F
rom Andy Furillo:
A Sacramento jury today convicted Andre Germaine Pulido (see photo) of first-degree murder in the shooting death of UC Berkeley honor student Rodrigo Rodriguez Jr. outside an Oak Park barbership in 2007.
Pulido placed his head in his hand and then dropped his forehead onto the defense table after the Superior Court panel also found the special-circumstance allegation to be true that he was lying in wait before killing Rodriguez in the mistaken belief that the victim had shot him two weeks earlier.
As a result of the jury's finding, the 26-year-old Pulido will be sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole. Judge Stacy Boulware Eurie scheduled his sentencing for July 17.
"This has been a very difficult journey, especially because 'Roddi' was such a great young man that tried so very hard to represent the Oak Park community and young people in general by pushing himself towards high achievement and devoting his time and effort towards improvement in many areas of life, particularly in the area of education," Rod Rodriguez Sr., the 21-year-old victim's father, said in a prepared statement.
"This conviction will not bring Rod back to us, but it will serve as a reminder that evil will have its day in court."
Jurors deliberated for nearly three full days before announcing late Wednesday that they had reached a verdict.
Rodriguez was gunned down in the House of Skillz parking lot on Martin Luther King Boulevard on Sept. 16, 2007. Several witnesses gave police a description of the shooter that generally matched that of Pulido. Investigators found the murder weapon in Pulido's bedroom closet. Cell phone records also placed Pulido close to the House of Skillz in the murder's time frame.
The defendant's relatives declined to comment after the verdict.
Defense attorney Tom Johnson, in a written statement, said, "I sat in the same courtroom as the jury for eight weeks. They are good people, and I know they worked hard to reach a decision. The verdict is what it is."
Deputy District Attorney Eric Kindall declined to comment.
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