Cinco Trial to Be Moved; Accused of Killing Police

A Superior Court judge Thursday granted a change of venue request in the trial of Joselito Cinco, who is charged with murder in the September slayings of two San Diego police officers near Balboa Park.

Judge William Low said he will announce on Monday if the trial will be held in Orange County or Riverside County. Deputy Dist. Atty. Howard Shore argued for the trial to be held in Orange County, while defense attorney John G. Cotsirilos prefers Riverside County. Prosecutors say the earliest the trial can start in either county is late September.

Cinco, 26, is charged with killing officers Kimberly Tonahill, 24, and Timothy Ruopp, 31, on Sept. 14 near Balboa Park. Cinco allegedly gunned down the two officers with a 9mm handgun after they made a routine inquiry about juveniles drinking in the park.

A third officer, Gary Mitrovich, 26, responded to Ruopp’s dying call for assistance and was shot once in the shoulder. Mitrovich testified at a preliminary hearing and identified Cinco as the man who shot him.

Cinco’s attorney had requested the change of venue. A polling expert hired by Cinco testified that 85% of 300 county residents had heard of the case and 65% of those polled thought Cinco was guilty.

Chief Deputy Dist. Atty. Richard Neeley said that only three trials have been moved from San Diego in the last five years. The last was in 1983, when Charles Tyberg, who was then 17, was tried in Orange County for the murder of San Diego Police Officer Kirk Johnson. Tyberg, the son of a San Diego County Sheriff’s Department deputy, was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.

Officials said Thursday they had no idea how much more it would cost the county to try Cinco outside of San Diego. Superior Court Administrator Bill Pierce said the county would have to wait until after the trial, when it receives an itemized list of expenses, before learning the trial’s cost.

Cotsirilos’ choice of Riverside County prompted a complaint from Shore, who said that Cotsirilos would have an unfair advantage there because he worked in the county’s public defenders’ office and “knows his way around the (Riverside County) courthouse.”

In addition, Shore pointed out that Cotsirilos is the appellate attorney for Jackson Daniels, who is appealing his death sentence for the 1982 murders of two Riverside police officers.

Shore’s comments about the death sentence appeal prompted the following reply from Cotsirilos: “I would assume that the district attorney would take some comfort from the results of the case.”

Before narrowing the trial site to Riverside County or Orange County, Low eliminated San Bernardino County as a possible site because a courtroom would not be available there until Nov. 1. Low said it was possible that he would not preside over the trial because he is contemplating retirement.

Low said it will be up to the presiding judge of the Superior Court in the county where the trial is held to decide who will hear the case. The presiding judge can either assign a judge from that jurisdiction or from San Diego.