El Paso police biker gang investigators have testified that the shooting stemmed from a rivalry between the Kinfolk and the Bandidos.
Javier Gonzalez, a reputed member of the Kinfolk Motorcycle Club, is accused of fatally shooting El Paso Bandidos chapter leader Juan "Compa" Martinez Jr. during a fight at Mulligan's Chopped Hog bar in East El Paso on July 30, 2017.
The trial began Jan. 15 in 34th District Court but was postponed the following day until Tuesday because Judge William E. Moody was ill.
The prosecution rested its case late Tuesday morning. Defense lawyers were set to present their arguments Tuesday afternoon. El Paso County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Mario Rascon testified that Martinez was shot seven times, with bullets striking in him in the torso, the right shoulder and a finger. Martinez, 61, died at a hospital days after the shooting.
Gonzalez's lawyer, Dolph Quijano Jr., has suggested that his client was acting in defense of two Kinfolk members being beaten by eight Bandidos.
The video shows a Bandido using a bar stool during the fight.
The defense has pointed out that a knife with blood on it was found at the bar by crime scene investigators and a second knife was found in Salcido's vest.
The blood on the knife found at the bar was never tested to find out whom the blood belonged to, according to court testimony.
The fight was captured by security cameras in the East Side bar in a video shown during the first day of the trial, which is taking place under extra security at the El Paso County Courthouse.
More: Murder trial begins for Kinfolk MC biker accused of killing Bandidos leader in El Paso (link is external)
The bar video showed two Kinfolk members arrive at the bar, which police said was a Bandidos hangout. The video shows the two Kinfolk confronted by about eight Bandidos, and the brawl begins when reputed Kinfolk member Manuel "Manny" Gallegos punches Martinez.
On Tuesday, the jury was shown a second video — filmed on a cellphone — showing a biker wearing a helmet and a Kinfolk vest shooting in the bar before running out.
Prosecutors allege Gonzalez was the shooter during the fight.
A helmet with a visor allegedly worn by Gonzalez during the shooting was presented as evidence Tuesday.
A pair of forensic scientists with the Texas Department of Public Safety crime lab in El Paso testified Tuesday that DNA evidence matching Gonzalez was found inside the helmet and that bullets linked to the shooting matched a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun found in the backyard of a home day care near the bar.
Ammunition allegedly matching the gun was found when police gang investigators served a search warrant of Gonzalez's home in San Elizario, according to testimony.
USA - BNN.
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