Jury Decides on Life Term for Killer of Brinks Guard : Courts: Two previous panels had recommended death for Jose Leon Fuentes in the 1980 shooting at Del Amo mall. Formal sentencing is set for April 1.

After twice having his death sentence overturned, an aging robber convicted of killing a Brinks security guard inside Del Amo Fashion Center more than 12 years ago heard a new jury decide that he should be allowed to live.

Jose Leon Fuentes, 51, stared blankly at jurors and nodded as a Los Angeles Superior Court clerk read their recommendation Friday that he be sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole for the Dec. 1, 1980, murder. Afterward, he murmured only “thank you” to his attorney before being led out of the court by bailiffs.

Fuentes, who emigrated to the United States from Cuba nearly 30 years ago, was convicted in 1981 of gunning down Brinks guard Paul Martinez, 36, in a brief gun battle during the busy Christmas shopping season inside the now-defunct Ohrbach’s department store.

Martinez, who was struck three times, died when one of the bullets pierced his heart. Fuentes, one of two robbers seen by witnesses that day, was struck five times and survived his wounds. His apparently uninjured accomplice, who was never identified, escaped empty-handed and was never found.

Two previous juries concluded that the man who attacked Martinez was Fuentes and recommended that he be put to death. Twice the state Supreme Court upheld his murder conviction but reversed his death sentence on technicalities and ordered new juries to decide whether he should live or die.

Jurors left the courtroom quickly Friday, declining to comment on why they recommended that Fuentes be given a life prison term.

Defense attorney Michael Clark said he believes new evidence presented at this trial persuaded them to let Fuentes live.

Jurors were told that Martinez was robbed at the Brea Mall while on duty several months before the Ohrbach’s incident. During the Brea robbery, the money Martinez was picking up was taken, as well as his gun. Clark speculated that that initial encounter with a robber prompted Martinez to fire the first shots during his encounter with Fuentes months later.

“(Fuentes) did not execute Paul Martinez,” Clark said. “This jury saw that it wasn’t an execution murder-robbery.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Lael Rubin noted that no one knows who fired the first shot during the Ohrbach’s robbery.

“But in some respects I don’t think it makes a whole lot of difference,” she said. “In terms of criminal responsibility, this is somebody who killed somebody else during the course of a robbery.”

Fuentes is scheduled for formal sentencing on April 1.