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“They signed up to protect and serve the community, and that’s what he did.”
That’s what prosecutor Joseph Orendain said of Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Moises Sanchez who was allegedly killed by 28-year-old Edinburg resident Victor Alejandro Godinez.
Both prosecutors and Godinez’s defense attorneys presented their closing arguments in the case against Godinez on Tuesday morning in front of a packed courtroom full of onlookers and family members from Godinez and Sanchez’s side.
Godinez is charged with capital murder for the death of Sanchez and two counts of attempted capital murder of a peace officer. He is also accused of shooting at two Edinburg police officers during the manhunt for him.
Orendain recalled back to the first day of the trial and told the jurors once more that this case is about the fear all law enforcement spouses face every day their partners are on duty and that Sanchez’s wife, Yvonne, had to live through that fateful Saturday of April 6, 2019.
The prosecutor rejected the defense’s argument that Sanchez died due to complications from surgery meant to replace the bone flap with a titanium mesh. The state also contended that Godinez wasn’t being truthful when telling police after the incident that he wanted to die, arguing that if he really wanted to he could’ve pointed his Smith & Wesson .357 magnum revolver at the arresting officers who would’ve shot him in retaliation.
Instead, Godinez left his recently purchased revolver in an empty lot before jumping a fence where law enforcement were patrolling.
Godinez’s defense attorney, O. Rene Flores, argued that the case isn’t about fear, it’s about the cause of Sanchez’s death.
“The part that must be proven, beyond a reasonable doubt, the cause of death,” Flores said.
He cited one officer who testified that due to their intervention, they were able to save Sanchez’s life and added that Sanchez died later in Houston from hypoxia and ischemia following the cranioplasty surgery, not because Godinez shot him in the head.
“He failed,” Flores said after telling the court that he wouldn’t deny that his client shot Sanchez in the head, but the gunshot wound didn’t kill him.
Flores continued to argue that Yvonne had begun making changes to her home with plans on bringing Sanchez back home, stating that someone told her he’d be coming home, otherwise she wouldn’t have made those accommodations.
In addition, Flores claimed that the state hasn’t offered all the evidence necessary to give the jurors a better picture of what happened following the events of that fateful night to the day of the surgery when Sanchez died.
He stated that those medical records weren’t turned in as evidence for a reason.
Prosecutor Vance Gonzales argued that the cause of Sanchez’s death isn’t the point of the case.
“We’re here because of him,” Gonzales said as he pointed at Godinez, calling his actions senseless. “It’s a common sense case.”
Gonzales said that a doctor pronounced Sanchez brain dead prior to the surgery and called the idea that his cranioplasty surgery a cosmetic one was disingenuous, stating that it was necessary in order to protect Sanchez’s brain.
He cited Dr. Glenn Douglas Sandberg’s testimony regarding the condition of Sanchez’s brain and the way brains work.
“The brain does not heal,” Gonzales said. “The surgery had to happen.”
Gonzales added that Godinez only cares about himself and recalled testimony stating that Godinez had applied to a police academy and was rejected, fueling his disdain for law enforcement.
He stated that Godinez told agent Billy James Hill that he “hates these people” when he was asked about law enforcement.
State District Letty Lopez then dismissed the jurors for deliberation.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct Vance Gonzales’ last name.
Here’s the latest update:
