A man shot an Indio cabbie twice in the head because he was "hard up for money," a prosecutor said Monday, but the defense lawyer reminded the seven-woman, five-man jury that a defendant is innocent until proven guilty.
Christopher Guy Jasso, 37, could face the death penalty if convicted of a first-degree murder charge with a special circumstance allegation of committing a murder during a robbery in the Sept. 7, 2003, death of 30-year-old Carlos Rafael Cuellar Cardona.
Also charged with murder -- and facing the death penalty if convicted -- is accused getaway driver Fabian Perez, who is being tried separately.
"Christopher Jasso, together with his friend Fabian Perez, put a scam together because they were hard up for money," said Deputy District Attorney Peter Nolan in his opening statement Monday.
Cardona was working as a taxi dispatcher and taking calls on the night of Sept. 6, 2003, according to the prosecutor. The cabbie met up with friends at a cafe on Industrial Place in Indio when he received a call around 11:30 p.m. to pick up a customer.
The prosecutor said that Jasso is seen in a surveillance camera later that night at a Circle K store on Jackson Street picking up a pack of matches and then getting back into the cab.
"Less than half a mile from that Circle K is where Carlos Cardona is found shot," Nolan said.
Sometime after midnight, a man was waiting outside his home on Aztec Street to go to a local casino when he saw a minivan taxi come up his street and make a u-turn, before going back toward Avenue 44, according to Nolan.
"He heard two sounds, bang, bang," Nolan said. "It sounded like someone took a broom stick and hit it on the side of the house."
The prosecutor said the man and two of his family members got into their car and drove down the roadway, where they found Cardona "laying in the middle of the street."
Cardona had a pulse, but later died at John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital in Indio from two gunshot wounds to the head, Nolan said.
The prosecutor said that Caronda's wallet, which contained around $80, and the gun used in the shooting were discarded.
Nolan said that the gun's owner, Manuel Riviera, told police that Jasso committed the murder while he was in Arizona. The owner said that Perez discarded the weapon in the Salton Sea, according to the prosecutor.
Deputy Public Defender Eric Keen gave a short opening statement, cautioning jurors that Jasso is innocent until proven guilty.
"Who has the burden of proof in this case? Mr. Nolan. Who is presumed innocent? Mr. Jasso. So let's hear the evidence," Keen said.
Jasso is being held without bail at the Indio Jail.
