LV gang member cries at acquittal

Bill Gang

Wednesday, Aug. 28, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

Although Allan Marquez was such a hard-core gang member that he had the name of his gang tattooed in 4-inch letters across his back, he sobbed uncontrollably in court.

Of course, he had good reason. He had just been acquitted of charges that he was the driver of a vehicle involved in a drive-by shooting a year and a half ago that left a girl with a bullet in her leg.

The two shooters, Frankie Rodriguez Falcon and Eduardo Farinas, both 18, already are in prison serving 20-year terms.

Marquez told police that while he was the driver, he had no idea what the others were planning when they instructed him to follow a car carrying a person they said they knew. The gunfire erupted after the car pulled into a driveway off Ann Road in northwest Las Vegas.

Although six people were standing in front of the house on Feb. 28, 1995, only a 17-year-old girl was hit by one of the nine shots.

With tears streaming down his face Tuesday, the 22-year-old defendant thanked the jurors as they filed from District Judge Sally Loehrer's courtroom after the verdict.

Marquez's girlfriend and a few other friends and family also cried with joy at the acquittal to six counts of attempted murder and one count of conspiracy.

Loehrer smiled at Marquez after the jury left and told him, "This is as close as you're ever going to come (without being convicted)."

"You better take your girlfriend's advice from now on and not let anybody into your car with a gun," the judge said, referring to the testimony that his girlfriend would search his car for guns before allowing him to drive off with his friends.

Marquez, who was represented by defense attorney Dan Albregts, nodded.

Although the jury found there was reasonable doubt in the case, that may not have been true if they had known that Marquez had faced charges of being the driver in a North Las Vegas drive-by shooting just two weeks before the Las Vegas case.

But Loehrer ruled that details of the North Las Vegas incident -- in which he was named as the driver by two accomplices -- were not admissible in court, according to Deputy District Attorney Victoria Villegas.

The prosecutor said she finally dismissed the charges because of the inadequate evidence.

The guns captured after arrests in the Las Vegas shooting were connected to the North Las Vegas drive-by and to a home burglary that involved gunfire, although Marquez was not suspected in that crime.

After 18 months behind bars awaiting trial, Marquez left the courtroom Tuesday for the first time without the belly chains and shackles of a prisoner.

He was processed out of jail a couple of hours later.