Brownwood Bulletin (Brownwood, Tex.), Vol. 113, No. 8, Ed. 1 Wednesday, October 24, 2012 Page: 3 of 12
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Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Brownwood Bulletin 3
Suspicious activity leads to arrest
BY STEVE NASH
BROWNWOOD BULLETIN
Steve, nash @ brownwoodbu lletin.com
A deputy made a traffic stop in
Brownwood after seeing what be-
lieved had been a drug transaction
and arrested the driver.
Deputy Brandon Arnold arrested
Ruben Martinez, 52, of Brownwood,
on charges of evidence tamper-
ing and possession of marijuana
under 2 ounces, Brown County Jail
records state.
According to Arnold’s report:
Arnold was watching the park-
ing lot of Driftwood Apartments
on Main Street Friday night after
receiving information that drug
trafficking was taking place. Arnold
saw a vehicle enter the parking
lot, and a man walked up to the
driver’s side window. The two
talked for several seconds, the man
left the window and then returned.
The man stayed there for several
more seconds before the vehicle
drove away.
Arnold followed the vehicle, saw
a traffic violation and made a traf-
fic stop on West Baker. Arnold saw
a large hole in the floorboard next
to the driver’s seat. Arnold looked
under the vehicle and saw a baggie
of marijuana under the hole.
In other incidents:
• Deputy Robert Ramirez was
dispatched Saturday to Lover’s
Lane on a criminal mischief report.
A woman said someone had shot
out a window at Church by the
Lake with a BB gun.
• Officer Joe Thomas was
dispatched Saturday to the area
of West Commerce and Main on a
report of a hit-and-run accident.
• Cpl. Richard Williams took
a report of the theft of medical
supplies from the 2700 block of
Elizabeth.
• Thomas was dispatched Satur-
day to the 1500 block of Dublin,
where a woman said her boyfriend
took two flower pots from her front
yard.
• Thomas was dispatched Satur-
day to the 2500 block of Songbird
on a report of a stolen Kindle.
• Officer Robert Lee was dis-
patched Saturday to the 1400 block
of Avenue B on a report of a stolen
television, and a family member of
the complainant is suspected.
• Williams took a report Friday
on the theft of jewelry.
• Lee was dispatched Friday to
the 300 block of Bluffview, where a
man said he was assaulted by three
people.
• Officer Brandon Miller was dis-
patched Friday to the 2400 block of
10th on a report that a female stole
her mother’s medication.
• Officer Brandon Johnson was
dispatched Friday to the 1600 block
of Belle Plain on a burglary of a mo-
tor vehicle call.
• Officer Dustin Bode was dis-
patched Saturday to Brownwood
Regional Medical Center on a report
of a deceased inmate from the
Havens Unit.
• Thomas was dispatched Satur-
day to Wal-Mart, where he arrested
Michael Adams, 59, of Brownwood,
on a theft charge.
• Office Kim Cantu was dis-
patched Saturday to the 1900 block
of Avenue J on a report of a stolen
pickup. The pickup was found,
burning and abandoned, in the
county.
• Bode was dispatched Sunday
to the 2600 block of Hillboro on a
burglary of a motor vehicle report.
• Officer Jayme Bowman was
dispatched Monday to the 500
block of Commerce on a report of
a dispute between a boyfriend and
girlfriend.
• Lee was dispatched Sunday to
the 1000 block of Irma on a report
of a dispute between a boyfriend
and girlfriend.
• Lee was dispatched Sunday to
the 2800 block of Southside on a
report of a dispute between two
males.
• Miller made a traffic stop Sun-
day in the 300 block of East Baker
and arrested Tina Fagundes, 29, of
Brownwood, on a charge of DWI
second.
Others booked into the Brown
County Jail between 8 a.m. Friday
and 8 a.m. Monday were:
Williams Barnes, 43, Mineral
Wells, possession of marijuana
under 2 ounces.
Thomas Bryant, 56, Brownwood,
public intoxication.
Joshua Burch, 31, Brownwood,
burglary of a vehicle, theft, parole
violation.
Monica Davis, 46, Odessa, theft.
Alexandrea Edwards, 23, Lub-
bock, credit card or debit card
abuse.
Edward Espinosa, 26, Brown-
wood, DWI.
Bent Garvin, 43, Coleman, failure
to appear for evidence tampering
and evading arrest.
Tracy Hoover, 42, Brownwood,
DWI third or more.
Rogelio Huerta, 26, Brownwood,
DWI, possession of marijuana un-
der 2 ounces.
Leland Michael, 28, Early, public
intoxication.
Linley Rinehart, 32, Brownwood,
motion to adjudicate for hindering
apprehension.
Jordan Rivera, 17, Brownwood,
possession of marijuana under 2
ounces.
