Video of Rochester parking lot shooting doesn't show intent, attorney says

May 13—ROCHESTER — The attorney representing a Rochester man accused of fatally shooting a man in an alleged road rage incident argued in court Monday the evidence doesn't show the shooting was intentional.

Isaac Gutierrez, 20, faces multiple charges including intentional murder in the shooting death of Osbel Ornelas, 24, in the Chick-Fil-A parking lot on South Broadway in Rochester Feb. 3, 2024.

In an omnibus hearing Monday, May 13, 2024, Eric Newmark asked the court to dismiss one of the charges on the grounds the state can't prove Gutierrez acted intentionally.

Gutierrez is charged with one count of second-degree murder with intent; a count of second-degree murder, without intent and one count of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon.

In response, prosecutors introduced four videos of the incident. One was from parking lot surveillance cameras and three videos were taken by bystanders. Lt. Alex Kendrick, a detective with the Rochester Police Department walked the court through the videos and still frames of the incident. Members of Ornelas' family, who were present for the proceeding, left the courtroom while the videos played.

The video shows Gutierrez's brother, Jose Gutierrez Ojeda, who was driving a silver 2013 Nissan Frontier, backing toward a parking spot into the path of a Ornelas, who was driving a 2008 silver Chevy Suburban. A fight starts between Ojeda, who is the first to exit a vehicle, Ornelas and a passenger in Ornelas' vehicle. A few seconds into the fight, Gutierrez is seen entering the fray carrying a firearm and pointing it toward the sky before leveling the weapon, firing and hitting Ornelas with a single round in the head, the video showed.

Newmark said the video doesn't clearly show an intentional act.

"At best, the video is ambiguous," he said.

Newmark argued Gutierrez was brandishing the weapon to use it to strike someone with it and not to fire it.

"If he's using the firearm to strike, it's not intentional murder," Newmark said.

Newmark entered not guilty pleas to the other charges on Gutierrez's behalf along with a provisional not guilty plea to murder with intent. Newmark also demanded a speedy trial in the case.

Olmsted County District Court Judge Lisa Hayne said she will take the motion to dismiss under advisement and issue a written ruling. A pretrial hearing before the jury trial is scheduled for July 12.