Amara Vadillo
Amara Vadillo and shooting of Laura Banuelo
The events leading up to the shooting death of the victim, Carlos Gomez, a.k.a. Laura Ornelas (hereafter referred to as Ornales), took place in and about the diner Yukon Mining Company in West Hollywood and occurred in the early morning hours of March 17, 2003; this establishment is frequented by the transgender community. The events that led up to Ornelass death were a series of vicious physical attacks by appellant on Tanya Amador. As we relate below, it was when these attacks culminated in appellant firing at close range at Amador that the shot missed its intended target and hit Ornelas.
The tension between appellant and Amador apparently originated a few months prior to March 2003 when appellant, a friend of appellants, Ornelas and Amador got into an altercation outside the Yukon Mining Company (referred to as the club), which ended with appellant being barred from the club. On another occasion, and some time before March 17, 2003,[2]appellant approached Amador and said that I [Amador] would be paying for what I did. That she [appellant] had found out that I had had another person attack her at the club. Amador testified that she never told anyone to beat up appellant.
Appellants attack on Amador commenced after 2:00 a.m. on March 17, 2003, in the womens room of the club when appellant stormed into the room and shouted at Amador that she was going to get even. Appellant hit Amador on her back, punched her in the face with her fist, grabbed her by the hair and slammed her into the wall, and then onto the floor where she kicked Amador in the face. When Amador tried to get up, appellant slammed Amadors head into the sink. Appellant accompanied these attacks with profanities that are not necessary to detail and derisive references to a sex change operation performed on Amador. Present during these attacks were Monica Acevedo, Sydney Fay and Ornelas who unsuccessfully tried to restrain appellant from attacking Amador.
Amador finally managed to leave the restroom and get to her car. Appellant pursued her but Acevedo was able to block appellants attempts to get at Amador. Neither at this point, nor before or after, did Amador strike back; all she attempted to do was to cover herself from appellants blows. When Acevedo said that she, Amador and Ornelas were leaving, appellant uttered the first of several death threats: No, I want to kill this fag.
Appellant walked to her SUV from where she continued to yell at Amador, threatening to kill her. Appellant then approached Amador again, trying to throw punches at her but Acevedo and Ornales managed to fend off appellant. After more yelling back-and-forth along the same lines, when appellant was once again approaching Amador, appellant pulled out a small gun, pointed it at Acevedo, and, referring to Amador, said: Get out of the way, because Im going to kill this fag.
Acevedo moved out of the way. Appellant put the gun to Amadors stomach and said: Im going to kill you, you fucking bitch. Amador grabbed appellants hand and tried to get the gun away from her stomach. As Amador described it, she put her left hand over appellants hand that was holding the gun and with her right hand grabbed appellants arm. When asked whether her left hand ever touched the trigger, Amador answered, No. No, my hands just touched her hand and with my right hand grabbing the joint between her arm and her hand. The gun fired. Amador felt something warm between her index finger and thumb, which were close to the barrel of the gun.
Amador testified that there was gunpowder residue on her left hand after the shot, a fact that was confirmed by a crime scene investigator who reported to the scene. A criminalist with the sheriffs department opined that, given the position of Amadors hand as it was described by Amador, it was to be expected that there would be gunpowder residue near Amadors thumb and index finger.
After she was shot, Ornelas ran a few steps and then collapsed on the pavement, bleeding. She was pronounced dead shortly thereafter. She had sustained a gunshot to the chest. The bullet recovered from her body matched the weapon that was found in appellants possession (see text, post).
After the shooting appellant began to drive away in her SUV. She was stopped by two deputy sheriffs who asked her if there was a gun in the car. Appellant pointed to the back of the SUV. One of the deputies searched the car and found the gun in an open purse.
The gun was a .22-caliber mini-revolver. It was single action only, meaning that the shooter had to cock the hammer and squeeze the trigger each time the gun was fired. According to a criminalist employed by the sheriffs department, the trigger required five pounds of pressure to allow the gun to fire. The only circumstance under which the gun might fire without manually pulling the trigger is if someone hit the gun very hard with a sledge hammer.
