"Trini" with his family (Special to The Press-Enterprise)
On Jan. 13, 'Trini' Rodriguez was riding in a car with a man he had just met, returning home from a night at San Manuel Indian Bingo and Casino. According to witnesses, the 31-year-old Redlands man made a pass at a woman in the car, enraging the driver, Lynell Page.
When the group arrived at Page's San Bernardino apartment sometime near 2 a.m., prosecutors allege that the two men began fighting, prompting Page to run up the stairs to his apartment and return with a large hunting knife. Rodriguez was stabbed once in the chest, and left along the side of the road.
Page was soon arrested and charged with murder. But at his preliminary hearing last week, a San Bernardino County Superior Court judge held him for trial on the reduced charge of voluntary manslaughter. The maximum penalty for that charge -- including the special allegations that Page used a knife and had a prior felony conviction -- is 27 years.
Rodriguez's family immediately protested. His sister, Lisa Rodriguez, sent me a letter titled "My Dead Brother Can't Speak!" It read, in part:
"It seems to me that our justice system is saying it's OK to play God and kill people rather than let the law take care of it ... the way I see it, my brother may have been intoxicated and maybe even mouthy but did not deserve to die."
Prosecutors also expressed disappointment with the reduced charge, and on Wednesday, decided to go ahead and continue to pursue the murder charge against Page. The 31-year-old defendant pleaded not guilty and will next appear in court on April 17.
Deputy District Attorney Alex Martinez says that he anticpates the defense will file a motion to again get the charge reduced, but added that he feels strongly the evidence supports a murder charge.
Stay tuned for more on this case, both on the blog and in The Press-Enterprise.
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