Pro-Life News

Defense Rests In Noriega Trial Penalty Phase

James Manuel Noriega's defense rested its case during the penalty phase of the capital triple-murder trial on Monday, soon after the convicted man's mother begged jurors to spare his life. Noriega was convicted on June 10 of first-degree murder in the July 2001 deaths of his pregnant girlfriend, Kathleen Martinez, 20, and her 2-year-old daughter, Savannah Zamora, inside a room at Santa Maria's Palms Motel. The jury also found him guilty of a third murder - a special allegation of termination of a pregnancy - in the death of Martinez' fetus. The multiple-murder convictions make death a possible sentence. Posted by Editor at June 28, 2005 08:16 AM