By Andy Furillo
afurillo@sacbee.com
The prosecutor outlined his case today against three men who are on trial for murder in the front-door shooting death five years ago of a reputed 18-year-old marijuana dealer in Land Park.
Deputy District Attorney Sean Laird said the Jan, 3, 2006, killing of James Ramirez was the third violent home invasion robbery that defendants Alex Brown, 33, David "Jake" Carrera, 33, and Terry Alexander, 25, had carried out in about a week.
In the hours before the shooting of Ramirez, the three defendants robbed two brothers at their nearby residence on 18th Avenue. One of the victims then led the defendants who were on the hunt for "pounds and racks" - marijuana and money - to the Ramirez residence at his parents home in the 4500 block of Francis Court, according to Laird.
Witnesses will say that Brown, the suspected gunman, shot Ramirez for no known reason, the prosecutor said.
"It didn't make any sense," Laird quoted the witness who led the three defendants to Ramirez' house as telling Sacramento police homicide detectives.
Laird said that a week earlier, on Dec. 27, 2005, Brown, Alexander and Carrera robbed and beat four people at a reputed drug dealer's house on 10th Avenue. During the course of that attack, the prosecutor said the defendants forced three of the victims to perform sex acts on each other, which one of the men on trial photographed with his cell phone.
Brown's attorney, C. Emmett Mahle, was the only defense lawyer who gave an opening statement today. Mahle said some of the key prosecution witnesses have "an agenda" that will detract from the credibility of their testimony. He said his client "had nothing to do with these incidents."
Call The Bee's Andy Furillo, (916) 321-1141.
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