Prosecution, Defense Attorney React To Marmolejo Verdict, Sentence

With a gag order lifter after two trials, El Paso’s district attorney and the defense attorney for David Marmolejo were finally able to speak about the case that resulted in David’s murder conviction Tuesday and his being sentenced to 54 years in prison on Wednesday.

“I’m very pleased the jury found him guilty,” District Attorney Jaime Esparza said. “I think it’s the right and proper sentence. I think 54 years is a good sentence. I think it clearly reflects what he did.”

Esparza said the phone records and David’s video interview with the El Paso Police were central to the case.

“I can tell you that when the hung jury occurred in October, the very next day I asked for the assistance of the FBI and I think that testimony really helped the call detail records in explaining that and having faith in that and I think that’s important,” Esparza said. “I think the video statement, the way we presented in this time, I think the jury looked at it with a more critical eye and I think that’s important.”

Esparza said he didn’t call Mariah Wilson, David’s stepsister and girlfriend at the time of Gloria’s murder, in the second trial mostly because she became a distraction in the first trial.

“We didn’t call Mariah Wilson mostly because I think in the first trial the focus moved from the defendant to her and I wanted this trial to stay focused on the defendant and the defendant’s actions,” Esparza said. “I thought the thing we had to do is see him as someone who was manipulating the process. Someone who manipulated Mariah Wilson. Keep the focus on him and only him and not get distracted. Last time, I think she was still getting over the defendant. I think there was still an attachment and I think that made it difficult for her to testify and I think that the jury didn’t quite see her situation the way it was.”

Esparza said the case was simpler the second time around.

“We put a lot of thought into it,” he said. “It’s a different kind of case. It’s circumstantial evidence case versus more direct evidence case. But I think it was an easier case because we didn’t have distractions and we didn’t have these other doors that had to be closed or unexplained answers that came naturally with (Wilson’s) testimony.”

The video played an important role in the case, as well, according to Esparza.

“The biggest sign of his guilt were his lies that we saw in the video,” Esparza said. “The video was very powerful to me. The way we presented it this time, it was even more evident.”

Esparza said charges won’t be filed against Wilson because she was helpful to the case. The family of David and Gloria had said Wednesday they wanted to see if charges could be filed against her. Wilson testified in the first trial under full immunity.

“You have to stay focused on the big picture, who committed the murder and what is the greater act,” Esparza said. “She was only at the murder scene because he took her there. She didn’t go willingly. Because he took her there, I think that’s also a mitigating factor on what happened and whether she was a true volunteer in what happened. Because of that whole 10 years, the whole experience and how he was in control of the relationship and not her. There’s no doubt in my mind that he murdered Gloria Marmolejo. Clearly, if you look at that video, he’s eerily calm and casual, but he lies easily.”

Esparza called David a manipulator.

“If you watch that video closely, he lies with such ease. I think it’s clear that he manipulated most of the people n his life,” he said. “He’s selfish. He thinks of no one else. I’m not qualified to say if he has a conscious or no conscious, but I think it’s fair to say that he has no conscious at all. It’s all about him and that video really shows it. He can cry on demand. That statement in court that he’s innocent?clearly he’s not innocent. It looked convincing. I believe nothing that he says. I believe he killed Gloria Marmolejo. I think he’s a very dangerous person. I think anyone that can commit such a violent act and such violent act to their mother, he’s an extremely dangerous person and he can do it with such ease.”

Defense attorney Greg Anderson said he was kind of disappointed in the verdict.

“Obviously the first trial went better than this one,” Anderson said. “The DA had a different strategy in this case and of course, Mariah Wilson didn’t testify and I guess she was a bit of difficulty for the state previously, would be the best way to put it. We’re disappointed. Of course Mr. Marmolejo continues to maintain his innocence. And so of course, facing 54 years, or 27 i guess, if he serves half his time, for a crime he maintains he didn’t do is difficult for him.”

Anderson said Wilson helped his case in many ways in the first trial when she testified.

“She was in some ways a bit of a sitting duck in the first trial,” Anderson said. “When the state put her up as a witness, it was pretty easy for me to cross examine her on different inconsistencies and things like that. She just didn’t make a very credible witness. We had to make the decision whether to call her to the stand. As an attorney, you have to make judgment calls on whether you’re going to put a witness on the stand that you don’t believe. For instance, I can’t vouch for her credibility. It would have been a different examination, a different trial if she had testified.”

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