The retrial for the fatal shooting of a Camarillo man at Stearns Wharf in 2022 has been scheduled for Dec. 18 in Santa Barbara.
A Superior Court jury did not reach a unanimous verdict during the first murder trial, and the District Attorney’s Office will try the case again.
Jiram Tenorio Ramon, 25, of Santa Barbara, will again face trial for a murder charge in the shooting death of Robert Dion Gutierrez, 52, who was visiting the wharf with his wife on Dec. 9, 2022. Investigators say Gutierrez was a bystander shot during a gang-related fight.
Tenorio Ramon appeared in court on Thursday for a preliminary hearing, during which the new trial date was decided. He is defended by Deputy Public Defender George Steele. Senior Deputy District Attorney Tate McCallister oversees the prosecution.
The first trial began in June and testimony lasted into August. Judge Pauline Maxwell declared a mistrial on Aug. 19 after the jury deadlocked on a verdict. After deliberations, the jury could not reach a unanimous verdict. Jurors had voted 11-1 vote in favor of a guilty verdict for murder, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
Santa Barbara County District Attorney John Savrnoch said at the time that his office would move forward with a retrial.
Tenorio Ramon is accused of killing Gutierrez during a shootout with a group of Ventura teens at Stearns Wharf. The prosecution alleges that Tenorio Ramon is an associate of the Westside Santa Barbara gang and asserts the altercation was gang-related.
Witnesses in the first trial testified that Tenorio Ramon was at Stearns Wharf on the night of the shooting with three friends in the car. The three other men in the car testified they had been drinking and smoking at Painted Cave in the mountains above Santa Barbara and went to Stearns Wharf to drink some more.
The group left because the wharf was too busy, and as Tenorio Ramon and his group were leaving toward Cabrillo Boulevard, the witnesses say they spotted a group of teens they suspected were gang members.
According to the testimony, one of the occupants of the car used their hands to throw up gang signs at the teens.
The other group retaliated with their own hand signs and began whistling.
The witnesses testified that Tenorio Ramon demanded that the driver pull over and exited with a gun that he had shown them earlier that night. Video evidence from the first trial shows that some of the Ventura teens were armed as well and fired at Tenorio Ramon and one of the other people in the car.
During the shooting, Gutierrez was shot and killed as he tried to run away with his wife, Gerallie Gutierrez. The two were celebrating their 20th wedding anniversary and were walking down the wharf to visit the restaurants, according to trial testimony.
In the first trial, McCallister presented evidence to link Tenorio Ramon to the Westside gang. He alleged that Tenorio Ramon was trying to prove himself to the gang, and his actions were meant to advance the gang’s reputation.
The three other Santa Barbara men in the vehicle with Tenorio Ramon were criminally charged related to the shooting, entered pleas for lesser charges, and agreed testify for the prosecution in Tenorio Ramon’s trial.