A probationer accused of gunning down a Mecca man outside his home was acquitted today of first- and second-degree murder counts, and jurors were unable to reach a verdict on a voluntary man slaughtercharge.
Gilbert Contreras Martinez Jr., 36, of Coachella, is accused in the 2018 death of 40-year-old Hugo Nunez. Jurors convicted him of being a felon in possession of a loaded firearm.
Martinez is due back in court Friday for a readiness conference ahead of a possible retrial on the manslaughter charge, according to case records and Thalia Hayden of the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office. He was being held without bail at the Benoit Detention Center in Indio.
The prosecution and defense completed closing arguments in the nearly two-week trial Thursday, after which Riverside County Superior Court Judge Otis Sterling sent the jury behind closed doors. The panel deliberated briefly Thursday afternoon and resumed the process on Friday and Monday.
According to a trial brief filed by the District Attorney’s Office, the defendant was romantically involved with a woman whose mother was in a “periodic” relationship with the brother of the victim, a Mecca resident.