Sylmar Man Acquitted in Gang-Linked Drive-By Shooting Case

A San Fernando Superior Court jury acquitted a Sylmar man Tuesday of attempted murder charges in connection with a gang-related drive-by shooting that wounded a Pacoima man.

Michael Juarez, 26, of Sylmar was also acquitted of assault charges in the June 27 shooting of Augustin Torres, 23. Juarez wept and hugged his attorney, Norman Edell, when the verdict was read. A half-dozen family members and supporters also cried and hugged jurors after hearing the verdict.

Edell, in his closing argument, told the jury that Juarez had not shot Torres and had not been in the car with others who did.

Jurors, who deliberated a day before returning the verdict, said it was largely influenced by the testimony of 10 witnesses, who were family members and friends of Juarez. All testified that Juarez had been at home at the time of the shooting.

“We just felt that Michael Juarez was not the person in the car at the time,” said jury foreman Robert Leo of Granada Hills. “Overall, there was a general sense that the case was weak.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Edward Nison had alleged that Juarez and another man drove up outside the Carl Street home of Torres on June 27 about 1:30 a.m. and called Augustin and his brother, Israel, 15, over to the car. The men in the car lied by identifying themselves as members of the same gang to which Israel Torres belonged, Nison said.

He said the Torres brothers walked to the car but then sensed something was wrong and turned to run. Augustin Torres was shot in the right hip as he ran away, Nison said. The shooting was intended as gang revenge, he said.

At first, Torres told authorities he was shot by Juarez. But during the 2-week-long trial, he testified that he had lied previously and that Juarez was not even in the car.

Nison told the jury in his closing argument that Torres recanted because he was intimidated by gang members.

“Mr. Torres previously said the defendant shot him, but Mr. Torres didn’t want to say it this time, not because it wasn’t true but because Mr. Torres was frightened,” Nison said.

Jurors said they believed Torres might have been frightened, but they still had questions about who was responsible for the shooting.

“We weren’t sure who pulled the trigger,” Leo said. “There were just too many questions about who was in the car.”