PORT HUENEME : Boy Won’t Testify at Murder Trial

A 16-year-old Port Hueneme boy acquitted of murder but convicted of attempting to rob a landlord will refuse to testify at the trial next week of an accused co-conspirator in the 1992 slaying, his attorney said Tuesday.

Gilbert Martinez, the alleged gunman in the Dec. 1 shooting of Richard Schell, was acquitted of murder in June. He will exercise his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination rather than testify against George Pena, 23, whose trial is scheduled to begin Monday, said defense attorney James M. Farley.

Martinez, who had been scheduled for sentencing Tuesday for the attempted robbery conviction, instead will be sentenced in November for his part in the robbery-turned-slaying.

Prosecutors allege that Martinez fired the gun that killed Schell, a 52-year-old landlord from Santa Barbara. They allege that he was killed in Port Hueneme on Dec. 1 by four men looking to rob him of rent money that he had collected.

A jury in June found Martinez innocent of murder but convicted him of the lesser offense of attempted robbery. Two others--Jose Arreguin and David Lee Soto, both 20--already have been convicted of murder in the case.

Pena, who prosecutors say was the alleged mastermind, will stand trial next week on a charge of murder. Deputy Dist. Atty. Donald C. Glynn declined Tuesday to comment on the case.

But Farley said transcripts of Martinez’s trial could be introduced into evidence against Pena if Martinez refuses to testify against Pena.