SAN ANTONIO – The murder trial of Richard Amezquita, 35, got off to a late start Thursday, after he showed up over an hour late.
Amezquita said that he was not feeling well. That brought a stern warning from Judge Jefferson Moore.
“That’s no excuse,” Moore said. “I’m going to allow you to remain on bond, but if you do it again, I’m going to revoke your bond, and you’re going to be in custody for the rest of the trial.”
Prosecutors called two final witnesses, both experts in gunshot residue.
Neither could say definitively whether the fatal shots were fired from a few feet outside Kerry O’Toole’s front door, or whether Amezquita fired the shots from his car as his lawyer suggested.
Amezquita told police that he fired in self-defense, after O’Toole, 53, angrily chased him from the front door, throwing rocks at his car and hitting him.
Amezquita was selling home security systems door-to-door and had approached O’Toole’s home, which was clearly marked with signs discouraging solicitors.
When the trial resumes on Friday, the defense plans to call its witnesses and a shooting reconstruction expert.
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