On the first day of the second Stearns Wharf murder trial on Monday, attorneys attempted to paint the shooting as the result of a reckless shootout or the tragic result of someone trying to defend their life.
The retrial for the Santa Barbara man accused of shooting a Camarillo man in December 2022 began with attorneys for the prosecution and the defense delivering their opening statements to the jury in Santa Barbara County Superior Court.
The defendant in the case is Jiram Tenorio Ramon, 26, who is accused of killing bystander Robert Gutierrez when Ramon fired a gun during an alleged gang-related incident.
It’s the second jury trial for the case. The first trial started in July 2025 and ended in a mistrial after jurors were not able to reach a verdict.
A criminal verdict requires juries to vote unanimously, but Santa Barbara County District Attorney John Savrnoch said the panel was deadlocked at 11-1 in favor of a guilty verdict.
Prosecutors allege that the 2022 shooting occurred after Tenorio Ramon exchanged gunfire with a group of minors from Ventura in what Senior Deputy District Attorney Tate McCallister described as a “wild west shootout.”
McCallister described the consequences of that night as the result of violent choices made by Tenorio Ramon.
“Consequences Robert Gutierrez was forced to take responsibility for,” McCallister said during opening statements Monday.
McCallister alleged that Tenorio Ramon’s actions were a result of his efforts to prove himself to the Westside Santa Barbara gang and eventually help him join.
He claimed that Tenorio Ramon instigated the event and confronted the group of Ventura minors because he thought they were gang-affiliated. Tenorio Ramon allegedly exited a vehicle to confront the group.
According to witness testimony from the previous trial, Tenorio Ramon was at the pier on the night of the shooting with three friends in a car. McCallister argued that one of the people in the car flashed a gang sign at the group walking along the pier toward the street.
The car was leaving the wharf and had entered the roundabout near East Cabrillo Boulevard when Tenorio Ramon told the driver to pull over, according to previous testimony.
McCallister stated that both groups in the altercation had guns and exchanged shots with each other, during which Tenorio Ramon hid behind a palm tree near the pier’s entrance.
During the shootout, Gutierrez was shot in the back, and the bullet ricocheted in his body.
Gutierrez, 52, was visiting Santa Barbara with his wife for their 20th wedding anniversary at the time of the shooting. He was an administrator for an assisted-living facility in Camarillo and had two daughters.
His wife, Gerallie Gutierrez, testified on Monday that she was with her husband on the night of the shooting. The pair were staying at the Harbor View Inn and walked over to the pier to visit the restaurants.
Before the shooting began, she described the wharf as “eerily empty” and said that she and her husband walked by a group of young people shortly before the shooting.
When the shooting began, Gerallie Gutierrez described what she thought were “firecrackers.” She said that shortly after the noises began, her husband fell to the ground.
In his opening remarks, McCallister said he would use testimony from the other passengers in the car, evidence from social media, and video evidence to place Tenorio Ramon at the scene and establish his motives for the shooting.
McCallister also argued that even if Tenorio Ramon did not mean to shoot or kill Gutierrez, he is still responsible for Gutierrez’s death.
Deputy Public Defender George Steele, who represents Tenorio Ramon, argued that despite name-calling and the use of “gangster,” the case was about “self-preservation” in an altercation that lasted a matter of seconds.
“(He) simply defended himself in an unfortunate situation,” Steele told the jury during his opening statements.
Steele also argued that there is no evidence that Tenorio Ramon is a member of any gang.
Tenorio Ramon is being held without bail in the Santa Barbara County Jail. The trial is scheduled to continue this week.
