Driver recalls road rage shooting

Neither prosecutor Sean Gallagher nor defense attorneys Mara Feiger and Myra Weiher dispute the fatal bullet was fired from the SUV carrying the defendants. However, nobody can agree who fired that bullet.

Gardner spent the hours before he died in San Jose with three friends. There was no drinking, drugs or anything questionable, Gallagher said during his opening statements.

"You'll learn that these were good kids just doing what young people do," Gallagher told the jury.

The same night in San Francisco, Sedeno and Navarro attended a surprise 21st birthday party for another friend where the beer and vodka were free-flowing, Gallagher said.

In the early hours of the morning, they piled into Sedeno's Chevy Tahoe with Richard Sedillo and — according to Feiger — Lois Buenaflor. Sedillo will testify he asked for a ride home because he was too drunk but that Sedeno drove aimlessly until he ended up on Interstate 380.

At the same time, Gardner slept in the passenger seat of his friend Alex Sheuh's Infiniti as he and another car of friends merged onto Interstate 380. Gardner was known to be a heavy sleeper and not even Sheuh's loud music kept him from drifting off.

The Tahoe was speeding erratically all over the road, straddling lanes and blocking Sheuh. He passed the SUV on the left and honked to ensure the driver didn't hit him.

It was "something that's done every day," Gallagher said.

Road rage escalates

What happened next is not an everyday occurrence — two bullets slammed into the Acura driven by Gardner's other friend and two hit the Infiniti. At first, Sheuh said he thought a bottle struck the driver's door when he felt the pressure of the door against his leg. Another bullet shattered the back windshield, traveled through the passenger headrest and into the lower back of Gardner's head. Sheuh yelled at Gardner to wake up but he didn't move. He pulled to the side of the road for help from the others.

"I said that Ray had been shot and he's bleeding real bad and we need to go to the hospital," Sheuh testified.

The friends took Gardner to Kaiser Medical Center in South San Francisco where he was pronounced dead hours later. Sheuh and the two other witnesses told California Highway Patrol officers about the SUV and recalled seeing at least two people inside. They said an arm with a black sleeve extended out the window with a handgun.

As Gardner's friends sped him to the hospital, the men in the SUV drove to Sedeno's apartment, Gallagher said. Sedeno tossed his gun in the closet but Navarro reloaded from a bag of ammunition, he added. The three men then headed to Denny's in Daly City. After an officer spotted them, Sedeno drove the others at speeds reaching upwards of 100 mph throughout the Bay Area.

After running out of gas in San Francisco, all three were arrested but Sedillo agreed to speak with police. He told them he was not involved in the shooting and asked for relocation through the witness protection program for himself, his girlfriend and newborn daughter.

Sedillo told police Sedeno had stretched an arm across his face to shoot a gun out the window, "cackling like it was fun or it was nothing," Gallagher said. During the chase, Sedillo said, he screamed he wanted out of the car. Meanwhile, Sedeno reportedly phoned another friend to ask that he go to the apartment and "clean out the rest of my sh—."

Who is on trial?

Feiger and Weiher, though, spent most of their opening statements yesterday putting Sedillo on trial. They each pointed out he was the only passenger in the SUV wearing black when arrested. They also told jurors that forensic science cannot rule out that only one gun was fired.

"The evidence will conclude that Mr. Sedillo is a liar ... The person who fired the shot was wearing black. The person who fired the shot was in the front passenger seat. That person was Mr. Sedillo by his own admission .... he's the one who did it," Weiher said.

Weiher also pointed out that a week before the shooting, Sedillo hit the girlfriend for whom he professed to have so much concern.

Feiger took her denouncement of Sedillo one step further, consistently referring to him as "the paid witness" because of the protection program and arguing his cooperation is not a sign of innocence.

One large piece police missed, according to Feiger, is Buenaflor, who is expected to testify Sedillo and Navarro fired the gun.

Prior to opening statements, Judge Joseph Bergeron denied a motion to tell jurors Sedillo also attempted to rape her earlier that night with the same gun she claims he fired.

Feiger admitted to jurors her client has a long criminal history but insisted that doesn't make him guilty in Gardner's death.

"Mr. Sedeno is not an angel and he did run from the police ... He's guilty of that crime, no question about it. But did he murder anybody? No way. Did he aide and abet the murderer? Not a chance. He's not guilty of all of those crimes," Feiger said.

About a dozen of Gardner's family filled the galley, craning their necks for their first glance at the 12 jurors and four alternates. Gardner's mother, Karen, audibly caught her breath when Gallagher described the fatal wound while the defendants' mothers sat stoically behind the defense table.

Gardner's family considered wearing pins honoring Raymond but were told the accessories were not allowed in front of jurors, said his aunt Pam Sneed.

Sedeno, in a light gray suit, and Navarro, in a dark jacket, watched attentively during the defense opening statements but stared straight ahead while Bergeron instructed the jury on the nature of the murder, attempted murder, weapons, great bodily injury and evading police charges. Sedeno, on felony probation, is also charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm. If convicted, each defendant faces roughly 90 years to life in prison.

Navarro and Sedeno remain in custody on no-bail status. The prosecution continues its case this morning in the estimated four-week trial.

Michelle Durand can be reached by e-mail: michelle@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 104. What do you think of this story? Send a letter to the editor: letters@smdailyjournal.com.