Defendant acquitted in 2010 Planada shooting

An admitted Norteno gang member was found not guilty Friday of shooting two Planada teenagers in 2010.

Johnny Ray Munoz was freed from the Merced County Jail after a jury of six men and six women acquitted him on two counts of attempted murder in connection with the Aug. 30, 2010 attack on Monica Garcia and her boyfriend, Justin Gonzales, who were 17 at the time of the shooting.

Investigators said Munoz, 26, was one of three gunmen who attacked the teenage couple outside a Broadway Avenue home in Planada.

Some of Munoz’s family members cried when the verdict was read Friday before Judge John D. Kirihara. They declined comment outside the courtroom, as did several members of the jury.

A relative of one of the victims left the courtroom Friday before the court clerk finished reading the verdict.

Defense attorney William Davis said the prosecution’s case was built around the testimony of a co-defendant who acknowledged cooperating with authorities to get himself a lighter sentence and changed crucial details of his story on the witness stand. Davis characterized testimony from that witness as unreliable and self-serving.

“There was never a whole lot to connect Mr. Munoz to this crime except the testimony of (the cooperating witness,)” Davis said. “He was not truthful on many of the details of his story and I think that probably played heavily with the jury. I think they made the right decision.”

Davis also said the fact neither victim could recall specifically seeing Munoz at the scene was another important piece of the case.

“Obviously I’m very disappointed with the verdict, but I have to respect it,” said Mathew Martinez, the Merced County deputy district attorney who prosecuted the case.

Prosecutors accused Munoz and three others of hunting for rival Sureno gang members the night of the attack. However they shot two teenagers who were not involved in gangs in any way. Gonzales was wearing a blue shirt, a color commonly associated with Sureno street gangs.

“They didn’t accidentally pull their guns; they didn’t accidentally pull the trigger 17 or 18 times or whatever it was,” Martinez told the jury. “They got out of that car and they lit that house up that night. They shot Monica in the head and they shot Justin in the back.”

Martinez argued during the week-long trial that Munoz fired multiple shots at the victims from a .32-caliber handgun. However, that gun was never found. It was also unclear whether any of the shots fired from that gun struck either victim. Investigators found ammunition at Munoz’s home hidden in a coffee can and stuffed above some curtain rods, but it was unclear if that ammunition was connected to the attack. Prosecutors also said Munoz’s thumbprint was found inside the vehicle used in the attack.

However, that evidence was apparently not strong enough for the jury to convict Munoz.

Davis noted Munoz could have left his thumbprint in the car days before the attack.

“Mr. Munoz is a Norteno, but Mr. Munoz is more than just a Norteno. He’s also a family man, an employee and a tax payer,” Davis said. “He’s done some things in his past he’s not proud of. Yeah, he’s got some friends that aren’t the nicest people ... but he wasn’t in Planada on Aug. 30, 2010. He’s not guilty of these charges.”

Co-defendants Ramon Manzo Jr. and Jesus Ceja pleaded guilty to charges of premeditated attempted murder. Manzo was sentenced to 37 years in state prison, and Ceja was ordered to serve a life sentence with the possibility of parole. Ceja must serve at least 15 years before he is eligible for his first parole hearing, according to Merced Superior Court records.

A fourth defendant in the case, Ezequiel C. Castillo, 24, who was the driver on the night in question, pleaded guilty earlier this year to aiding the shooters and was sentenced to 11 years in prison.

This story was originally published December 12, 2014 at 4:59 PM with the headline "Defendant acquitted in 2010 Planada shooting."