A judge on Thursday rejected a motion for re-sentencing filed by one of the two individuals found guilty of the murder of an off-duty Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy in Long Beach over 17 years ago.
In the Long Beach courtroom, Sheriff Robert Luna observed as Superior Court Judge Daniel J. Lowenthal stated that Justin Flint, now 36, was aware that Maria Cecilia Rosa was a peace officer acting in her official capacity when she was fatally shot during an attempted robbery on March 28, 2006.
Sheriff Luna, formerly the deputy chief of the Long Beach Police Department’s investigations bureau, expressed his agreement with the judge’s decision, stating that it was the right one.
The brave deputy, following her training, made a choice to intervene during the attempted robbery outside her residence, which ultimately cost her life,” Luna said.
Flint, charged along with his co-defendant Frank Christopher Gonzalez, was found guilty of first-degree murder and attempted robbery in relation to the 30-year-old victim.
Gonzalez, who admitted to shooting the off-duty deputy, was sentenced to death in May 2008, just weeks after being convicted of first-degree murder and attempted robbery. Jurors also determined that the murder occurred during an attempted robbery and that Gonzalez used a firearm to kill Rosa, who was not in uniform at the time and was preparing to leave for work at the sheriff’s Inmate Reception Center.
A separate jury that presided over Flint’s trial did not find conclusive evidence to support the same allegations, resulting in his sentencing of 29 years to life in state prison in 2008.
Last year, a panel of three justices from California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal overturned retired Judge Gary J. Ferrari’s denial of Flint’s initial petition for re-sentencing. However, the panel also ruled that the prosecution should have the opportunity to prove that Flint was not eligible for re-sentencing under the provisions of a new state law, as he knew or should have known that Rosa was a peace officer carrying out her official duties.
Lowenthal emphasized that the strongest evidence supporting the claim that Flint and Gonzalez were aware of Rosa’s status as a peace officer were the statements they made after the murder. Flint confessed to his best friend that he saw a badge and knew she was a police officer, and Gonzalez admitted during an undercover operation at the jail that he was aware of her role as a peace officer.
Deputy District Attorney Mary Murray informed the judge on Wednesday that Flint had witnessed the entire attack on Rosa. She argued that it was “unreasonable to believe” that Rosa would have identified herself as a law enforcement officer after being shot, citing Gonzalez’s statement to undercover agents that Rosa was “flashing” her badge.
Flint’s attorney, Edmont T. Barrett, countered by claiming that the prosecution’s case relied solely on the assumption that Rosa had displayed her sheriff’s badge and that Flint was close enough to see it. Barrett argued that the badge was discovered inside a shopping bag in the trunk of Rosa’s car and contended that it may not have been taken out of the bag, asserting that there was no evidence besides the badge to indicate that she was a law enforcement officer.
However, the judge asserted his belief that the badge was not inside the bag, but rather on top of it, adding that he believed Rosa followed her training and showed Gonzalez her badge early that morning.
At the conclusion of the hearing, the judge handed over the badge to Rosa’s partner, who was visibly emotional. Flint requested re-sentencing due to a recent change in state law that has resulted in the release of some individuals convicted of murder and other charges.
During earlier proceedings this year, Patrick Connolly, a current judge of the Los Angeles Superior Court who was a former prosecutor in the Flint and Gonzalez case, unsuccessfully attempted to have Judge Lowenthal disqualified from presiding over the hearing.
In a 2010 ruling that upheld Flint’s conviction, a state appeals court panel cited that Flint had sung the lyrics “I shot the sheriff” from the Bob Marley song while in jail.
Flint’s previous appeal contended that the trial court had wrongly prohibited him from presenting testimony to explain his fear of being assaulted by sheriff’s deputies while in jail and from fully explaining why he sang the song, arguing that it demonstrated his intent to defend himself against such an attack.
Last year, the California Supreme Court upheld Gonzalez’s conviction and death sentence. In their 75-page ruling, the court noted that Gonzalez confessed to multiple undercover agents after his arrest on unrelated charges that he had shot a female police officer.
Justice Joshua P. Groban, writing on behalf of the panel, stated, “Gonzalez also disclosed numerous details about the crime, explaining (among other things) that he had left a bicycle at the scene, that he had thrown the murder weapon into the water, and that he had not left any footprints because the crime occurred on pavement.”
The ruling further noted that Gonzalez and Flint were overheard discussing eliminating any witnesses to the murder, with Flint asserting that Rosa would not have been killed if she had handed over her wallet.
