In his closing arguments, prosecutor Josh Stauffer argued that Solano was driven to kill Castro, with whom the defendant shared a young daughter, out of vengeance as their toxic relationship devolved into social media and text message threats and insults. He called Solano’s shutting down in court a ruse to convince jurors he was so mentally disturbed that he deserved their leniency.
“It was an act, a performance, a farce,” Stauffer said Friday, before outlining how a multitude of court-appointed doctors testified they believed Solano was feigning mental-health lapses. “You saw the defendant literally close his eyes and put his head down to hide from questions … to hide from justice.”
Stauffer further laid out testimony from the medical experts that Solano’s claim of psychotic bouts — he has previously been described as being afflicted with paranoid schizophrenia — were inconsistent with prevailing diagnoses and symptoms, and that his episodes were “audience dependent,” particularly when he was in front of the trial jury.
“This has nothing to do with mental health, this is an act of domestic violence,” Stauffer said. “This is an act of first-degree murder.”
Defense arguments have evolved since Solano was arrested and charged last year. After seeking to have the court assess his mental competency — he was ultimately deemed fit for trial — Solano’s attorneys
REDWOOD CITY — A grisly murder case in which a man was charged with hacking his child’s mother to death with a sword — and virtually beheading her — is now in the hands of a jury, following a bizarre trial that reached a fever pitch when the defendant abruptly refused to speak halfway through his own testimony.
As he has done since that bizarre court sequence Monday, 34-year-old Jose Rafael Solano Landaeta refused to leave his jail cell and appear in court Friday morning for closing arguments in his murder trial, which charges him with killing 27-year-old Karina Castro on a San Carlos street last year.
But he changed course in the afternoon and appeared in court, wearing a dark suit as he watched his attorney while clasping his hands on a desk and occasionally whispering to his legal team.
The trial was notable in some ways because Solano’s culpability was never in dispute. Eyewitnesses recounted watching the slaying unfold the afternoon of Sept. 8, 2022 in the middle of Laurel Street, not far from where Castro lived. They testified they were walking by when they first saw Solano and Castro argue, then watched in horror as Solano retrieved a sword from his car and brutally attacked Castro.
Defense attorneys Robert Cummings, left, Daniel Blanchette and law clerk Gina Herrera talk before the start of the closing arguments for the trial of their client, Jose Rafael Solano Landaeta, at the San Mateo County Superior Court in Redwood City, Calif., on Friday, Nov. 17, 2023. Solano Landaeta who was absent, is accused of beheading with a sword Karina Castro, the mother of his child. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
In his closing arguments, prosecutor Josh Stauffer argued that Solano was driven to kill Castro, with whom the defendant shared a young daughter, out of vengeance as their toxic relationship devolved into social media and text message threats and insults. He called Solano’s shutting down in court a ruse to convince jurors he was so mentally disturbed that he deserved their leniency.
“It was an act, a performance, a farce,” Stauffer said Friday, before outlining how a multitude of court-appointed doctors testified they believed Solano was feigning mental-health lapses. “You saw the defendant literally close his eyes and put his head down to hide from questions … to hide from justice.”
Stauffer further laid out testimony from the medical experts that Solano’s claim of psychotic bouts — he has previously been described as being afflicted with paranoid schizophrenia — were inconsistent with prevailing diagnoses and symptoms, and that his episodes were “audience dependent,” particularly when he was in front of the trial jury.
“This has nothing to do with mental health, this is an act of domestic violence,” Stauffer said. “This is an act of first-degree murder.”
FILE – Jose Landaeta, accused of beheading his ex-girlfriend Karina Castro with a sword in San Carlos, at a preliminary hearing on Wednesday, March 1, 2023 in San Mateo, California. (Pool/David Buchan for DailyMail.com)
Defense arguments have evolved …read more
Source:: The Mercury News – Entertainment
