Jurors Begin Deliberations in Shotgun Slaying

Jurors began deliberating Tuesday whether an Oxnard man is guilty of murder for killing another man who was out walking his dog the day after Christmas.

Prosecutors contend that Joaquin “Jack” Ayala fatally shot Josue Salazar Carrera in the neck with a sawed-off shotgun Dec. 26 in a brief, harsh exchange of words as Carrera walked his dog in front of Ayala’s house.

But defense attorney Barry Bernstein argued Tuesday in Superior Court that Ayala, 21, was rushing with gun in hand to defend himself against an attack by Carrera, 21, when the gun went off.

“It should have been bloody noses on one or the other side instead of dead bodies,” Bernstein told jurors during his closing argument.

“The crime here is with the times,” he added. Ten years ago, the fight would have gone no further than schoolyard bravado, but now Ayala felt compelled to carry a gun, he said.

Bernstein reminded the jury that witnesses testified that Ayala was crying when he told them about the shooting.

Ayala had been trying to remove himself from previous gang ties, Bernstein said. But he carried a gun because, Bernstein said, “he was still perceived, by someone who he considered to be a threat, to be ‘in the life.’ ”

Bernstein asked the jury to find that Ayala shot Carrera in self-defense or that--at worst--he is guilty of involuntary manslaughter.

But Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael Frawley argued that Ayala stepped out of his car that night, gun in hand, intending to kill Carrera.

Ayala “mouthed off to the guy first,” Frawley said. “Mr. Carrera had the audacity to say something back, and [Ayala] scrambles out of his car, and he marches over there, and boom.”

Ayala had testified that the gun went off accidentally, but Frawley argued that statements he made to other witnesses indicated he fired knowingly.

“He told John Saffa that if he got caught for this, he’d have to do seven or eight years [in prison],” Frawley said. Ayala also told his friend, “ ‘I blew the fool away. He was talking [nonsense] and I blew the guy away,’ ” Frawley said.

The defense presented no evidence showing that Carrera had any motive to attack Ayala, Frawley said. He added, “What kind of insults, what kind of verbal tirade can justify the use of force?”

Calling Ayala “a callous murderer,” Frawley asked jurors to find him guilty of first-degree murder--a charge that could send him to prison for life.

The shotgun has not been found, but prosecutors say they suspect that Ayala’s brother-in-law, former Oxnard Police Officer Gary Zamberletti, disposed of it.

Prosecutors say they will wait until the Ayala case ends to decide whether to charge Zamberletti.