Cowboy Tactics Killing
INDIO (CNS) – An ex-Riverside County sheriff‘s deputy who tried to arrest, but then killed, a man over conflicts stemming from their attachments to the same woman was sentenced Tuesday to a year in jail and 10 years’ felony probation.
An Indio jury in June convicted Oscar Rodriguez, 44, of voluntary manslaughter and a sentence-enhancing gun use allegation for the 2014 slaying of 39-year-old Luis Carlos Morin of Coachella. Jurors acquitted Rodriguez of first-degree murder.
During Tuesday’s hearing at the Larson Justice Center in Indio, Superior Court Judge Otis Sterling heard victim impact statements, as well as arguments from the prosecution and defense, regarding the most appropriate sentence for the shooting.
Despite prosecutors’ objections, Sterling handed down a sentence of 10 years in state prison, which he immediately suspended in favor of the 365- day jail term and 10 years’ formal probation, sparing Rodriguez from serving any time in state prison.
The defendant was eligible for a maximum sentence of 21 years behind bars.
“Mr. Rodriguez is a liar and a deceitful person,” Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Garcia told jurors in her closing statement in June. “He employed cowboy tactics.”
At the time of the shooting, the defendant was romantically involved with Diana Perez, the mother of Morin’s two children. She and the then-deputy originally met in the winter of 2013, when he responded to 911 calls from her complaining about Morin, whom she didn’t want around her home because he had a criminal past and active warrants connected to alleged auto theft and narcotics sales.
“Diana had the motive, and Rodriguez had the ability,” Garcia said.
She recalled how the defendant and Perez were regularly together from early March to early December 2013, reflected in the numerous credit card receipts for one-night stays at a Motel 6.
“He was taking advantage of her for sex,” the prosecutor said.
Rodriguez became emotionally involved in the woman’s ongoing conflicts with Morin, developing animosity toward the victim, Garcia said, adding it culminated in “reckless” behavior that caused him to ignore all of his training.
The ensuing investigation culminated in a grand jury indictment in 2017.
Morin’s family sued the sheriff’s department and county for wrongful death, netting a $7 million payout.
Perez was indicted along with Rodriguez, charged as being an accessory to a felony. However, the charge against her was dismissed in April.
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