old people when he sees them, carries their groceries, mows lawns. He has so much potential. This makes me so angry and so very sad.”
After the verdict, Barbara and other family members quickly left the courthouse.
The gang and weapons enhancements to the charges could add years to Aguilera’s sentence if an appeal is not successful.
“Those enhancements, they bury a kid,” Barbara said. “They offered him 26 years, but he said no, he didn’t want that because his life would be over.”
“We’ve not overcharged this case … we’ve charged him with everything he’s responsible for, and I’m asking you to hold him responsible for all those things,” he said. “Be thankful we don’t have four or five dead bodies and this isn’t an actual murder trial.”
Aguilera is being held without bail in the Santa Clara County Jail. His next court appearance is July 21 at 1:30pm.
