EDINBURG – A request for a mistrial marked the third day of testimony in the trial of a man accused of shooting four coworkers at a Palmview H-E-B in 2016.
An overnight stocker died and three others were injured.
Defense attorney O. Rene Flores asked for a mistrial after he questioned a former overnight manager who said his testimony on the stand was based on notes he took following the shooting, which Flores discovered contained information that was not in his official statement to police.
Flores represents 31-year-old Mission resident Raul Lopez, who is accused of fatally shooting 48-year-old Mario Pulido and injuring Rafael Martinez, then 37, Frailan Garza, then 51, and Billy Joe Martinez, then 33.
He is charged with murder, three counts of attempted murder, three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and a count of attempted capital murder of multiple persons.
Lopez has pleaded not guilty and is pursuing an insanity defense.
Prosecutors allege Lopez fired at least 15 shots from a 9mm Desert Eagle handgun through a window at approximately 3:30 a.m. into the breakroom at the H-E-B at Goodwin Road and U.S. Expressway 83 while the overnight employees were eating lunch.
The witness that prompted Flores to ask for the mistrial was Manuel Gonzalez, who was in charge that night.
Gonzalez told prosecutors he let Billy Joe Martinez and Lopez leave H-E-B for lunch and that when Billy Joe Martinez came back to be let in, he saw Lopez in his red 2011 Chevrolet pickup truck.
Gonzalez testified he waved at Lopez to come back in, but Lopez didn’t respond.
He also testified he was in communication with people from H-E-B headquarters in San Antonio shortly after the shooting and they asked him whether anyone was missing.
Gonzalez said he told them Lopez was missing and that the San Antonio personnel instructed him to tell police Lopez was the shooter because they had reviewed the cameras and determined he was the shooter.
Gonzalez also testified that he initially called 9-1-1 and then called headquarters in San Antonio.
However, under cross examination, Flores asked him how he had prepared for his day on the stand. Gonzalez said he reviewed notes he took later that day because based on his experience working for the United States Treasury Department he thought he might later be called to testify.
Gonzalez’s statement to police that day does not contain the information he testified about seeing Lopez outside the H-E-B before the shooting and his communications with personnel in San Antonio.
Flores never received Gonzalez’s personal notes during the discovery phase, which prompted his request for a mistrial.
However, the defense attorney did have access to the aforementioned surveillance video during the discovery phase, prompting state District Judge Fernando Mancias to deny the motion for a mistrial.
Jurors also heard testimony Thursday from Denise Lozano, an H-E-B employee who initially applied first aid to Rafael Martinez and Billy Joe Martinez.
She described how she wasn’t at lunch and was trying to finish stocking an aisle when she heard screaming and saw Rafael Martinez running and saying they were shooting into the breakroom.
“He said ’run,’ just run for your life. So that’s what I did,” Lozano said.
As she was running, she saw him collapse and then ran to him and applied first aid, which she learned from volunteering at a fire department.
After applying a tourniquet to his arm, where he had been shot, Lozano made her way to the hallway to the breakroom, which she crawled through.
She saw Pulido on the floor and could not see him breathing. Lozano said she then crawled to Pulido and checked for a pulse but could not find one.
After that, she crawled to Billy Joe Martinez who was choking on his own blood. He had been shot in the chest and in the leg.
Lozano told the jury she turned him on his side so he could spit blood out of his mouth.
“I was just trying to save the most people that I could,” Lozano said.
She still works at the Palmview H-E-B.
The jury also heard from Reynaldo Rivera, an H-E-B senior area loss prevention manager who testified about surveillance video from the store he turned over to Palmview police.
After his testimony, the judge sent the jury home.
The jurors will not return until Monday morning because of legal, procedural and scheduling issues with expert witnesses.
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Palmview H-E-B ‘mass shooting’ trial may come down to a battle of the experts
