Roque guilty in Sikh murder
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Russell Gates/The Arizona Republic
Harjinder Kaur Sodhi, wife of murder victim Balbir Singh Sodhi, faints Tuesday outside Maricopa County Superior Court in Mesa after the verdict was rendered. |
Insanity defense fails; jury to decide on death penalty
Jim Walsh
The Arizona Republic
Oct. 1, 2003 12:00 AM
Jurors' rejection of an insanity defense Tuesday reaffirmed an immigrant family's faith in their adopted country.
Jurors deliberated for only three hours before they found Frank Roque, 44, guilty of first-degree murder in the slaying of Sikh gasoline station owner Balbir Singh Sodhi, 49, on Sept. 15, 2001, four days after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
He was found guilty on five other counts related to drive-by shootings at two other Middle Eastern targets in Mesa within 25 minutes of Singh Sodhi's death.
Two of Singh Sodhi's brothers interpreted the verdicts as a reaffirmation of the Bill of Rights, especially the right to religious freedom, while the victim's widow, Harjinder Kaur Sodhi, was so emotionally overwhelmed that she cried and later fainted for the second time during the 3 1/2-week trial.
"This jury is showing the whole world that we are against hate; we will not tolerate hate in our community," said Rana Singh Sodhi, one of the victim's brothers.
His brother, Harjit Singh Sodhi, added, "it's not Brown, Black or White.
"We are all one. Justice brings peace to everybody. We can go out in the streets without any fear."
Balbir Singh Sodhi immigrated from India in 1989 and drove a cab in Los Angeles and San Francisco before he moved to the Valley and opened his gas station, hoping to find a safer occupation.
Harjit was among Sikhs from 13 states who met Monday with White House officials to gain more recognition for U.S. Sikhs as part of an education campaign to deter further hate crimes.
He said Sikhs asked for a White House celebration of founding Guru Nanak's birthday, appointment of Sikh military chaplains, to allow Sikhs to serve in the U.S. military while wearing turbans and for the reopening of a Sikh temple in Baghdad.
Defense attorney Dan Patterson declined comment on the verdict until after the trial concludes with Roque's sentencing.
The next step in Roque's trial begins Thursday when jurors return for the "aggravation phase" to determine if the defendant qualifies for the death penalty.
If jurors do not find an "aggravating factor," Judge Mark Aceto of Maricopa County Superior Court would sentence Roque to either 25 years in prison with a possibility of parole or life in prison without possibility of parole.
Prosecutors contend Roque should be executed because he was convicted of attempted armed robbery in southern California in 1983 and because jurors found him guilty Tuesday of crimes beyond Singh Sodhi's murder.
Deputy County Attorneys Vince Imbordino and Doc Shreve argued throughout the trial that Roque shot Singh Sodhi out of hate after spouting racist remarks to a bartender and co-workers, including that he was going to "kill some towelheads" and that all Arabs and their children should be rounded up and murdered.
But Patterson and co-counsel Bob Stein portrayed Roque as the son of a schizophrenic mother who coped with his lifelong battle against mental illness with a 12-pack of beer until he lost touch with reality after the Sept. 11 attacks.
They said Roque heard a voice telling him to "kill the devils" moments before he pulled into Singh Sodhi's gas station at 80th Street and University Drive, saw the victim talking outside with a landscaper and shot him five times.
Two defense expert witnesses said Roque, a former Boeing machinist, was unable to understand right from wrong when he shot Singh Sodhi because of his psychosis but diagnosed him with different mental illnesses.
A court-appointed psychiatrist concluded Roque probably is mentally ill but still understood right from wrong, and a state psychiatrist said Roque was faking hearing a voice.
Roque never sought treatment for a mental illness before his arrest by Mesa police.
The verdict indicated that jurors found Roque's mental illness was not so pervasive that it prevented him from knowing right from wrong, Arizona's definition of legal insanity.
However, Roque's mental illness still could spare him from a death sentence, if jurors find his crime qualifies him for execution but conclude his illness is a "mitigating factor, during the penalty phase of the trial.
Among the "aggravating factors" for execution alleged by prosecutors is that Roque also was convicted by the jury of endangering the life of landscaper Luis Ledesma when he shot and killed Singh Sodhi, that he was convicted of attempted murder in a drive-by shooting at a Lebanese-operated gasoline station following the slaying and that he was convicted of the California robbery attempt.
During the trial, prosecutors revealed that Roque initially denied the California incident but later admitted that he served a year in jail. |
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