A jury will be asked to decide if the shooting death of a man in a Greenwood restaurant parking lot was murder, or a lesser crime.
Candelario Cruz-Trujillo, 38, is on trial this week on a charge of murder. If convicted, he could face up to 65 years in prison.
Prosecutors said Cruz-Trujillo went to the Four Seasons Restaurant on Sept. 30, 2015, to shoot Miguel Hernandez, who was having an affair with Cruz-Trujillo’s wife. He shot him three times, and then left.
Cruz-Trujillo’s attorneys said he did shoot Hernandez, but didn’t go to the restaurant with that intention, and therefore is not guilty of murder.
“Not every man that kills another man is guilty of murder,” attorney Andy Baldwin said.
Prosecutors planned to call eight witnesses to prove Cruz-Trujillo is guilty, showing evidence, including Cruz-Trujillo’s bloody clothes after the shooting, the testimony of Hernandez’s wife, who initially led police to Cruz-Trujillo after the shooting, and a police interview with Cruz-Trujillo after the shooting, where he told investigators that he shot Hernandez and why, deputy prosecutor Alex Hamner said in his opening statement.
“You are going to know in your mind and your heart that that man is a murderer and you are going to know it beyond a reasonable doubt,” Hamner said.
Attorneys for both sides gave opening arguments on Tuesday morning, before the prosecution began presenting its case. Jurors were selected on Monday.
See Wednesday’s Daily Journal for more information.
