Convicts want out of plea agreement
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The defendants, halfbrothers Franklin De la Cruz, 28, and Luiz Gomez, 21, filed motions for post-conviction relief just over a month after they both received 36-year sentences this June after entering guilty pleas to second-degree murder and aggravated arson.
They are serving the sentences for their roles in the burning death of Gina Thompson, 35, in Sept. 2003. The woman was set on fire by Ruben Pimentel, 34, as she slept on a couch inside her trailer, as he wrongly believed she had stolen the cocaine he had just smuggled from New York to set up a drug business here.
The halfbrothers, recruited days before the burning from the streets of New York to be Pimentel’s drug lieutenants here, reportedly held back witnesses as Pimentel doused the victim in gasoline and set her on fire. She died eight days later from the burns. Pimentel is serving life in prison without chance of parole for the murder. The brothers were going to be used to testify against him had he gone to trial.
The jail house motion filed by the halfbrothers cite several issues including ineffective assistance of counsel. Both were appointed death-penalty-qualified attorneys since they originally faced death if convicted.
The brothers also say they were “unlawfully induced” to accept the plea agreement and that they did not understand the consequences of their plea agreement. They also maintain the court did not explain the meaning of the plea bargain, something District Attorney General Dale Potter says is wrong.
“The court (Judge Bart Stanley) took his time, explaining in detail, the plea agreement,” Potter said. “He made sure they understood the interpreter. The court probably took more time going into detail on these agreements than any case I’ve seen so I don’t understand how they can say they didn’t know what they were getting into.”
Both defendants were also asked if they felt they were properly assisted by their attorneys, with both brothers saying they were satisfied with their representation. The brothers maintain they were coerced into taking the plea bargain because they were told their sentences would be much longer if they were convicted and sentenced. The brothers also maintained the evidence, at trial, would have been lacking and not overwhelming.
While asking for relief, the end result could be anything but a relief for the pair if the plea is set aside and the brothers are forced to trial for their parts in the murder. They are presently serving 36 years at 100 percent. However, conviction for first-degree murder, the charge which they originally faced, could bring life in prison or even the death penalty.