Estimated read time: 5-6 minutes
SALT LAKE CITY — Brooke Martinez stood at the front of a Salt Lake City courtroom on Wednesday for a second time to talk about the loss of her husband, Cesar Adan Martinez, who was killed and pushed out of a car on Bangerter Highway.
"This death has impacted my life in a way that nobody can truly understand unless they've lost the love of their life to a brutal murder," she said.
She said her husband is not just a headline, number or victim — but a father, husband, son, brother, veteran and friend. She said multiple people have told her since Cesar Martinez's death that he was their best friend.
She said if the men who robbed and killed him had just asked for money or for his truck, he would have given them to him.
"He didn't need to die over an old truck and some cash," she said.
Two different sentences
Although they pleaded guilty to different crimes, Brooke Martinez said Raul Jaimes Cortez, the man sentenced on Wednesday who was driving the truck, is just as guilty as Mario Alberto Carreto-Morales, who pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to at least 30 years and up to life in prison earlier this year.
"Fear is not an excuse," she said. "He's just as guilty as the defendant who pushed Cesar out of the truck."
Third District Judge Patrick Corum sentenced Cortez, 33, to one to 15 years in prison for manslaughter, a second-degree felony, and five years to life in prison for aggravated robbery, a first-degree felony.
Corum said he understands Carreto-Morales was "the primary bad actor" and that Cortez is remorseful, but he said those factors were considered in the plea agreement. He said the sentences will run consecutively because there is a different victim for each charge, meaning he will spend at least six years in prison.
Carreto-Morales pleaded guilty to murder and aggravated robbery, both first-degree felonies, and was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison for each count.
On Feb. 26, 2022, about 2:40 a.m., while on Bangerter Highway, Carreto-Morales attempted to place a metal wire around Martinez's neck and then stabbed Martinez three times from the back seat. When Martinez opened the door to escape, Carreto-Morales pushed him out, charges state. The charges said this was a planned robbery.
On March 13, 2022, a man reported he was forced to drive to an ATM and withdraw money by Carreto-Morales and Cortez in Park City. This report helped connect the two men to the killing.
'I do need to pay'
Cortez shared a message in Spanish that was translated into English before his sentence was given. He apologized to the victim's family and said he understands he is guilty because he didn't do anything to stop it or go to police. He said he let fear consume him.
"I'm here ready to face your decision. I feel that I am guilty. I feel that I do need to pay for my mistake. I fully recognize that it was my responsibility to report this to police and say what happened," he said.
Attorneys said Cortez was driving the truck when Carreto-Morales attacked Cesar Martinez from behind, eventually killing him and pushing his body out of the truck.
Katherine Conyers, Cortez's attorney, said in her conversations with him he has shown he is genuinely remorseful. She asked the judge to sentence him to two years in jail, one for each of the charges, before he is released and deported due to his immigration status.
"Every day, Raul lives with the knowledge that he acted in ignorance and fear rather than stopping to offer whatever aid he could when another person, Mario, stabbed Cesar," she said.
She said at the time he believed he wasn't responsible since he didn't commit the crimes himself, but he understands that now.
"He's genuinely remorseful, and he takes accountability for his actions," she said.
She said Cortez was in shock after the murder and did not know what to do.
"Raul kept driving because he was scared about how Mario was behaving … and what he might do," she said.
Conyers said regarding the aggravated robbery weeks later, Cortez did not think he could refuse. She said when Carreto-Morales told Cortez it was his responsibility to take the life of the man they had robbed, he took advantage of it being a public area and left.
Prosecutor says prison is appropriate
Deputy Salt Lake County attorney Jennifer Zeleny, however, said she may have sympathy for someone who acted in fear at that time but said Cortez did not talk to police over the next 18 days between then and when the two went to Park City in the victim's truck and tried to take money from someone else.
She asked for the prison sentence given by the judge. She said although Cortez gave information about the killing after he was arrested, and that his information was corroborated, ultimately he went along with what happened.
Zeleny said he was committing a felony, the robbery, and it involved a death, which means it is a murder, but his role was considered in the plea deal that reduced the charge to a manslaughter.
"I just don't think it's appropriate to ask for anything but prison," she said.
She said during the preliminary hearing in the case, Cortez was "visibly upset" when the photos of Cesar Martinez's body were shown, whereas Carreto-Morales did not react. She said Carreto-Morales looked "smug" and only reacted when his knife was shown, with a look described by the detective who was testifying as, "Oh crap, they got me."
