Lodi teen Adrian Cortez's murder trial heads to jury

A jury today will begin deliberating whether 15-year-old Orlando Delatore is guilty of murdering a Lodi High School student, or if he acted in self-defense.

Orlando Delatore, of Lodi, is on trial for the Oct. 2, 2004, slaying of Adrian Cortez, who was gunned down in front of his home in the 500 block of East Elm Street. Three other suspects pleaded guilty to various charges related to the incident and are serving prison sentences, but Delatore rejected a plea deal and took the case to trial.

The trial got underway last week in Judge Bernard J. Garber's Stockton courtroom, and attorneys spent Wednesday arguing their case to the jurors. After the judge gives them legal instructions, the jury of 12 San Joaquin County residents today will have the task of deliberating the charges.

Though Delatore did not fire the fatal shots, prosecutors allege that he instigated the shooting when he called fellow gang members to the scene, where he was facing off against Cortez. Three young men arrived and one of them, David Villanueva, opened fire. Cortez died of his wounds, and Villanueva has since pleaded guilty to murder.

"The defendant (Delatore) set this whole thing in motion. I can't say that enough," Deputy District Attorney Tom Ziegler told the jury during his closing arguments.

"He told David to shoot that gun — he might as well have had that gun in his hand himself. He's standing there, David's waiting and he says, 'Shoot him,' and the gun goes off five times."

Delatore, who could spend life in prison if convicted, claims that he acted in self-defense because Cortez and a friend picked up rocks as if to attack. He testified in his own defense to counter his videotaped statement he gave police when he was arrested two days after the shooting.

Defense attorney Charles Pacheco said Delatore, who lived a few houses down the road, was at home watching TV when he heard something outside and went to investigate. He saw Cortez and three other people apparently challenging a girl to fight, so he went outside, Pacheco said.

Delatore saw people holding rocks, so he made a phone call and Villanueva arrived with several other people.

Delatore sat behind the defense table, sometimes resting his chin in his hands as he looked straight forward. He wore a light green checked button-down shirt, unintentionally matching his attorney, Charles Pacheco, who wore a green shirt and tie under his black suit.

There were few spectators, but Cortez's mother watched the proceedings. It was the same courtroom where she sobbed at Villanueva's December sentencing and told the judge about her son, who liked football and dreamed of going to the U.S. Air Force Academy.

Pacheco portrayed Cortez as "a guy who likes to fight" and who once got into a fight with his mother, brandished what later turned out to be a replica gun, then tried to pull the badge off a police officer who arrived.

Ziegler said Cortez's past troubles didn't justify shooting him, and reminded the jury that Cortez was in his own front yard when Delatore and his friends confronted him. "There is no self-defense. It's not involuntary manslaughter, it's not voluntary manslaughter, it's murder," the prosecutor said.

Jurors will have to decide if Delatore is guilty of murder, attempted murder on several bystanders and involvement in a street gang.

Delatore could spend his life in prison but is not eligible for the death penalty because of his age. Had the shooting happened a month earlier when he was 13, he could not have been charged as an adult.

Pacheco reminded the jury of seven men and five women of Delatore's age, and said the brain isn't fully developed at that age.

"Consider what's going on the mind of a 14-year-old. He had just turned 14," Pacheco said.

During his rebuttal, Ziegler turned Pacheco's words on him: "The defense says this is just a phase and kids grow out of it. Adrian Cortez will never grow out of anything because he's dead. He's dead because of the defendant."

Contact reporter Layla Bohm at layla@lodinews.com.

First published: Thursday, May 11, 2006