A Gaithersburg man linked to the MS-13 gang and convicted of fatally stabbing one man and trying to kill another in 2006 will get a new trial.
Eduardo Escobar Martinez was convicted by a Prince George’s County Circuit Court jury of stabbing two people with a screwdriver in Langley Park and was sentenced to 40 years in prison. At trial, defense attorneys were prohibited from questioning the surviving victim, Santos Lorenzo Mejicanos, about his potential bias and incentive to help prosecutors.
Prosecutors dropped charges related to a stolen vehicle against Mejicanos days before a pre-trial hearing in Martinez’s case. Mejicanos was also jailed during Martinez’s trial on a writ meant to ensure he would testify after missing the first day of the trial.
A judge ruled that the defense couldn’t question Mejicanos about the dismissed charges or his incarceration status. That violated Martinez’s right to confront his accusers, the Maryland Court of Appeals ruled, granting him a new trial.
In an opinion issued Tuesday, the court wrote that “the trial court’s ruling prevented the jury from considering the possibility that Mejicanos had a motive to testify as he did.”