The events leading up to the shooting death of the victim, Carlos Gomez, a.k.a. Laura Ornelas (hereafter referred to as Ornales), took place in and about the diner Yukon Mining Company in West Hollywood and occurred in the early morning hours of March 17, 2003; this establishment is frequented by the transgender community. The events that led up to Ornelass death were a series of vicious physical attacks by appellant on Tanya Amador. As we relate below, it was when these attacks culminated in appellant firing at close range at Amador that the shot missed its intended target and hit Ornelas.
The tension between appellant and Amador apparently originated a few months prior to March 2003 when appellant, a friend of appellants, Ornelas and Amador got into an altercation outside the Yukon Mining Company (referred to as the club), which ended with appellant being barred from the club. On another occasion, and some time before March 17, 2003,[2]appellant approached Amador and said that I [Amador] would be paying for what I did. That she [appellant] had found out that I had had another person attack her at the club. Amador testified that she never told anyone to beat up appellant.
Appellants attack on Amador commenced after 2:00 a.m. on March 17, 2003, in the womens room of the club when appellant stormed into the room and shouted at Amador that she was going to get even. Appellant hit Amador on her back, punched her in the face with her fist, grabbed her by the hair and slammed her into the wall, and then onto the floor where she kicked Amador in the face. When Amador tried to get up, appellant slammed Amadors head into the sink. Appellant accompanied these attacks with profanities that are not necessary to detail and derisive references to a sex change operation performed on Amador. Present during these attacks were Monica Acevedo, Sydney Fay and Ornelas who unsuccessfully tried to restrain appellant from attacking Amador.
Amador finally managed to leave the restroom and get to her car. Appellant pursued her but Acevedo was able to block appellants attempts to get at Amador. Neither at this point, nor before or after, did Amador strike back; all she attempted to do was to cover herself from appellants blows. When Acevedo said that she, Amador and Ornelas were leaving, appellant uttered the first of several death threats: No, I want to kill this fag.
Appellant walked to her SUV from where she continued to yell at Amador, threatening to kill her. Appellant then approached Amador again, trying to throw punches at her but Acevedo and Ornales managed to fend off appellant. After more yelling back-and-forth along the same lines, when appellant was once again approaching Amador, appellant pulled out a small gun, pointed it at Acevedo, and, referring to Amador, said: Get out of the way, because Im going to kill this fag.
Acevedo moved out of the way. Appellant put the gun to Amadors stomach and said: Im going to kill you, you fucking bitch. Amador grabbed appellants hand and tried to get the gun away from her stomach. As Amador described it, she put her left hand over appellants hand that was holding the gun and with her right hand grabbed appellants arm. When asked whether her left hand ever touched the trigger, Amador answered, No. No, my hands just touched her hand and with my right hand grabbing the joint between her arm and her hand. The gun fired. Amador felt something warm between her index finger and thumb, which were close to the barrel of the gun.
Amador testified that there was gunpowder residue on her left hand after the shot, a fact that was confirmed by a crime scene investigator who reported to the scene. A criminalist with the sheriffs department opined that, given the position of Amadors hand as it was described by Amador, it was to be expected that there would be gunpowder residue near Amadors thumb and index finger.
After she was shot, Ornelas ran a few steps and then collapsed on the pavement, bleeding. She was pronounced dead shortly thereafter. She had sustained a gunshot to the chest. The bullet recovered from her body matched the weapon that was found in appellants possession (see text, post).
After the shooting appellant began to drive away in her SUV. She was stopped by two deputy sheriffs who asked her if there was a gun in the car. Appellant pointed to the back of the SUV. One of the deputies searched the car and found the gun in an open purse.
The gun was a .22-caliber mini-revolver. It was single action only, meaning that the shooter had to cock the hammer and squeeze the trigger each time the gun was fired. According to a criminalist employed by the sheriffs department, the trigger required five pounds of pressure to allow the gun to fire. The only circumstance under which the gun might fire without manually pulling the trigger is if someone hit the gun very hard with a sledge hammer.
10 年 前
