By Hudson Sangree
hsangree@sacbee.com
A Yolo Superior Court jury convicted Marco Antonio Topete of all counts against him for the murder of Yolo Sheriff's Deputy Jose Antonio Diaz in June 2008.
Their verdicts included findings that he committed special allegations that could make him eligible for the death penalty.
Yolo County Superior Court officials announced at 1:30 p.m. that the jury had reached verdicts in the capital murder case against Topete. The verdicts were handed down at 3:45 p.m.
The jury got the case just after 3 p.m. Monday and deliberated for 90 minutes before adjourning. They had resumed deliberations this morning.
Topete faced seven felony counts including murder with special circumstances.
On Monday, prosecutor Garrett Hamilton told jurors Topete ambushed the deputy after a chase.
Topete pulled the trigger of his AR - 15 semi-automatic weapon 17 times in less than four seconds, strafing the patrol car where the deputy stood, Hamilton said. One of the bullets pierced Diaz's protective vest and killed him.
It was all part of Topete's plan to lead the Yolo County deputy on a high-speed chase and ambush him on a dead end road near the rural community of Dunnigan, the prosecutor said.
Topete ran from his car, hid behind the corner of a friend's house and fired at Diaz's back, Hamilton said.
"Isolate him. Flank him. Conceal yourself, and gun him down," the prosecutor told jurors.
Defense lawyer Hayes Gable III acknowledged Topete shot the deputy but said it was not premeditated nor a deliberate act and amounted only to second-degree murder.
The shooting was the result of an "emotional explosion" on Topete's part, stemming from a number of mental problems and severe stresses in his life, Gable said.
Defense experts testified Topete has attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and anti-social personality disorder. They also said he abuses alcohol and suffers from complex trauma from childhood abuse and his years in prison.
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