A plea bargain agreement being considered for one of the men
accused of killing Ralph Santos in June of 2003 won’t be official
until the San Benito County District Attorney’s Office gets a
chance to talk to the victim’s family, according to attorneys.
Under the proposed plea bargain, Eliseo Rojas would get his
murder charge reduced to manslaughter with a maximum of 13 years in
prison if he testifies against Eusebio Ramos, according to their
lawyers.
Hollister – A plea bargain agreement being considered for one of the men accused of killing Ralph Santos in June of 2003 won’t be official until the San Benito County District Attorney’s Office gets a chance to talk to the victim’s family, according to attorneys.
Under the proposed plea bargain, Eliseo Rojas would get his murder charge reduced to manslaughter with a maximum of 13 years in prison if he testifies against Eusebio Ramos, according to their lawyers.
Phillips Sweet, the Santos family’s attorney, said the family has continually tried to keep in touch with the district attorney’s office and hasn’t received complete information about what is happening with the plea bargain.
“The family’s just trying to get information from the DA’s office,” Sweet said. “The family was not made aware of the plea bargain with the DA’s office and had to find out about it through the newspaper.”
Nothing will be finalized until the district attorney’s office talks to Santos’ family to make sure they’re fully aware of anything that’s happened, said Bud Landreth, Rojas’ attorney.
“(A deal) was pretty damn close,” Landreth said. “But there was no commitments from (the district attorney’s office), and there were a couple wrinkles I wanted to look at myself.”
The district attorney’s office should be meeting with the family sometime this week, Landreth said.
District Attorney John Sarsfield said no agreement has been signed, and that personnel in his office have met with the family regularly throughout the case.
Both the defense and prosecution confirmed a plea bargain was in the works about three weeks ago.
If the deal is completed, Rojas would avoid facing charges that carry a possible life sentence, while Ramos’ fate would be determined by a jury. If convicted, Ramos 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 and Rojas later confessed and were both charged with murder – along with felony charges for a hate crime and stealing Santos’ car, according to court records.
Ramos’ trial was supposed to be set for Sept. 13 but was continued to Nov. 1 so his attorney, Arlene Allan, can investigate new information concerning the plea bargain.
Ramos, 31, and Rojas, 20, also face the hate crime charges; investigators believe they killed Santos on June 10 after learning of his alternative lifestyle that included soliciting sex from men.
The hate charge for Rojas wouldn’t be dropped under the plea bargain, and it’s unclear whether the felony charge for stealing Santos’ vehicle would stand, according to lawyers.
