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Jury impaneled; opening statements to commence
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Posted on Sep 27 2011
By Ferdie de la Torre
Reporter
Reporter
Superior Court associate judge Perry B. Inos completed yesterday afternoon selecting the jury for the retrial of Franklin Cabrera Cepeda Jr. in connection with the killing of a businessman in San Jose in 1999.
The prosecution and defense counsel are expected to give their opening statements today, Tuesday. Assistant attorneys general Russell Lorfing and Peter B. Prestley are prosecuting the case. Defense attorney Colin Thompson is representing Cepeda.
Cepeda’s retrial is the third involving the murder of Chinese businessman Rong Matthew Zhou at his Yellow House Karaoke on March 1, 1999.
In 2000, the Office of the Attorney General charged Jeffrey Deleon Guerrero with murder for Zhou’s killing but he was acquitted during the trial.
Soon after, police identified Cepeda and George Ilo as the suspects in Zhou’s murder and charges were filed against them. Ilo pleaded guilty as part of a plea deal.
In January 2005, a jury found Cepeda guilty of first-degree murder, robbery, aggravated assault and battery, assault with a dangerous weapon, and conspiracy. Three months later, then Superior Court associate judge Juan T. Lizama sentenced Cepeda to 66 years in prison.
Cepeda appealed. In November 2009, the CNMI Supreme Court vacated his convictions and ordered a new trial, ruling that Lizama did not instruct the jury on all of the essential elements necessary to secure a robbery conviction.
The justices also determined that Lizama improperly admitted witness testimony that was so prejudicial that Cepeda was denied his right to a fair trial.
Police said that on March 1, 1999, Cepeda and Ilo, both of whom were then 22 years old, killed and robbed Zhou inside his Yellow House Karaoke. The victim sustained multiple stab wounds.
