Christian Rivera-Pica and Joel Pagan-Garcia (Photos courtesy: Brown County Jail)
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – A judge rejected the request by two murder suspects who wanted to be tried together. However, with evidence in the case still coming in, their December trials have been postponed.
Christian Rivera-Pica, 41, and Joel Pagan-Garcia, 40, are charged with party to the crime of first-degree intentional homicide for the November 2023 murder of Carlos Otero-Aviles on Green Bay’s west side. Pagan-Garcia was scheduled to stand trial Dec. 1, while Rivera-Pica was scheduled to stand trial Dec. 8.
Both are represented by attorney Heather Richmond, and they requested to be tried together.
Typically, defendants have their own attorneys, as they may have differing defense strategies, offers from prosecutors and the evidence against them may not the same. At a previous hearing, Rivera-Pica and Pagan-Garcia both agreed they would waive the conflict of interest to allow Richmond to represent them both.
Representation was a separate issue from whether they two should be tried together.
Assistant District Attorney Bryant Dorsey said the state is concerned about a joint trial creating issues which could lead to a successful appeal. He described Rivera-Pica as the shooter and Pagan-Garcia as the driver, meaning they have different levels of culpability. Additionally, on Thursday, Dorsey said he planned to call Pagan-Garcia to testify against Rivera-Pica, and would offer him immunity at trial to ensure it happens.
Brown County District Attorney David Lasee said the state has statements from both men which would implicate the other. But Richmond said she does not interpret the evidence the same way, and wants to keep the two together.
Judge Tammy Jo Hock was not convinced the conflict issues could be resolved without prejudicing the case against one or both men.
“At this point, I’m going to deny the request for joinder of these two cases,” she said.
No new trial dates have been set. Additional hearings will be set to review the evidentiary and conflict issues.
Another reason cited for the trials being postponed is there is additional evidence which has yet to be completed, and must be provided to the defense for analysis.
The shooting happened Nov. 3, 2023, in the parking lot of an apartment complex in the 1700 block of Western Avenue. Witnesses said the incident took place during a party. No one else was injured.
Rivera-Pica denied involvement in the shooting to police. He said he was buying beer at the time of the shooting, but police could not confirm the alibi with the stores, according to the criminal complaint. Pagan-Garcia also denied involvement in the shooting.
Otero-Aviles told bystanders “Christian did it,” before he was taken to the hospital.
Phone GPS records placed Rivera-Pica at the shooting scene at the time of the incident, the complaint states. Otero-Aviles was shot in the abdomen, causing his death, according to the autopsy cited in the complaint.
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