Jury convicts son of killing his father and another man, but can't decide on co-defendant

In an unusual criminal trial, a Fresno County Superior Court jury found a Fresno man guilty of murdering two men, including his father, but a second jury could not decide whether the co-defendant was guilty.

Gustavo Duenas, 23, lowered his head when the verdict was announced Thursday. He faces at least 30 years to life in prison when he is sentenced on March 29.

His attorney, Jane Boulger, of the Public Defender's Office, said she plans to file a motion for a new trial because a second jury could not decide whether Duenas' co-defendant, Jorge Rodriguez, 22, was guilty.

On Tuesday, seven jurors found Rodriguez guilty of second-degree murder; five said he was not guilty. Because the vote was not unanimous, a mistrial was declared, giving prosecutor Brian Hutchins the opportunity to retry Rodriguez.

Duenas and Rodriguez, 22, are accused of killing Jose Duenas, 51, and Calvin Reese Jr., 25, who were shot during the early-evening hours of Dec. 6, 2014, at Winery and Balch avenues in southeast Fresno.

The two defendants were tried together in Judge Jonathan Conklin's courtroom but had separate juries because in police interviews Duenas made incriminating statements that were prejudicial to Rodriguez, and visa versa.

To ensure they got a fair trial, Rodriguez's jury was excused from the courtroom when evidence solely against Duenas was presented to his jury. Duenas' jury was excused when evidence against Rodriguez was presented to his jury.

A large section of the courtroom was reserved for jurors when both juries needs to hear testimony.

Police contend that Reese was a victim of a robbery when he was shot in the upper chest. Police said Jose Duenas was unintentionally shot in the back of the head moments after confronting Reese.

Reese died at Community Regional Medical Center that night during surgery. Jose Duenas, declared brain-dead, died a couple of days later after his organs were harvested for donation.

During the trial, Hutchins contended that Gustavo Duenas and Rodriguez picked Reese because he was walking alone on a dark street around 7 p.m. on Dec. 6, 2014. He accused Rodriguez of shooting Reese to rob him of his wallet. Duenas then kicked and spat on the mortally wounded Reese, court records say.

To support his theory of the killings, Hutchins played videotaped police interviews in which Duenas and Rodriguez talk to detectives about the double killing in separate interviews. In them Fresno police Detective Adrian Alvarez told Duenas that his cellphone had text messages showing that he was planning a robbery with relatives or friends.

"Let's find some stupid (people) to rob like last time. I know a few," a text message to Duenas said.

"Line them up," Duenas responded in a text message.

However, Boulger and defense attorney Richard Esquivel, who represented Rodriguez, contended that Duenas and Rodriguez were bystanders to the killings.

The double murder happened close to Duenas' home. Boulger told the jury that it was unlikely that Duenas would plan an armed robbery so close to his home where everyone knew him.

Esquivel told the jury that Reese said something to Duenas to prompt his father to confront Reese. Esquivel said a witness testified that he saw Reese and the elder Duenas confront each other when gunfire erupted between them at close range.

"The testimony was that the same gun killed both of them," Esquivel said.

Rodriguez's jury found him not guilty of two counts of first-degree murder. Jurors split 7-5 on two counts of second-degree murder..

Duenas's jury also found him not guilty of two counts of first-degree murder, but convicted him of two counts of second-degree murder.

This story was originally published March 1, 2018 at 2:22 PM with the headline "Jury convicts son of killing his father and another man, but can't decide on co-defendant."