2nd Trial Begins in Stepfather Slaying

A second trial for a 40-year-old man accused of shooting to death his stepfather and then fleeing in the victim’s car began Thursday, with attorneys on both sides gripping tightly to the arguments they made the first time around.

After the first mistrial, attorneys were back this week to argue their case in front of another Orange County Superior Court jury.

The prosecution contends that Frank Pina killed Ed Tobin for cash and jewelry, while the defense painted a picture of an abuse victim who accidentally shot the stepfather who was bombarding him with insults such as “you stupid Mexican.”

In opening statements, prosecutor Carolyn Kirkwood told jurors that Pina was living with his stepfather in a Fullerton trailer home at the time of the slaying two years ago. Pina had wanted to inherit some of Tobin’s property and was constantly asking the stepfather about his will, she said. The 66-year-old man became suspicious of Pina’s motives and bought his stepson a one-way ticket back to Phoenix.

But on July 27, 1995, the day Pina was scheduled to leave, Tobin was shot once in the back of the head with his own rifle, Kirkwood said.

When Pina was arrested in Phoenix several days after the slaying, police said they found the alleged murder weapon in a blue Toyota that belonged to Tobin.

In the suspect’s pockets were two notes that he allegedly forced Tobin to write. The notes, scribbled on yellow legal paper, named Pina’s brother, Danny Pina, in Tobin’s will.

“It’s a simple case of murder motivated by greed and resentment,” the prosecutor said.

Defense attorney Tim Severin refuted that argument, contending that the slaying occurred after an onslaught of verbal and physical abuse in which Tobin spat on Pina.

“Caught in the moment,” Pina aimed the gun at Tobin and fired, said Severin, who is arguing that his client deserves to be convicted of manslaughter, not murder.