Jurors were deliberating Tuesday in the trial of two men charged in the brutal beating death of a homeless man in Westminster.
Christian Huerta, 24, of Huntington Beach and Andrew Holguin, 26, of Midway City are both charged with murder in the June 20, 2019, killing of 45-year-old Duc Le.
Another suspect — Jeffrey Andrade — remains at-large and a fourth defendant is being tried as a juvenile.
Holguin’s attorney, Roger Sheaks, argued the beating was spontaneous and that the attackers did not form any intent to kill the victim.
“Never in a million years the kid you heard on the stand formed an intent to kill anybody,” Sheaks argued. “And it’s that intent that is driving this case or not.”
The victim’s attackers “didn’t even know the guy was hurt that bad,” Sheaks said. “How are they supposed to know? … We had to have an expert come in and tell us how he died.”
Sheaks said much of what Holguin testified to in the trial “was corroborated by other independent evidence.”
The defense attorney accused one witness — Ricky Lopez — of “shading all of his testimony to protect Andrade and himself.”
Even if prosecutors convince jurors Holguin used a skateboard to deliver a fatal blow to the victim, “it’s implied malice,” or second-degree murder, Sheaks argued.
“It seems like the idea was to beat him up” and not kill the victim, Sheaks said.
Sheaks argued for involuntary manslaughter, and noted that his client was drinking heavily the night of the attack.
“This is immaturity that went too far,” he argued. “It’s drunken, stupid, young adult nonsense.”
Huerta’s attorney, Joel Garson, accused Holguin of dishonesty during some of his testimony. Jurors, according to the law, can disregard all of his testimony as a result, Garson said.
Le “didn’t deserve to die,” Garson said, adding, “But my client didn’t kill him.”
Garson said his client was on trial because police decided he was “guilty by association,” and that Huerta was seen on surveillance video after the attack nearby with the other accused suspects.
Garson accused police of “ignoring contrary evidence” in their investigation when some suspects offered differing accounts.
Garson focused on the statements Carlos Orantes made to police. Orantes initially said he wasn’t there, but then later admitted he was at the crime scene.
Orantes initially identified Holguin as a suspect, but later said he did not recognize Holguin, Garson said. In another interview, Orantes fingered Holguin, the juvenile and Andrade as suspected attackers, Garson said. But Orantes did not say Huerta participated in the beating, Garson said.
Garson also noted that the prosecutor in the trial said in opening statements that four men attacked Le, but later shifted gears to five or more attackers based on testimony.
The police “have this theory but it begins to fall apart with Orontes,” Garson said.
In court papers, Garson said Ricky Lopez came forward after the ex-wife of a “disgraced” Westminster officer tipped investigators that Lopez was at the crime scene. Lopez, who was 14 at the time, was questioned by police, Garson said.
“Even at trial when there’s contrary evidence, it’s ignored,” Garson said.
Garson said Le was notorious in the neighborhood for masturbating in public, but even though a pathologist said she saw what appeared to be semen on the victim, it was never tested.
“This has been known since 2019,” Garson said. “They could have tested it last week.”
Garson also argued that police bullied Lopez, threatening to lock him up on $1 million bond and then began shaping his statements to fit their theory.
“They tell him, `don’t worry, we want you to be a witness,”’ Garson said. “Why would police do that? Because they had their minds made up.”
Garson argued that the law prevents prosecutors from only relying on the testimony of suspected accomplices unless there is independent corroborating evidence.
“You have to have corroborating evidence, something other than Holguin’s statement,” Garson said. “And it’s up to you to decide if Ricky’s an accomplice. If you believe he’s an accomplice, the law says that’s not enough … The only ones who put my client there as hitting and kicking is Holguin and Ricky … There’s nothing else tying him to the beating.”
Police quizzed Lopez about whether Cesar Cisneros, another potential suspect, was involved in the beating and Lopez said no, Garson said. But Cisnero’s brother was in the police lobby when Lopez was brought in for questioning, Garson said.
“Whether that’s bad luck, bad planning or on purpose, I don’t know,” Garson said.
Deputy District Attorney Lisa Harris said jurors might not like the “ruse” police used to elicit a statement from Lopez, “but the law provides for that.”
Le was killed for no apparent reason, the prosecutor argued.
“We’re talking about a 45-year-old man, sleeping on a couch and he was brutally murdered,” she said.
Harris argued that Holguin punched the slumbering Le a few times and then circled back to his friends to “brag” about it, prompting them to ask why he didn’t wait for them.
Harris said the lead investigator in the case continued to scrutinize surveillance video in the case during the trial. She said it appeared that Lopez was closer to the crime scene than he said he was.
“But he didn’t do anything,” Harris argued.
Video surveillance showed Holguin after the attack with his skateboard under his arm, so if Andrade killed Le with the skateboard instead, then how did Holguin get it back, Harris asked.
As for Garson’s argument that at worst Huerta only kicked or punched the victim once or twice and should not be convicted of murder, Harris pointed to a photo of the beaten victim and asked, “Does this look like a guy was punched or kicked once in a fight?”
Harris argued that the group “acted to kill the victim” together. Huerta “had implied malice at a minimum,” Harris argued.
Harris also said Holguin “admitted second-degree murder” in his testimony.
Harris noted that the attackers also dragged the victim across the street and back. “And the beating continued,” she said.
The victim was beaten so viciously “he evacuated his bowels,” Harris said.
“It’s not a fight. It’s a murder,” she said.
Harris also cast doubt on any provocation in the case that the victim was chasing anyone with a stick or touching himself in public. She said Holguin admitted in testimony the victim had not been touching himself.
Another important witness in the case, Harris argued, was Holguin’s girlfriend, who said the defendant told her he had participated in a fatal beating of a homeless man. When she pressed him why he did it, he had no answer, Harris argued.
Le would sleep on a couch near a closed boxing club, Harris said. The victim was born in Vietnam before emigrating to the United States, she added.
Le had mental health issues and would drift in and out of homelessness.
Le’s body was found at about 10 p.m. June 20 on Locust Street south of Westminster Boulevard. Half of the victim’s ribs were broken along with his jaw, Harris said.