Being stabbed 17 times was painful enough, but what also hurt
19-year-old Ernesto Lopez was when the San Benito County District
Attorney’s office plea bargained the possible life sentences for
his attackers down to just seven years in prison.
The soft-spoken young man, who is still carrying the scars of
the unprovoked attack with him, said he felt compelled to speak out
for victims of crime because he believes the district attorney’s
office isn’t.
Being stabbed 17 times was painful enough, but what also hurt 19-year-old Ernesto Lopez was when the San Benito County District Attorney’s office plea bargained the possible life sentences for his attackers down to just seven years in prison.
The soft-spoken young man, who is still carrying the scars of the unprovoked attack with him, said he felt compelled to speak out for victims of crime because he believes the district attorney’s office isn’t.
It has been four months since Lopez was attacked by Raymond Galvan, 18, Ruben Mendoza, 21, and Marco Mendoza, 18, at 1300 San Juan Road in the parking lot of a 24-hour convenience store, and Lopez has not fully recovered from the physical and mental damage caused by the multiple stab wounds.
“The pain in my body will eventually go away but it’s the memories that will always be there,” Lopez said. “The memories of what they did to me is something that I will never forget.”
Sometimes when he is starting to drift off to sleep he will have vivid flashbacks of the attack, almost as though he is reliving the event.
On Sept. 22, Lopez spoke at the sentencing hearing for Galvan, Mendoza and Mendoza to express his displeasure with his three assailants receiving an offer to plead guilty to felony assault charges instead of them standing trial for attempted murder, the crime with which they were originally charged.
“I feel as though I’ve been victimized twice. Once by them and a second time by the district attorney’s office,” according to a translation of what Lopez said in court.
He asked the judge not to accept their guilty pleas and to force them to stand trial for the original charges.
District Attorney John Sarsfield said he understands Lopez’ anger at being attacked by the three men and his wanting to see them punished.
“I was a victim of a violent crime once myself,” Sarsfield said. “That’s why we always take into consideration the feelings of victims in these cases.”
Sarsfield said what Lopez is really angry about is the way the criminal justice system is structured.
“Every defendant has the right to plead guilty. They do not have to go to trial if they do not want to,” he said.
Overall, Sarsfield said he thinks the sentencing of the trio to state prison for seven years each is a good thing.
“We have taken three very dangerous people off the street,” Sarsfield said. “And while I understand the victim is very upset, and he has every right to be upset because he was victimized, that’s just not the way our system works.” Sarsfield said.
“But if we had done what the victim wanted there would have been a chance that one of them could have been acquitted,” Sarsfield said.
The once-confident Lopez now lives in a constant state of concern and wariness. He said he is constantly looking over his shoulder because he has the feeling that someone is behind him. He finds it difficult to go out in public alone.
Physically, Lopez said he is not nearly in the shape that he used to be.
“I’m a little bit better compared to the way I was when this all first happened,” Lopez said. “But I still have a lot of pain.”
Instead of focusing on the pain in his body, Lopez has focused more on his religious beliefs to help him find a way to get back to the life that he was building for himself.
“It has been very difficult putting my life back together because I’m not used to feeling helpless,” Lopez said.
He still at times finds it hard to walk and move around the way he used to because some of the deeper stab wounds, including one that punctured his right lung, are still in the process of healing. He still has numbness in his left hand and forearm where he was stabbed while trying to fend off his attackers.
“Little by little, I have to move ahead and try my best to put this thing behind me.”
