A man accused of murdering two California sheriff deputies wasn’t denying anything when he was in court on Tuesday. Luis Bracamontes, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, is at trial for allegedly killing Sacramento County Sheriff’s Deputy Danny Oliver and Placer County Sheriff’s Deputy Michael Davis Jr. in October 2014. Bracamontes’ own attorney admitted that his client did it, telling the jury, “He shot them both,” preferring to focus on mitigating evidence that could help Bracamontes avoid the death penalty, according to the Sacramento Bee.
Bracamontes didn’t help his case, though, when he interrupted the proceeding by basically bragging about the killings, only offering regret that the violence stopped when it did.
As prosecutor Rod Norgaard was describing the allegations to the jury, Bracamontes laughed, saying, “I don’t fucking regret that shit. Only thing I fucking regret is that I fucking just killed two. I wish I fucking killed more of those motherfuckers.”
“I will break out soon and I will kill more, kill whoever gets in front of me … There’s no need for a f—— trial.”
The jury was immediately excused. Before they came back, Bracamontes’ lawyer asked the court to reconsider whether his client was fit to stand trial.
“We believe these outbursts and the inappropriate laughter are part of the mental illness that we talked about earlier,” attorney Jeffrey Barbour, argued. The court had previously considered Bracamontes’ sanity and ruled that he is competent for trial.
Judge Steve White wasn’t swayed by Bracamontes’ rant, but he did issue a warning, saying, “You will not speak out. If you do, you will be removed from the courtroom.”
In addition to killing the two deputies, Bracamontes is accused of injuring a third deputy and shooting a motorist in the head. He will get the death penalty or life in prison if the jury convicts him. One point that his legal team will argue is that a blood test after his arrest showed that Bracamontes had methamphetamine in his system. The drug could have made him paranoid.
Bracamontes’ wife, Janelle Monroy, is also facing life in prison for assisting her husband.
[Image via Sacramento Bee screengrab]
