Court upholds murder conviction

Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2004 | 9:05 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The Nevada Supreme Court on Monday upheld the first-degree murder conviction of a Las Vegas man who claimed there was no independent evidence to find him guilty of a drive-by shooting.

Erwin U. Huerta was sentenced to consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole for the March 2000 fatal shooting of Antonio Ramos in Las Vegas.

The shooting grew out of a feud that involved two women, Jennifer Herrera and Sandra Morfin, according to court records. Morfin was a Ramos' girlfriend and Herrera was Ramos' cousin.

Herrera got some of her girlfriends and Huerta together and drove to Morfin's home planning to beat her up, according to court records. When Ramos emerged from the home, Huerta pulled out a small caliber weapon and shot him, the records say.

The five women in the car said they intended to go to the home only to beat up Morfin and possibly vandalize her home or Ramos' car. Three of the women said they saw Huerta brandishing a gun prior to the shooting. But all five said they did not know Huerta brought a gun with him.

The testimony from the women was the only testimony connecting Huerta to the murder.

Huerta argued the women should be considered uncharged accomplices and that the law requires independent evidence to back up their story. He said District Judge Valorie Vega should have issued an advisory verdict of acquittal instruction.

The Supreme Court said three of the women could be classified as accomplices because they saw the gun beforehand. The other two women were not accomplices under the law because they learned of the existence of the gun only two or three minutes before the shooting, the court said.

Because the two were not accomplices, that was the corroborating evidence, the court ruled.