DA: No death for teen's killer

Prosecutors will not seek the death penalty for the man they say helped ambush a Daly City teenager in 2001 and photographed the boy’s body after his friend fatally stabbed him repeatedly.

The prosecution is expected to officially inform the court of its decision this morning at the Superior Court arraignment of Reynaldo Maldanado.

"We don’t ask for the death penalty in every case where we could,” said prosecutor Al Giannini. "After careful consideration, Mr. Maldanado’s case did not meet our criteria for a capital case.”

The criteria includes a defendant’s history, the crime and the likelihood jurors will opt for a death verdict rather than life in prison without parole.

Giannini said reaching the capital decision quickly was important to avoid incurring the greater costs associated with a death penalty case, such as more extensive investigation in Maldanado’s life in Guatemala and the addition of another court-appointed attorney to his defense team.

The decision was no surprise for defense attorney Paul DeMeester who said he never expected the District Attorney’s Office to deem the case capital and reiterated his client was not the main culprit.

Maldanado, 28, originally faced only a murder charge after his arrest last fall in the death of 15-year-old Quetzalcoatl Alba but Giannini asked a judge following the preliminary hearing to add the special allegation of lying in wait.

"It became clear that Mr. Maldanado not only helped kill this boy but waited in ambush to do it,” Giannini said.

Maldanado did avoid an extra charge for allegedly trying to escape from investigators Oct. 20 after being extradited from Florida by jumping from a railing at San Francisco International Airport. He fell 25 feet to the ground below and required surgery.

Authorities located Maldanado in Florida after his friend Mario Cajina contacted police.

Cajina testified at the preliminary hearing Maldanado confessed to his role in the killing and recalled the Alba’s cow-like grunts while dying. Maldanado said he and friend Erick Morales asked Alba to meet them at a vacant house which turned out to be a storage room at the Westlake Apartments in Daly City.

Maldanado, according to Cajina, held Alba while Morales stabbed him and later took a photograph which he kept. Prosecutors have the photo which they introduced in court during the hearing.

Alba’s body was discovered May 21, 2001 but the case grew cold after the suspects disappeared. When Cajina contacted police, he said Maldanado claimed the bloody clothes and knife used in the murder were buried in Morales’ backyard. Authorities did locate the items.

Although Cajina’s testimony provided the crux of the prosecution case at the preliminary hearing, DeMeester believes he embellished his story, possibly to qualify for reward money.

"Mario Cajina does not have a great credibility record from the people I talk to,” DeMeester said.

DeMeester expects to set a trial date this morning although it could easily move based on factors such as forensics testing or the appearance of alleged accomplice Morales.

"We’ve sort of lit a fire under this thing from the beginning so I expect to continue that although things could change,” DeMeester said.

Morales, now 23, remains at large while Maldanado is in custody on no-bail status.

Maldanado’s case is the latest in a string of potential capital cases in which District Attorney Jim Fox opted not to seek the death penalty. In December, Fox declined to pursue the option for Joseph Cua, accused of murdering a Millbrae couple who employed him as a property manager. Last year, Fox also voted against the death penalty for Kenneth Watson, scheduled to begin trial Jan. 14 for the 2002 murder of a Millbrae man.

The office last sought the death penalty in July 2003 for Seti Christopher Scanlan, charged with murdering a Burlingame bank manager during a takeover robbery. Scanlan was convicted but sentenced to life in prison without parole. Scott Peterson was convicted of murdering his wife and her unborn fetus and sentenced to death in 2004 though his trial originated from Stanislaus County.

Michelle Durand can be reached by e-mail: michelle@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 102.