PHOENIX β A man convicted of a 16-year-old murder will get a new trial because his attorney wasnβt allowed to present certain evidence at an earlier one.
In a split ruling, the Arizona Court of Appeals concluded that a jury might not have found Joseph Javier Romero guilty if they heard testimony that questioned the conclusion that shell casings found at the scene of the 2000 murder matched those of his gun.
Appellate Judge Michael Miller said while there certainly was other evidence linking Romero to the crime, it may have been the testimony of the stateβs expert on the casings match β which the defense was prohibited from rebutting β that made all the difference.
Kellie Johnson the chief criminal deputy Pima County attorney, said a decision about whether to retry Romero will depend on whether the Attorney Generalβs Office, which handled the appeal, decides to seek Supreme Court review.
The case involved the 2000 shooting of Skeets A. Matthews with a .40-caliber gun at a mobile home park in the 1600 block of East Roger Road in Tucson.
But there was nothing further done until 2007 when Tucson police officers found the owners of the cell phone found at the scene. That led them back eventually to Romero as a suspect, especially after they noted he had done time in prison for a home invasion using a .40-caliber Glock pistol.
Evidence presented by prosecutors said that gun was the same one used to kill Matthews.
What the jury did not hear was testimony from Ralph Haber, who the court said was an expert in the field of βexperimental design.β He would have said it was his opinion that forensic firearms identification relies on unscientific standards and methods.
After the guilty verdict, Pima County Superior Court Judge Deborah Bernini sentenced Romero to 16 years in prison for Matthewsβ shooting. She separately imposed a consecutive eight-year prison term on drug charges after police found three pounds of cocaine in the trunk of Romeroβs car when he was arrested in 2010.
Prosecutors asked the appellate judges to leave the verdict intact, arguing there was βoverwhelming evidenceβ of Romeroβs guilt, even without linking his Glock to the 2000 shooting.
Miller, however, said itβs not as clear as that.
βThe evidence unrelated to the Glock supports the contention that Romero was at the scene, but it is not overwhelming,β the appellate judge wrote.
βFor instance, the eyewitnesses differed as to whether there were two or three men running from the scene,β Miller continued. He also noted there were conflicting statements from witnesses on both the make of the truck at the scene as well as the height of the suspects.
βOn this record, we cannot conclude there was overwhelming evidence that Romero fired the gun that killed the victim,β Miller wrote.
Appellate Judge Peter Eckerstrom, who in an earlier ruling had said Romero was not entitled to a new trial, said in this new decision he has changed his mind.
