One Defendant Convicted, One Acquitted, On Murder Charge

By: KVTA News
2009-03-02

A Ventura County jury Monday returned vastly different verdicts for Oxnard men on trial for the stabbing death of a Ventura man 3 years ago. The jury found 36-year-old Peter Rodriguez guilty of second degree murder in the death of 28-year-old John Orrantia of Ventura. But they acquitted Rodriguez' co defendant, 35-year-old Gustavo Tapia of the same murder. The jury did convict Tapia of assault in connection with the beating of Orrantia's brother during the same incident. And the jury acquitted both men on all gang related charges. The case revolved around an incident in which Orrantia got into Tapia's car by mistake after the party because it looked just like his girlfriend's car. Prosecutors had claimed that's when Tapia and Rodriguez, who they described as Oxnard gang members, attacked Orrantia and his brother, leaving Orrantia dead from stab wounds and his brother injured. The jury verdicts were almost a complete victory for Tapia, and the fact that the gang enhancements were not upheld by the jury, was a victory for both men. But Rodriguez still faces 16 years to life in prison when he is sentenced.