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Turner trial continues
Published July 12, 2006
Testimony continues today in the trial of a 21-year-old man accused in a 2004 drive-by shooting on the city’s north side.
Theodore Manuel Turner Jr. was indicted in June 2004 for deadly conduct, a felony, for a drive-by shooting at 115 S. Terry St. in the early morning of Feb. 5, 2004.
The three men and nine women on the jury were selected Monday, and testimony began Tuesday morning.
Assistant District Attorney Scott Greenbaum and Assistant District Attorney Donnie Coleman, who are presenting the state’s case, called eight witnesses Tuesday.
The first witness called to the stand was Ruben Castaño, who was inside the South Terry Street residence when Turner allegedly fired the shots at it.
Castaño testified he was inside the residence during the night of Feb. 4 and the morning of Feb. 5, watching the movie “Undercover Brother” with his girlfriend while his eight-year-old daughter was asleep on the couch. Castaño said the house belongs to his mother, who was asleep in a back bedroom at the time of the shooting.
“Did anything strange or unusual happen that morning?” Greenbaum asked Castaño.
“I heard a loud noise in my garage. At first I thought it was someone throwing rocks,” Castaño said.
He testified that he observed a small, dark red car “creeping” past the front of the house, traveling south on Terry Street, which runs north and south just west of the new Home Depot site.
Although Castaño testified he was not able to make out the face of the driver, he said he was able to see that the driver was wearing a white sweater.
Castaño also testified that he saw “a light. . .a flash” coming out of the back passenger window of the car.
“When you found out they were gunshots, did it make you scared?” Greenbaum asked.
“Yes,” Castaño replied.
“Did it make you scared for your family?” Greenbaum asked.
“Yes,” Castaño said.
Greenbaum also asked Castaño if he had ever been convicted of a crime, and Castaño replied that he has been convicted three times, once for possession of marijuana, once for assault/family violence and once for abuse of a corpse.
Under cross-examination by Turner’s attorney, Enrique Fernandez of Del Rio, Castaño again testified he did not see the driver of the car or the person shooting out of its back window.
“Did you tell (Del Rio police) you had seen two people?” Fernandez asked.
“No,” Castaño replied.
“And you never told anyone about your daughter being there, did you?” Fernandez asked.
“Yes I did, I told the officers,” Castaño said.
“Your daughter was not there that night, was she, Mr. Castaño?” Fernandez asked.
“Yes, she was,” Castaño replied.
Fernandez then questioned Castaño about the abuse of a corpse conviction.
“Who was the corpse?” Fernandez asked.
Greenbaum objected to the questions, but 63rd Judicial District Judge Tom Lee overruled.
“Who was the corpse?” Fernandez repeated.
“Kelly. . .Turner,” Castaño replied, slowly pronouncing each name.
The jury Tuesday also heard testimony from Marc De Chaine, Del Rio Police Department communications supervisor, who testified that Turner had been transported to the police station in the front seat of a police car and that Turner was not handcuffed, from Castaño’s girlfriend and from Castaño’s mother, who both testified about the shooting and who both said Castaño’s daughter was home when the shooting occurred.
The jury also heard the testimony of DRPD detective Robert Maldonado.
Maldonado testified that the DRPD officer who initiated the Turner case no longer works for the department. Maldonado said he was sent to the house on South Terry Street to help investigate the shooting shortly after it had occurred.
Maldonado said while he was at the South Terry house, he overheard police radio traffic indicating DRPD Officer Robert Zaragoza had detained a suspect in the shooting, identified as John Thomas Perry, near the Wal-Mart gas station.
Coleman questioned Maldonado about the statement Turner gave to the investigating officer a few hours after the shooting.
Reading from the statement, Maldonado said Turner told police that “Ruben (Castaño) had killed (Turner’s) sister Kelly Turner five years ago” and that Castaño had threatened to kill Turner.
“‘I’m sorry, but it hurts so much that my sister is dead and this guy is talking about killing me next,’” Maldonado read from Turner’s statement.
Zaragoza and DRPD detective George Garcia, who was a DRPD patrol officer at the time of the shooting, testified about their roles in the case, arresting Perry following a short foot chase near Wal-Mart.
Perry, who was also charged with deadly conduct in connection with the shooting, also testified Tuesday.
Perry, who was already convicted and who has served time in prison on the charge, said the rifle used in the shooting belonged to his mother and that he did not remember anything about that night or the shooting.
“I don’t recall anything about that night. I just remember waking up in the city jail,” Perry testified.
But despite saying he did not remember the events of that night, Perry told Greenbaum he was not the shooter.
“But you have accepted responsibility for the charge of deadly conduct?” Fernandez asked Perry during cross-examination.
“Yes, I didn’t want to take the chance of taking it to a jury,” Perry said.
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