Trial Begins for Alleged Triggerman in Drive-By Slayings

In the four months since two Saticoy men were killed in a drive-by shooting, one teen-ager has pleaded guilty to murder charges and another was convicted by a judge.

But no jury had considered the case until Tuesday, when trial began for a third suspect, Edward (Tony) Throop of Ventura, the alleged triggerman.

Throop, 18, sat motionless, his head buried against his arms at the defense table, as the Ventura County Superior Court clerk read the charges against him: two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of attempted first-degree murder, conspiracy and special allegations that he used a firearm, caused great bodily injury and killed more than one person.

Given the testimony at the earlier proceedings, the issue for the Throop jury is not whether he did it. Co-defendant Carlos Vargas, who pleaded guilty, has testified that Throop was the triggerman. Other evidence--including Throop’s own statements--support Vargas’ contention.

In May, Throop was willing to plead guilty to murder if the issue of degree was left to a judge. The offer was withdrawn when prosecutors insisted on a first-degree murder plea.

So the jury hearing the case in Judge Allan L. Steele’s courtroom must decide whether it was first-degree murder--committed with premeditation and deliberation--or the lesser charges of second-degree murder or manslaughter.

In two rulings Tuesday, Steele gave a boost to Deputy Dist. Atty. Peter D. Kossoris’ effort to show that the killings were premeditated. Steele ruled that Vargas could testify against Throop, and that the jury could hear tape-recordings of conversations that Throop had with his mother and girlfriend a few days after his arrest.

In his opening statement to the jury, Kossoris said the tapes will show that Throop admitted killing the men to get revenge on Cabrillo Village gang members who had jumped him. As it turned out, the two slain men--Javier Ramirez, 18, and Rolando Martinez, 20--were not gang members, Kossoris said.

During the 30-minute conversation with his mother, Throop also demanded that she give him an alibi for the night of the shootings, Kossoris said. When she refused to lie for him, he got angry and blamed his problems on her, the prosecutor said.

“He tried to lay a guilt trip on her,” Kossoris said, adding that Throop also complained that if his mother didn’t help him, he and his girlfriend would miss their high school prom.

Christina Briles, one of the two public defenders representing Throop, argued that the tapes should not be admitted. She said investigators used Throop’s mother to get him to make damaging statements. The mother and girlfriend were told that the conversations would be monitored, but Throop was given no warning.

Steele sided with Kossoris, who pointed to appeal court rulings that say a person in custody can have no expectation of privacy.

In an hourlong outline of his case for the jury, Kossoris described some of the key events that he said had occurred before and after the crime:

* Vargas and co-defendant Vincent Medrano, 16, got off work on Saturday, April 6. They went to the beach and ran into a man who had a friend with a gun to sell. They went to the friend’s apartment and bought the .22-caliber rifle for $50.

* That night, Vargas and Medrano hooked up with an acquaintance, Joseph Scholle, 15, of El Rio. They then went to a slumber party in Ventura and met Throop. The gun, wrapped in a white towel, was in the trunk of Vargas’ Firebird, but until the party, no one had discussed using it.

* Someone at the party overheard one of the boys discussing a drive-by shooting.

* The party adjourned to a nearby lemon orchard. Several bottles of liquor were consumed. Medrano mentioned his grudge against the Cabrillo Village gang, which he said harassed him at school. Throop said the gang had given him trouble too.

* Shortly after midnight, the four youths drove to Cabrillo Village, some singing gang-related songs. Throop and Vargas removed the gun from the trunk. Throop fired several shots at people standing at the end of a cul-de-sac.

* Within a few days, all four are arrested and charged with murder.

Briles will present her opening statement this morning. Hinting at an element of her defense, she told the judge Tuesday that she will present an expert witness to describe how alcohol affects a person’s judgment.

Kossoris, who told the jury that Throop belonged to a Ventura Avenue gang, said he will present an expert witness on gangs to show motivation for the shooting. He said the witness will testify that taking part in a drive-by shooting enhances a gang member’s status, “and if someone is killed, it’s so much more a feather in the cap of the one who did it.”

Steele said it will take two or three weeks to complete the trial and that the jurors will visit the scene of the slayings.

The 12 jurors and four alternates include a teacher, a city employee and the vice president of an insurance company. During five days of interviews, 97 prospective jurors were rejected, many because of their exposure to news coverage of the case.

Medrano’s trial is scheduled to start Aug. 26. Scholle was found guilty at a juvenile proceeding last month.