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On June 12, 2003, Cody Martinez was at a friend’s
house when another friend, Jonathan Summey-Montano, arrived with the
victim. Once inside, Martinez and Summey-Montano decided to rob the
victim.
After joking with the victim, Martinez punched him in
the face, then kicked and punched him for several minutes. Martinez and
Summey-Montano eventually took the victim to the kitchen, where he was
forced to lay on his stomach while they and another friend kicked him
repeatedly.
Eventually, Martinez directed two other friends to
pull a car around the back of the house. While the car was being moved,
Martinez returned to the kitchen with a shotgun, then bludgeoned the
victim’s head with the weapon.
Martinez and Summey-Montano then bound the victim’s
hands with wire and his feet with duct tape. After the victim was bound,
they removed his shoes and socks and robbed him of his money and jewelry.
They placed him into the trunk of the car, and proceeded to the victim’s
apartment.
At the victim’s home, Martinez and Summey-Montano
stole computer equipment, liquor, jewelry, drugs and music CD’s. They
returned to the vehicle, which then would not start. They pushed the car
to a nearby gas station, attempted to fix it, and eventually called a
friend for a ride.
Once the friend arrived, they got both cars to a
residential street, loaded the victim into the cargo space of the new
vehicle and drove to a remote area near the Tucson airport.
At the desert area, Summey-Montano dragged the victim
out of the vehicle. They instructed him to stand up, then beat him to
the ground and continued punching and kicking for several minutes. After
beating him, Martinez shot him twice with a shotgun. Martinez covered
the victim with trash and lit the body on fire.
A police officer noticed the smoke and subsequently
pulled over the vehicle leaving the scene. Martinez and the others were
arrested shortly thereafter.
PROCEEDINGS
Presiding Judge: Hon. Howard Fell
Prosecutor: Teresa Godoy & Kellie Johnson
Defense Counsel: Richard Parrish & Chris Kimminau
Start of Trial: November 1, 2005
Verdict: November 9, 2005
Sentencing: November 18, 2005
Aggravating Circumstances
Pecuniary gain
Especially heinous, cruel or depraved
PUBLISHED OPINIONS
[Direct Appeal pending before the Arizona Supreme
Court]
Cody Martinez – Latino, age
21
Sentenced to death in Pima County,
Arizona
By: A jury
Date of Crime: 6/12/2003
Prosecution’s case/defense
response:
Martinez and his cohort planned to
rob Francisco Aguilar of drugs. Martinez and his cohorts kidnapped,
beat, and stuffed Aguilar into the trunk of a car. After Martinez and
his cohorts ransacked Aguilar’s apartment, they drove Aguilar to the
desert where they beat him again. One of Martinez’s cohort stabbed
Aguilar in the abdomen. Aguilar pleaded for his life but Martinez told
him to shut up and then shot Aguilar twice. Aguilar’s body was covered
with a mattress and set on fire.
An officer went to
investigate the smoke and pulled over Martinez and his cohorts close to
the area where the smoke was coming from. Martinez told the officer
that he had just been at a barbeque. The defense argued that one of
Martinez’s cohorts could have been the one who shot Aguilar.
During the penalty phase, the
defense argued Martinez was raised in an abusive and dysfunctional
family, which included a mother who abused drugs and later did drugs
with her children. The defense also argued Martinez’s cohorts sentences
ranged from two and a half years to life in prison with the possibility
of parole after 25 years.
Prosecutor(s): Teresa Godoy
Defense lawyer(s): Chris Kimminau,
Richard Parrish
