A San Benito County judge unsealed a plea bargain Tuesday,
revealing Eliseo Rojas pled guilty to one count of voluntary
manslaughter with a hate crime enhancement for the murder of Ralph
Santos that could land him in prison for up to 14 years, according
to attorneys.
Hollister – A San Benito County judge unsealed a plea bargain Tuesday, revealing Eliseo Rojas pled guilty to one count of voluntary manslaughter with a hate crime enhancement for the murder of Ralph Santos that could land him in prison for up to 14 years, according to attorneys.
Prosecutors say Rojas and Eusebio Ramos killed the 73-year-old in June 2003 because of Santos’ sexual orientation and because he allegedly solicited sex from them. As a part of the deal, Rojas agreed to testify against Ramos and waive his right to an appeal, according to attorneys.
Rojas’ attorney, Bud Landreth, originally asked the judge to seal the agreement to protect his client, but agreed to have the judge open the document Tuesday because the information already leaked out.
“It’s a fair plea bargain and benefits everybody,” Landreth said. “I think they (the prosecution) gained a lot by taking a plea. They got my client’s testimony that they wouldn’t have had before.”
District Attorney John Sarsfield said that requiring Rojas to waive his appeal rights was a serious concern because now he cannot get a court of appeals to overturn his conviction.
A judge threw out Rojas’ original confession because his Miranda rights were not properly explained to him by police. Prosecutors had a second confession from Rojas, but it was never determined in court to be admissible in a trial or not, Sarsfield said.
“This way he can’t go to a court of appeals and say his conviction should be set aside because his rights were violated,” he said. “We secured a good conviction against Rojas and secured Rojas’ testimony against Ramos… who we believe to be the actual killer.”
Sarsfield said with Rojas’ cooperation, the prosecution has a strong case against Ramos.
“Our major concern was keeping both people in custody for as long as possible,” he said. “This keeps Rojas locked up for over a decade.”
If Ramos is convicted he could face life in prison.
Santos was last seen June 10 of last year before his body turned up in a mustard seed field nine days later. Ramos, 31, and Rojas, 25, later confessed and were both charged with murder – along with felony charges for a hate crime and stealing Santos’ car.
The hate crime charge was added because their suspected motive for killing Santos was their reaction to Santos’ lifestyle, which included soliciting sex from men.
Rojas and Ramos told investigators Santos approached them in the parking lot of a local supermarket, according to court documents. They told police they directed Santos to an isolated section of a mustard seed field off Buena Vista Road where they beat, strangled and repeatedly stabbed Santos until he died, according to court documents.
They were later arrested in Stockton after a police officer spotted Rojas driving Santos’ missing red 2002 Kia Optima. After questioning, Rojas led police to Ramos.
The plea bargain had been on the table since early August. Sarsfield had not informed the Santos family of the deal originally, which prolonged the agreement, Landreth said.
“Only on the day we did it was I certain, because there were indicators I was going to get it,” he said. “The prosecution could have backed out anytime.”
The family’s attorney, Phillips Sweet, had said the family continually tried to keep in touch with the district attorney’s office but hadn’t received complete information about the plea bargain.
Sweet said Tuesday he had just received notification from Sarsfield about the agreement and that the family was “obviously extremely disappointed.”
Sweet said the family will meet and provide a formal statement sometime next week.
Ramos’ next court date is Jan. 5, and Rojas will be sentenced Jan. 19.
Erin Musgrave covers public safety for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or em*******@fr***********.com
