Prosecution Appeal Denied in Rochester Murder Sentencing Case
St. Paul, MN (KROC-AM News) - A challenge to the sentence imposed in a Rochester murder case has been denied by the Minnesota Court of Appeals.
The Olmsted County Attorney’s Office filed the appeal after an Olmsted County judge sentenced 22-year-old Isaac Gutierrez to five years in prison for a deadly shooting in the parking lot next to the Chick-fil-A restaurant at the Crossroads Shopping Center in January of last year. He was convicted of second-degree unintentional murder for the death of 24-year-old Osbel Ornelas.
The sentence was significantly shorter than the prison terms recommended by state sentencing guidelines. The recommendations for a second-degree murder conviction range from just over 10 years to 15 years in prison, with a presumptive sentence of 12½ years.
READ MORE: Five Year Prison Sentence For Murder of Rochester Man
Gutierrez was arrested after he called 911 and reported that someone had been shot. Evidence presented at his trial showed that he shot Ornelas in the back of the head while the victim was fighting with Gutierrez’s older brother in a dispute over a parking space. Gutierrez testified that he did not know the gun was loaded, and that he only meant to strike the victim with the weapon, not fire it.
In its ruling, the Minnesota Court of Appeals rejected the prosecution’s claim that the judge abused discretion by imposing the lenient sentence. The ruling notes that the judge determined “the circumstances of Gutierrez’s crime were less onerous than typical,” pointing out that Gutierrez did not flee law enforcement and was cooperative, even calling or attempting to call 911.
The Court of Appeals also indicated that before sentencing, the judge obtained a statewide data report and reviewed every second-degree unintentional murder case in Olmsted County over the past 23 years to determine what constitutes a “typical” case.
Gutierrez’s older brother, 28-year-old José Gutierrez Ojeda, was convicted of aiding an offender for his involvement in the crime. He entered a guilty plea to the charge in exchange for the dismissal of three other counts: second-degree assault, terroristic threats, and another aiding-an-offender charge.
He was recently sentenced to five years on probation, with a stayed 75-month prison term.
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Gallery Credit: Samm Adams
