Almost two months after securing a controversial plea bargain
for convicted killer Eliseo Rojas, the District Attorney’s Office
was offered a similar deal for Eusebio Ramos, who also is accused
of killing 73-year-old Ralph Santos in 2003.
Hollister – Almost two months after securing a controversial plea bargain for convicted killer Eliseo Rojas, the District Attorney’s Office was offered a similar deal for Eusebio Ramos, who also is accused of killing 73-year-old Ralph Santos in 2003.
The proposed deal would require Ramos – accused of killing Santos after the elderly man allegedly propositioned him and Rojas for sex – to plead guilty or no contest to voluntary manslaughter with a hate crime and weapons enhancement for a maximum possible sentence of 16 years in prison. He would also be required to waive his rights to an appeal.
District Attorney John Sarsfield said he hasn’t made any decision about the offer and has passed on the information to the Santos family.
“Nothing’s changed,” Sarsfield said. “All I’ve done is received an offer to plead guilty. Now we’re waiting to hear back (from the family).”
Ramos’ attorney, Arlene Allan, said she has been talking to the prosecution about a deal from the beginning, and that she sent the proposal to the DA’s office last month. She believes her client is innocent of the first-degree murder charge. She wouldn’t concede to Ramos’ guilt even though she offered a plea of guilty by voluntary manslaughter.
“I’ve always maintained he is not guilty of first-degree murder,” she said. “I’m just trying, like any defense attorney, to resolve a case. If we were to go to trial, he would be found innocent.”
Allan wouldn’t discuss the facts of the case or why she wants to strike a deal rather than go to trial.
Prosecutors say Rojas and Ramos killed Santos in June of 2003 because of Santos’ sexual orientation and because he allegedly solicited sex from the men. But the family strongly disagrees with this theory and believes Rojas and Ramos fabricated the story as a way to escape harsh prosecution.
The Santos family was devastated by the deal for Rojas, but was not surprised by the latest offer to plea bargain, which they plan to challenge.
“It’s totally predictable. This is how he (Sarsfield) operates,” said Lorie Santos, Santos’ daughter. “But what’s really disappointing is that for a year and a half we put our trust in the DA. We waited in silence, and they do this.”
Rojas accepted a plea that dropped his murder charge to voluntary manslaughter with a maximum of 11 years, eight months in prison in exchange for testifying against Ramos. He also agreed to waive all his rights for an appeal.
When Rojas’ deal was agreed upon in November, Sarsfield said Rojas’ testimony would strengthen the case against Ramos. Sarsfield wouldn’t comment on whether that condition of the plea would become moot if a deal is reached with Ramos.
“I’m not going to go there,” he said.
About 10 of Santos’ family members were in court Wednesday when they received a letter from Sarsfield, directed to their attorney, Arthur Cantu, notifying them of a possible deal for Ramos. The family was in court awaiting a judge’s ruling on a motion Cantu filed to have Rojas’ plea thrown out. Judge Tom Breen, who was filling in for Judge Harry Tobias, said the motion to dismiss the plea will be heard when Rojas is sentenced on Jan. 19.
Cantu said he hopes Sarsfield will decline the deal and go forward with a trial.
“This is a new year,” Cantu said. “I’m confident Mr. Sarsfield will shed all of those clothes from last year and put on a new suit, and join us in asking that this man answer to the charges.”
Cantu filed a motion on the family’s behalf to have Rojas’ deal thrown out because they believe it was orchestrated illegally and because Sarsfield is friends with Rojas’ attorney, Bud Landreth. Both Sarsfield and Landreth have denied working together to coordinate Rojas’ deal.
Before Sarsfield makes a decision concerning the proposed deal, he said he would like input from the family. The family has until Jan. 11 to issue a written response to the DA’s office. If they do not respond by then, Sarsfield will go forward on his own, according to the letter.
Family members criticized Sarsfield for not properly notifying them of Rojas’ plea and have been adamant that both men’s fate be determined by a jury of their peers.
They believe there is plenty of evidence, including video-taped confessions, to convict the two men, accused of leaving their loved one’s body in a mustard seed field off Buena Vista Road to decompose in the summer heat, of first-degree murder.
Sarsfield disagrees and has said he won’t chance Rojas going to trial and being acquitted. He wouldn’t comment on possible outcomes of Ramos taking a deal or going to trial Wednesday.
Ramos’ trial date is scheduled to be set on Jan. 19 – the same day Rojas is to be sentenced – and if it does go to trial Allan said she plans to file a motion to change venue.
“I don’t think he can get a fair trial in San Benito County,” she said. “There’s a lot of misinformation out there. I look in the papers and I can’t believe they’re talking about the case I’m working on.”
The case could go to trial sometime in the fall of this year if a plea falls through, she said.
Sheriff Curtis Hill wasn’t surprised to hear both defendants could receive plea bargains and said he’s seen it happen many times with murder cases in the county.
“There were days when I used to be upset about that kind of thing, but I got over that a long time ago,” Hill said. “Every DA I’ve ever seen has done that kind of thing. From the law enforcement side… you just hope the appropriate justice has been rendered.”
Erin Musgrave covers public safety for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or [email protected]
