High court upholds life sentence for man convicted of murder

Mar. 27—A man convicted of murder by a Pulaski County jury back in 2019 has lost an appeal to overturn his life sentence.

Humberto Mesa-Vasquez (also known as Alejandro Arturo Vasquez Cabrera) of Somerset was convicted in September of that year on charges of Murder, second-degree Arson, Tampering with Physical Evidence and Abuse of a Corpse in connection to the February 2018 homicide of 38-year-old Jorge Martinez.

Martinez was found the morning of February 24, 2018, in a burnt out vehicle on Rush Branch Road. His cause of death was later determined to be a .25-calibre bullet to the head.

During the course of the trial, jurors heard evidence that Martinez was shot at the 431 S. Main St. apartment of where Mesa-Vasquez had been staying with his cousin, Heberto Romero-Ordonez and Ordonez' father, both of whom worked with Martinez in the roofing industry.

One thing that no witness established at trial was a motive, and the defendant himself did not testify. At formal sentencing, then-Pulaski Circuit Judge David Tapp imposed the sentence as the jury recommended — life for the murder charge, 20 years for arson, five years for tampering and 12 months for the misdemeanor.

As required by Kentucky statute, the lesser sentences must run concurrently with the life sentence with Mesa-Vasquez eligible for parole after serving 20 years. His defense attorney advised Judge Tapp at the time that her client intended to appeal the conviction.

On Thursday, the Kentucky Supreme Court rendered a unanimous opinion upholding both the conviction and sentence.

In his appeal, Mesa-Vasquez claimed four errors occurred at trial.

First, Mesa-Vasquez argues that the prosecution tried to shift the burden of proof onto the defense in regard to questions of whether the defense had sought lab testing of evidence. However, the justices found that the questions "merely pointed out that the defense had the ability to ask that additional testing be completed by the state crime lab and yet chose not to do so." That they were presented to witnesses rather than in closing arguments also persuaded the court that the defense would have had an opportunity to respond.

Second, the appellant argues that the tampering charge should have been presented to the jury as a "lesser included" for the arson charge. Again the Supreme Court disagreed.

"In this case, we need not get to the question of whether tampering with physical evidence is a proper lesser offense of arson in the second degree because," the unsigned opinion read, "under the facts as presented at trial, no reasonable juror could have a reasonable doubt as to Mesa-Vasquez's guilt of arson in the second degree and yet believe beyond a reasonable doubt that he is guilty of tampering with physical evidence."

Next, Mesa-Vasquez argued that the jury should not have heard testimony that his former girlfriend, Gloria Ortega (who ultimately pleaded guilty before trial to Complicity to Commit Tampering with Physical Evidence), was afraid of him because it was prejudicial. The justices found the evidence relevant to explain Ortega's inconsistent statements rather than indicating Mesa-Vasquez' criminal disposition.

Finally, Mesa-Vasquez argued that Judge Tapp erred in denying the defense motion for a directed verdict on the murder charge. However the justices found that the jury didn't have to rely on inferences the Mesa-Vasquez shot Martinez if they believed eye-witness testimony that the defendant fired three times and struck the victim twice.

Commonwealth's Attorney David Dalton, who prosecuted the case as first assistant, said he was glad that the Supreme Court upheld the conviction and praised investigators for their work back in 2018.

"I'm grateful to Attorney General [Daniel] Cameron's team in their excellent efforts in handling the appeal of this case," Dalton added. "This was a terrible set of facts and my heart goes out to the friends and family of Mr. Martinez who endured such a horrible end.... I hope the verdict and this appeal brings some closure to this matter."

Mesa-Vasquez, or Cabrera as he is listed with the Kentucky Department of Corrections, is serving his sentence at Northpoint Training Center near Danville. DOC records indicate he will be eligible for parole in February 2038.