Tucson man faces prosecutor's questions in his 4th manslaughter trial

By Barbara Grijalva

TUCSON, AZ (KOLD) - Closing statements could come Tuesday in the fourth manslaughter trial of Tucsonan Daniel Renteria.

He says he killed James Marschinke and and Richard Rue, Jr. last year, in self defense.

Three previous juries have deadlocked in his case.

Friday was the second day Renteria was on the stand in his own defense.

The first day, his own lawyer questioned him.

Friday it was the prosecutor's turn. 

Prosecutor Mark Diebolt: "Well, let me ask you this. The gunshots don't just go off. You're pointing a gun and pulling the trigger?"

Renteria: "Correct."

Diebolt: "And you're aiming to kill a human being?"

Renteria: Correct.

Diebolt: "And then each of these individuals gets a kill shot to the head?"

Renteria: "Correct."

Renteria says Rue threatened to kill him and his three-year-old son if they told anyone that Marschinke had raped the child.

Prosecutor Mark Diebolt asked several times why Renteria did not go to the police.

Renteria: "If I opened my mouth, they were going to kill me. Don't you understand? So, if they didn't go to jail they were going to attack. Don't you get that?"

Diebolt: "I get it. I get it really clear."

But, Diebolt has said Renteria should not have taken matters into his own hands.

Renteria claims on the day of the killings in March 2010, he had wanted only to speak to the two men, to tell them to leave his family alone.

He was armed.

Renteria claims the two came at him, and he began firing.

He testified he had no control, that emotions and instinct took over.

Diebolt asked what Rue did to deserve to die.

Diebolt: "Did you kill him?

Renteria: "Yes, I did."

Diebolt: "You killed an unarmed man, right?"

Renteria: "Yes, I did."

Diebolt: "So what did he do to deserve to die?"

Renteria: "I'm not saying he deserved to die. I'm not saying he deserved to die or whatever. It's not my decision. It just happened that way."

Again, Renteria said he did not intend to kill the men.

Diebolt questioned that, telling Renteria, "No one survived your attack. No one survived. You made sure of that."

Renteria: "I survived."

Diebolt: "You made sure..."

Renteria: "My son survived."

Diebolt: "You made sure of that, right?"

Renteria: "Yes, I did."

The jury could get the case as early as next Tuesday.

Copyright 2011 KOLD. All rights reserved

Tucson father takes stand in his own defense in manslaughter trial

By Barbara Grijalva KOLD NEWS 13

TUCSON, AZ (KOLD) - A Tucson man has testified in his own defense in his manslaughter trial.

This is the fourth trial for Daniel Renteria.

He's charged with manslaughter in the March 2010 deaths of James Marschinke and Richard Rue, Jr.

As Renteria sat on the stand, his attorney, Natasha Wrae, had him methodically go through the events that led up to the killings.

Renteria testified the he suspected Marschinke had repeatedly raped Renteria's three-year-old son.

He described a phone call from Rue in which, he said, Rue threatened to kill Renteria and his son if they told anyone.

Renteria said he had a gun when he went to confront the men and tell them to leave his family alone, but that they approached him in his car.

"They became close to the window and it was just too much. I think by instinct I just reacted, and I opened fire. And I shot James Marschinke in the chest, and Richard Rue was right behind him. And he kind of turned out of the way and that's when he was wounded in the back. I think at that moment I must have...I think I freaking lost it.  I had no control over how I felt at that moment," Renteria testified. 

Renteria would get out of his car and fire several more times.

Both Rue and Marschinke had multiple gunshot wounds.

Renteria did not take the stand in his first two trials.

He did during his third, and now his fourth. 

The juries deadlocked in the first three trials.