MONROE — A Monroe man convicted of stabbing three men in 2019, killing one of them, will get a new trial due to improper jury instructions.
Kevin Rodriguez was sentenced in July 2021 to 20 years in prison for the killing of Evodio Garcia Martinez, 56, while the victim was asleep in his apartment. He was also convicted for attacking two other men.
Rodriguez was originally charged with murder, but a jury acquitted him of that charge. Instead, he was found guilty of first-degree manslaughter and two counts of second-degree assault.
The state Court of Appeals ruled evidence presented in the case “created an inference” where a jury could have found that Rodriguez was guilty of second-degree manslaughter, instead of first-degree manslaughter.
But Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Bruce Weiss did not instruct the jury on second-degree manslaughter, so it was not possible for the jurors to convict him of the lesser charge, a three-judge panel determined.
In the ruling, the appellate court held the testimony of a doctor, toxicology reports and other testimony could have supported the argument that Rodriguez was in a psychotic delusional state at the time Garcia Martinez was killed.
Garcia Martinez often went to bed in his living room with a blanket covering his face. It was a way to reduce the noise of his roommates at his apartment on Terrace Street in Monroe.
On the night of Feb. 9. 2019, Garcia Martinez fell asleep on his couch around 9 p.m.
Four of his roommates headed out for the Tulalip Resort Casino shortly after. They came back around 2 a.m., according to court documents.
After returning, Rodriguez walked out of a bedroom wearing a black bandana and a hooded sweatshirt. Without explanation, Rodriguez began attacking the returning roommates with two knives, according to court documents. Rodriguez slashed one of them across the face.
Two of the roommates ran outside and Rodriguez reportedly locked them out, leaving himself inside with the others, according to court papers. They fought, and eventually restrained him, the judges wrote.
During the scuffle, the blanket slid off Garcia Martinez to reveal he had been “brutally” stabbed to death, according to the ruling.
Witnesses reported Rodriguez kept saying he was sorry, that he didn’t do it, repeating the name, “Chuy.”
Police arrived to find the roommates had tied up Rodriguez with copper wire, and that he had suffered numerous injuries in the scuffle.
The Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office estimated Garcia Martinez had 70 “discrete” injuries on his body, including at least 20 stab wounds on just his face. “Overwhelming” forensic evidence linked Rodriguez to the knives found at the scene and on the victim.
Rodriguez testified at trial he had been given permission to stay at the apartment by one of the roommates. He said he was in the apartment after using meth and drinking alcohol when he heard a car arrive, which he believed to be owned by his friend Chuy. Rodriguez testified that Chuy and a group of other people came into the apartment. He claimed Garcia Martinez and Chuy attacked him — in spite of the evidence suggesting Garcia Martinez was killed while sleeping.
Rodriguez said he had “vague memories” of the night, according to court documents. Dr. Mark Koenen, a general and forensic psychiatrist, testified Rodriguez displayed symptoms of a drug-induced psychosis.
Koenen’s evaluation, as well as police reports, body camera footage and a toxicology report from the night of Rodriguez’ arrest were sufficient grounds for Rodriguez to be diagnosed with alcohol use disorder, methamphetamine use disorder and a transient psychotic disorder, Koenen said on the witness stand.
“Symptoms of that diagnosis included agitation, violence, paranoia, and poor reality testing (in short, paranoid delusions),” the judges wrote.
Koenen testified these paranoid delusions could manifest as beliefs in unreal aggressors tormenting the defendant, and that Rodriguez’ behavior was consistent with those symptoms, according to the ruling.
“Your intent could be to shoot a werewolf because you see it right in front of me … (but the bullet) hits me,” Koenen said in court. “You didn’t intend to shoot me, you intended to shoot this thing that was in your house that, frankly, wasn’t there.”
Judge Weiss instructed the jury on the legal definitions of self-defense, voluntary intoxication, diminished capacity, evidence of mental illness, first-degree murder, second-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter, but not second-degree manslaughter.
“I don’t find that there is sufficient factual basis for a negligence standard based upon the evidence that’s been presented, so that’s why I’m not giving that manslaughter,” Weiss said.
In a note to the court, one juror expressed confusion over the range of possible charges.
“If we can’t decide between the degrees in 1 charge, does it automatically go to the lesser degree? Must it (be) unanimous?” the juror wrote.
The distinction between first- and second-degree manslaughter is in the level of culpability: recklessness vs. negligence. The jury was only instructed on how to convict based on recklessness.
“The trial judge’s denial of an instruction on manslaughter in the second degree necessarily limited how the defense presented its theory of the case to the jury,” the appellate judges wrote.
A new trial for Rodriguez has not been set.
“We believed the trial court’s rulings were correct and consistent with both legal precedent and the evidence presented during trial,” said Michael Held, chief of staff for the prosecutor’s office. “However, the Court of Appeals disagreed. As always, we respect the appellate court’s opinion and are in the process of reviewing our options forward.”
Jonathan Tall: 425-339-3486; jonathan.tall@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @snocojon.
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