Standing tall before the judge in his pea-colored suit, his hands nestled inside his pockets, Latin King leader Jose Negrete told the court Wednesday he would not testify in his fourth murder trial.
“I’m going to let him run the show,” said Negrete, referring to his attorney, Jack Furlong. Furlong advised his client against taking the stand.
And with that, summations begin Thursday afternoon, and the jury will begin deliberating next week whether Negrete ordered the August 2004 murder of gang “queen” Jeri Lynn Dotson and botched murder attempt on gang turncoat Alex Ruiz.
Negrete testified at past trials but said he arrived at his decision not to testify this time around after consulting with Furlong. Moments before Negrete announced his decision, Furlong playfully threatened to sic his client’s mother on him if he changed his mind.
Prosecutors rested their case after calling the last of two detectives to the stand to testify about phone records that showed a series of calls were made from Dotson’s cell phone to that of Negrete in the hours before she was killed.
Furlong pointed out on cross examination the phone records do not prove Dotson made the phone calls and someone could have had access to and used her phone. The phone records also revealed several phone calls Dotson’s phone to one linked to Fernando Rivera, the former leader of the Netas.
Early on, police focused on Rivera as a possible suspect because he had dated Dotson. But surveillance footage showed Rivera was at work at the time of the murder, according to testimony.
Earlier in the day, retired Trenton Police Detective Sgt. Albert DiNatale said Negrete and several other Latin Kings showed up at police headquarters sometime after Dotson’s death demanding answers about the case.
Witnesses have testified Negrete was charismatic and knew how to play to his audience while concealing his real motive.
For example, he gave a speech at Dotson’s funeral saying it was his mission to find Dotson’s killer. This was after he referred to the gang queen as a “snitch” while standing over her casket.
DiNatale recalled speaking to Negrete after he was arrested in February 2005 and asking him about the attempt on Ruiz. Negrete acknowledged he had ordered Ruiz turned over to the Netas to quash an ongoing gang dispute between the rival factions.
But when DiNatale asked if he knew what happened to Ruiz, Negrete shrugged his shoulders.
Negrete is hoping for a better outcome this time around. His first trial in 2008 ended in a hung jury. One was scrapped following jury selection while another resulted in a conviction that led to a 80-year sentence which was later overturned because of jury misconduct.