Long road to justice for Martel family ends

Amu "Billy" Wynn, 28, the last of four men arrested in the Oct. 11, 2002 death of Alice Martel, 34, and a slew of other crimes was formally convicted. After waiving his right to a jury trial at the end of last week, Wynn was found guilty yesterday of every charge, including first-degree murder, and will receive a sentence for 40 years to life in prison.

"I'm glad I don't have to relive it. I am glad I don't have to make it real to a jury again the evil that was done by that crew that day," Martel said.

Judge Mark Forcum, who has overseen all but one of the associated trials, noted the "overwhelming evidence" from the preliminary hearing and pre-trial motion transcripts. He also hoped aloud that any future parole board never finds Wynn fit for release.

The final conviction doesn't bring back Alice Martel, restore full mobility to a wounded co-worker nor return the sense of well-being to bank employees who sat through two trials and who all but one moved on to other jobs. The only thing yesterday brought, at least for the Millbrae father of two, was a crumb of justice - justice he said last summer he wasn't sure he'd get when confessed gang ringleader Seti Christopher Scanlan avoided a death sentence, when the other four men in the "robbery crew" initially pleaded not guilty and definitely not that Friday afternoon in October when he received the call his wife was being transported to Stanford Medical Center with a life-threatening shot to the abdomen.

Crime to conviction

By judicial standards, the road from crime to conviction for all men was relatively short. Scanlan surrendered, confessed and faced a jury in less than two years. Accomplice Sikai Telea was convicted May 31 of the same crimes and is awaiting sentencing. Three others - including Semisi Umufuke who was not at the bank robbery - truncated the process by ultimately making plea bargains.

But, for Martel and every other person touched by the group's crimes, the last years have been sluggish and marked with changes. The Martel children, then 4 and 2 and a half years old, are no longer toddlers and have entered school in the time it took to bring their mom's killers to prison. Alice Martel's parents returned to China and David Martel's family remains in Kentucky. A memorial plaque now sits at Wells Fargo Bank on Burlingame Avenue but only one employee from that date remains working at the location. One of Scanlan's defense attorneys was appointed Superior Court judge.

New trial

With every new trial, or advent of trial, the wounds freshened for all involved. Martel only testified in Scanlan's penalty trial, telling jurors about his wife and the unexplainable void her death brought. Bank employees and store clerks terrorized by the crew in other crimes had two bouts of judicial deja vu, climbing into the witness stand to relive those moments. In Telea's trial, jurors never had the opportunity to learn about Alice Martel as a person. Subjective information about victims is only allowed during penalty trials and sentencing hearings and Telea's isn't scheduled until next month.

Similarly, Martel attended Wynn's hearing yesterday but is not allowed to formally address the court until the defendant's sentencing. Yesterday, Forcum set Wynn's sentencing for July 12, in conjunction with Telea. However, Martel plans to be traveling all of the month. Some bank employees do plan to speak at the sentencing, Wagstaffe said.

Regardless, Wynn's fate became sealed when he agreed to avoid a jury trial in exchange for a faint hope of an appeal or eventual parole.

On Friday, after a week of bartering and a prior week of consideration, Wynn agreed to let Forcum convict him on all counts, including first-degree murder, in return for the 40-years-to-life sentence.

Unlike getaway driver Manny Lui who pleaded no contest to a lesser list of charges May 31, Wynn wanted the court to find him guilty instead. Although the difference doesn't lessen his sentence, Wynn is left the right to appeal the verdict. Defendants who plead guilty or no contest forfeit the chance of a new trial.

Prosecutor Steve Wagstaffe had no qualms about giving Wynn the margin; he doubts the man will ever be granted a new trial let alone an acquittal.

"It was a good conclusion and I'm satisfied," Wagstaffe said.

The verdict and pending sentence also makes a difference when Wynn is classified at San Quentin State Prison for the remainder of his term. Those classifications dictates where an inmate resides, what level of security they stay at and how the other inmates tend to treat him or her.

Two sons

While Wynn's decision spells out how he'll spend the rest of his life, Martel is already beyond that point. Once Scanlan received multiple life sentences last June, Martel said he needed to put a lid on that chapter of his life and move forward for the sake of himself and his two young sons. He did, however, appear at the opening and closing of Telea's May trial. Halfway through defense attorney Richard Keyes' opening explanation of his client's innocence, an outwardly emotional Martel stormed from the courtroom.

If Wynn had gambled with a jury trial, the panel would have heard hours of police interviews in which he admitted his participation in both the Burlingame robbery and a pair of commercial robberies in Mountain View three weeks later. Following those heists and a high-speed shoot-out with police, Wynn was arrested in East Palo Alto. He's remained in custody since and will receive prison credit for those nearly three years behind bars.

In motions prior the plea bargain, defense attorney Tom Kelley agreed Wynn incriminated himself to police but argued the admissions only came under duress.

Never fired a shot

According to prosecutors, Wynn never fired a shot at anyone inside the Wells Fargo Bank but did shoot once into the ceiling. Regardless, under California law he is considered just as legally culpable for Martel's death as his cousin, Scanlan. Scanlan admitted firing at Martel as she stood at her office door, then leaving her on the bathroom floor bleeding during the minute-long ordeal.

The group escaped and on Nov. 1, they plus Umufuke simultaneously robbed a Mountain View Carl's Jr. restaurant and mini market. Alerted officers gave chase and during the seven-minute pursuit riddled with gunfire, one officer was shot in the cheek before the defendants' SUV crashed.

The day after Telea and Wynn's sentencing, Lui faces the same. Umufuke is currently serving a seven-year sentence and Scanlan is at Corcoran State Prison.

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