Opening Arguments Underway In Marmolejo Murder Retrial

Opening arguments are set for today in the murder retrial of David Marmolejo in San Antonio.

Monday evening, 12 jurors and two alternates were selected after an hours-long process. The six men and six women will decide whether David is guilty of strangling his mother, Gloria Marmolejo, in July 2009.

Defense attorney Greg Anderson requested a change of venue citing extensive media coverage during David’s first trial, which ended with a deadlocked jury in October.

Anderson said the only way David would get a fair trial is if it were moved out of El Paso.

Judge Gonzalo Garcia agreed and Anderson’s change of venue request was granted.

The entire retrial must wrap up by next Friday.

Because of these time constraints, the judge expects day one’s proceedings to last until about 8 p.m. CST.

It was July 2009 when Gloria went missing. A jogger found her body six days later in the Santa Teresa, New Mexico desert

In Sept. 2009, El Paso Police arrested and charged David with murder. During his first trial last October, David?s stepsister and girlfriend at the time of the killing, Mariah Wilson, testified he strangled his mother and she helped him cover it up. Wilson testified for the prosecution under an immunity agreement.

The trial ended on Oct. 17 with a deadlocked jury.

A few of David?s ex-girlfriends testified during a pre-trial hearing last month about alleged abuse he inflicted on them in the past. Garcia ruled the jury in the second trial won’t hear very many details from David ex-girlfriends about the alleged abuse.

Last month, Caylee Orsinger and Wilson, both testified that David choked and threatened to kill them. Garcia said most of Orsinger’s and Wilson’s testimony is “prejudicial” against David.

Wilson, who served as a key witness in the first trial, testified that she was brutally beaten just days before Gloria Marmolejo’s homicide. She said she cut her fingers after grabbing Marmolejo’s necklace off his neck as he was choking her. The judge ruled Wilson may be allowed to explain to the jury about the cuts on her finger, but he’s “not sure how far he’ll (let her) go” with the testimony.

During Marmolejo’s first trial, Anderson told the jury the cuts on Wilson’s finger were the result of her involvement in Gloria Marmolejo’s homicide. Wilson said she was not allowed to explain how she received the cuts during the trial.