Denver Way Jr., 66, Zephyr, DWI
third or more.
Udo Agomuo, 40, Brownwood,
theft.
Anthony Aguirre, 17, Brownwood,
traffic warrant, failure to appear.
Michael Pennington, 23, early,
failure to appear, no driver’s
license.
Nathan Perez, 21, Brady, assault.
Tiileri Porter, 20, Bangs, assault.
James Wilhelm, 39, Early, DWI.
Early voting
daily record
set Tuesday
BY GENE DEAS0N
BROWNWOOD BULLETIN
gene, deason @brownwoodbulletin .com
Early voters set a daily
record for Brown County
Tuesday as 967 ballots
were cast, Larry Franks,
assistant county elections
administrator, said.
After only two days of
early voting, exactly 1,800
votes have been cast in the
Nov. 6 general elections.
School board trustee elec-
tions are also being held
Nov. 6 in Brownwood and
May.
The total vote on Monday
was 833.
In addition, Franks said
that of the 658 ballots by
mail requested, a total of
477 have been returned.
Voter turnout for the
2008 general election was
63 percent, Franks said,
and this year’s pace could
top that.
Early voting continues
from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. today
through Saturday at Adams
Street Community Center,
and polls will be open from
noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday.
The last day to vote early
will be Nov. 2.
STATEMENT: Defendant elected to enter negotiated plea agreement
CONTINUED FROM 2
On Tuesday, Oct. 23,
2012, the defendant Rene
Pinon Torres entered into
a plea bargain agreement
which sentenced him to
40 years confinement in
the Institutional Division,
Texas Department of
Criminal Justice.
The defendant was
charged with the March
12, 2012, shooting death
of Eduardo Lopez at the
Early Donut Shop. The
defendant’s trial began
Monday, Oct. 22, 2012, in
the 35th Judicial Dis-
trict Court. Before jury
selection, the defendant
entered a guilty plea and
elected to have a jury de-
termine his punishment.
Tuesday morning before
opening statements, the
defendant elected to
enter into a negotiated
plea agreement in lieu of
facing the Brown County
jury. Since the March 12
shooting, the defendant
has maintained that this
crime was committed
while under the influence
of sudden passion.
The defense was ex-
pected to present evidence
that the victim, Eduardo
Lopez, provoked the de-
fendant, thus resulting
in the commission of the
offense. Had the defense
been successful in prov-
ing their sudden passion
claim, the punishment
range would have been re-
duced from a first degree
felony of 5-99 years or life
to a second degree felony
of 2-20 years in prison.
As part of the negotiated
plea agreement, the defen-
dant waived his defense
of sudden passion, as well
as his right to appeal the
case. Under the applicable
parole laws, the defendant
will be required to serve
one-half of his sentence
before becoming eligible
for parole.
Parole eligibility is not
a guarantee of release
from prison. It is simply
the first opportunity for
a defendant to be consid-
ered for parole. In reach-
ing this plea agreement,
consideration was given to
the fact that the maximum
sentence available under
the law for the defendant
was life in prison with pa-
role. Under the applicable
parole laws, the defen-
dant would have become
eligible for parole after
30 years if he received a
maximum sentence.
Thus, the 40-year negoti-
ated plea agreement guar-
antees that the defendant
will serve a significant sen-
tence with no appeal and
only 10 years below the
maximum when consider-
ing parole eligibility.
The death penalty and
life without parole are not
available sentences in a
first degree murder case in
the State of Texas. These
decisions are never easy
because any sentence can
never equal the value that
a family or society places
on a life lost. However,
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these decisions serve to
avoid the defense strategy
to attack the character
of the deceased victims
while also guaranteeing a
lengthy prison sentence.
Murray said that in
his 18 years prosecuting
criminal cases, he has
tried multiple cases like
the (Pinon) case and they
are not always as cut and
dried as some folks may
think.
“I’ve seen juries take cas-
es like this one and give
sentences of 15 years or
less, and it leaves victims’
families feeling worse,”
Murray said. “I feel like we
selected a good jury and
that was probably why
the defendant decided to
accept a high plea agree-
ment.” Murray said that
before picking the jury,
the parties were 30 years
apart on an agreement.
A daughter of Mr. Lopez
gave a victim impact
statement to the defen-
dant during sentencing
which was emotional, but
composed. The statement
incited the defendant to
apologize to the family for
his actions.
Murray called the shoot-
ing senseless and unde-
served, and said he will
oppose any efforts of the
defendant seeking parole.
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Deason, Gene. Brownwood Bulletin (Brownwood, Tex.), Vol. 113, No. 8, Ed. 1 Wednesday, October 24, 2012, newspaper, October 24, 2012; Brownwood, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth740827/m1/3/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Brownwood Public Library.