Driver’s Behavior Led to His Slaying, Defense Lawyer Says

The judge in the preliminary hearing of Howard F. Barton Jr. asked a defense attorney Thursday whether Barton was justified in killing Marco Sanchez because the victim engaged in a game of chicken with Barton’s daughter and ran her off the road.

Municipal Judge Rafael A. Arreola posed the question to attorney Clyde Munsell when the lawyer acknowledged that Barton fired the fatal shot and that he justified the shooting by saying that Sanchez had almost collided with a car driven by his daughter, Andrea.

In beginning an affirmative defense in the case, Munsell alleged that Sanchez’s aggressive behavior behind the wheel showed “his potential for violence” and was indicative “of his state of mind” on the day of the shooting.

The National City man’s behavior during the traffic dispute presented a danger to Howard Barton several minutes later, Munsell said. According to a police report, after the Feb. 22 incident, Andrea Barton, 20, drove to her father’s Pacific Beach real estate office, and the two of them went looking for Sanchez. They found him inside a sporting goods store on Garnet Avenue.

Arreola, noting the time lapse after the confrontation between Andrea Barton and Sanchez, asked Munsell if Howard Barton was justified in later killing Sanchez because he had forced his daughter off the road.

“Does this permit a person to use deadly force?” Arreola asked.

Munsell called Sanchez’s behavior dangerous and said it continued when he allegedly pulled a knife after being confronted by Howard Barton, who was armed with a 9mm automatic pistol. Barton is charged with murder.

“It’s the defense position . . . that Sanchez took a sharp instrument and actually cut Barton,” Munsell said.

The lawyer said Barton was cut on his left index finger. After the hearing, he described the wound as “not very bad at all.” Thursday was the first time such a wound was mentioned.

However, three prosecution witnesses who saw the shooting in the 1000 block of Garnet Avenue said they never saw Sanchez, who was sitting inside his car, with a weapon.

Two of the witnesses, when questioned by Deputy Dist. Atty. Lisa Chappell, testified that Sanchez appeared to be trying to get away from Barton by sliding across the front seat toward the passenger door.

David Egley, who witnessed the slaying from a roof across the street where he was working, testified that Sanchez appeared frightened and was “fumbling with his keys,” attempting to start the car and get away from Barton.

“I saw Barton reaching in toward the car and heard the sound of a hand slapping a hand.” Barton yelled, “ ‘Put the knife away or I’ll blow your head off!’ ” Egley testified.

Chappell said that Barton, who had a permit to carry a concealed weapon, mistook the keys for a knife. After Sanchez was shot in the back, he got out of the passenger side and ran down the sidewalk before collapsing in a store doorway. A key ring he was carrying was recovered alongside his body.

Egley testified that, before the shooting, Sanchez twice walked away when confronted by Barton, including one time when Barton pressed himself close to Sanchez’s face and pointed a finger at him. Barton pursued him each time and continued the argument, Egley said.

Dr. Christopher Swalwell, a pathologist with the county medical examiner’s office, buttressed the prosecution witnesses’ testimony. Swalwell testified that the bullet entered through the lower right side of Sanchez’s back and lodged in the left side of his neck.

He said the trajectory of the bullet suggested that Sanchez was leaning toward the passenger door or the car’s floorboard, with his back to Barton, when shot.

Georgina Inness, a San Diego police evidence technician, testified that she recovered a folded knife with a 4 1/2-inch blade from under the front passenger seat of Sanchez’s car and a pair of scissors 12 1/2 inches long from the floorboard of the front passenger side.

Inness said she also recovered two screwdrivers wedged between the driver’s seat and the door and a pair of blunt child’s scissors from under the seat.

Inness said she checked the knife and long scissors for prints but did not find any. In addition, she said the long scissors had an electrical wire and other fibers lying over them, suggesting that they had not been used for a while.

The defense attorney attempted to prove his self-defense contention with his first witness, an off-duty San Diego police dispatcher and reserve San Diego County deputy sheriff, who witnessed the traffic dispute between Sanchez and Andrea Barton.

John McGuire testified that he and his fiancee, who is also a police dispatcher, were waiting at a red light, one car behind Sanchez at Ingraham Street and Grand Avenue, when the dispute began.

According to McGuire’s testimony, Andrea Barton’s silver Trans Am was at the front of the line of cars waiting for the light to change, directly in front of Sanchez’s red Ford. Barton’s car apparently stalled, prompting several motorists to honk their horns. Barton got the car started and proceeded west through the intersection.

McGuire said Sanchez drove around Barton’s car and then suddenly pulled in front of her, causing her to swerve to avoid a crash.

However, earlier in the day, Delicia Goodwin, 13, Sanchez’s sister-in-law, said Barton provoked the incident by starting her stalled car, proceeding through the intersection and braking suddenly, forcing Sanchez to avoid a collision. The teen-ager, who was a passenger in Sanchez’s car, said Barton and Sanchez exchanged obscene gestures and both proceeded to weave in and out of traffic, pulling in front of each other. The girl was not in the car at the time of the shooting.

On Thursday, Munsell apparently abandoned a theory that Sanchez was a drug smuggler. On the day of the shooting, Sanchez and Delicia were transporting several boxes in Sanchez’s car. The packages were going to be mailed to relatives in Texas.

Munsell subpoenaed the boxes for evidence, noting on the subpoena that he suspected Sanchez of shipping drugs in the boxes. Delicia testified that the boxes were full of clothing, and Munsell elected not to enforce the subpoena.