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The evidence presented
at trial established that at approximately 3:00 p.m. on June 3, 2001, a
short, stockily built man wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt with the hood
drawn over his head, walked onto a basketball court in Valenia Park in
the city of Allentown, Pennsylvania and shot the victim, Armondo
Rodriguez, several times at close range.
After the victim fell
to the ground, the assailant stood over him and shot him several more
times. The assailant then ran towards a parking lot, turned around, and
shot back towards the crowded park where the victim lay.
At the time the first
officer arrived, there were approximately twenty to thirty people in the
immediate vicinity. There were several shell casings lying in the area
where the victim lay and several more casings were found in or about the
adjacent streets. The victim was transported to a local hospital where
he was pronounced dead upon arrival.
The autopsy revealed a
total of six gunshot wounds, all but one of which were fatal wounds.
Jose Aquino, a friend of the victim’s, who was also playing basketball
at the time, identified Solano as the assailant at trial.
Mr. Jose Aquino
testified that he saw Solano standing near the court just prior to the
shooting, talking on his cell phone and looking in the direction of the
victim. He was able to see Solano’s face before and at the time Solano
came charging onto the court.
He testified that he
had seen Solano a few days prior to the shooting, wearing the same
hooded sweatshirt, but not with the hood over his head.
Another eyewitness,
Israel Aquino, testified that he saw the shooter run towards the victim,
shoot him several times, stand over him and shoot again. Mr. Israel
Aquino testified that he started towards the victim, but when the
assailant pointed a gun in his direction, he turned and ran in the
opposite direction.
Francisco Rosario,
another friend of the victim’s who was also present at the time,
testified that he ran as the shooting began. He took cover behind a
parked vehicle and pulled out his own gun in an attempt to shoot the
assailant. His gun, however, failed to discharge.
As the police arrived,
Mr. Rosario placed the gun in the car. The police eventually recovered
that gun and when Mr. Rosario admitted ownership thereof, he was charged
with possession of a firearm. At the time of the instant trial, Mr.
Rosario had completed his sentence for that charge.
With respect to the
identity of the shooter, Mr. Rosario testified that while he initially
told police that he did not see the shooter because he was afraid, he,
in fact, saw the shooter and identified Solano as that shooter.
On June 19, 2001,
police in Hartford, Connecticut received information that Solano, wanted
in connection with the instant murder, and Cantalino Morales, wanted for
attempted murder of deputy sheriffs in Allentown, were staying together
in Hartford.
After being provided
descriptions of the suspects, the police proceeded to a given location
in the Westbrook Village section of Hartford. When they arrived, they
observed two individuals, one of whom matched the description they had
been given of Cantalino Morales, apparently trying to jump-start a
vehicle.
When the individuals
were successful in starting the vehicle, the police, believing the
subjects were about to leave, moved in on them, announcing their
presence and ordering the two people to “get down.” One of the
individuals, later identified as Morales, pulled a gun and began
shooting towards the officers.
At about the same
moment, a man, later identified as Solano, and a female companion exited
the rear of the building. Both Solano and Morales fled on foot, with
Morales shooting towards police as he fled. As he was running, Morales
was observed dropping an object which police later recovered and
identified as a 9mm Ruger.
Both individuals were
apprehended a few moments later, Solano as he attempted to dive into a
wooded area, and Morales who, after pointing another gun towards police,
fell only a short distance away from Solano when he was hit by police
gunfire.
The gun Morales was
holding at the time he was shot was recovered from the scene and
identified as a Standard Arms. At the time of his arrest, Solano’s
person was searched and, among other things, a handcuff key and a
magazine containing live bullets were discovered in his pocket.
The Commonwealth
presented a ballistics expert, John Curtis, Jr., who testified that the
casings and bullets recovered from the basketball court and properties
adjacent to the park were all discharged from the same two firearms
found at the time of Solano’s and Morales’ arrest.
Specifically, he found
that fifteen shell casings recovered from the scene of the murder and
two adjacent streets were discharged from the Ruger semiautomatic pistol,
as were the bullets removed from the victim’s body, one bullet found
embedded in a wall in a nearby garage, and another bullet lodged in a
wall in a second floor room of a nearby home.
Four additional shell
casings which were found behind a building a short distance further from
the scene were fired from a Standard Arms semiautomatic pistol.
In his defense, Solano
presented the testimony of Detective Joseph Effting, of the Allentown
Police Department. Detective Effting testified that he had interviewed
two eyewitnesses, Jessica Brown and Julio Santiago, who indicated that
persons other than the shooter possessed guns at the time and may have
also been shooting.
According to Detective
Effting, at the time he interviewed Ms. Brown she told him that she had
seen the shooter and thought that possibly as many as three other
persons had guns in the park that day.
Ms. Brown testified for
the Commonwealth, however, that she observed no one but the assailant
with a gun but had assumed that someone other than the fleeing assailant
was shooting because the assailant was shooting back towards the crowd.
As for Mr. Santiago,
Detective Effting testified that when interviewed, Mr. Santiago told him
that he thought an individual behind a Jeep may have also been shooting,
and that he saw an unidentified individual chasing the shooter as he
fled.
However, when he
testified for the Commonwealth at trial, Mr. Santiago denied having
given Detective Effting any such information. Solano took the stand and
testified that he was in Hartford, Connecticut the day of the shooting
staying with his aunt.
He testified that he
did not even know the victim and did not know Mr. Morales before meeting
him in Connecticut. Although he testified that he saw numerous people
while in Hartford, the defense presented no witnesses to corroborate
Solano’s testimony that he was there at the relevant time.
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