State of Arizona v. Christopher McCrimmon

Tucson, Arizona defendant Chrisopher McCrimmon, age 20, was charged with unlawful entry, burglary and murder for the June 24, 1992 shooting death of three men at the El Grande Marking in South Tucson.



At 10:15 p.m. on June 24, 1992, police were dispatched to the El Grande Market in response to a 911 call. There, they found the bodies of Fred Gee, Ray Arriola, and Zewan Huang, all employees of the market.3 Gee had been shot in the head and torso with a .25 caliber handgun. Arriola and Huang had been shot in the head with a .38 caliber weapon and in the torso with a .25 caliber weapon.



Shortly thereafter, police found an abandoned car that was parked out of place several blocks from the market. Tire tracks indicated an abrupt stop, and the engine was still warm. Christopher McCrimmon's fingerprint was found on the driver's side window. The car belonged to David Durbin, who had lent it to his girlfriend, Queen E. Ray. The morning after the shootings Ray initially told Durbin it had been impounded for unpaid parking tickets. She told the lead homicide investigator, Tucson Police Detective Joseph Godoy, that she had driven a friend to some apartments, experienced mechanical problems, and abandoned the car. Months later, on the eve of a preliminary hearing for McCrimmon and Andre Minnitt, Godoy confronted Ray about the truthfulness of her statement and told her she would be charged with perjury if she lied on the witness stand. At the hearing, Ray testified that on the night of the market shooting, she had loaned McCrimmon the car in return for money. She said that McCrimmon, Minnitt, and a third person, whom she knew as Martinez, left McCrimmon's apartment with the car around 10:00 p.m. and that about an hour later the three returned without the car. McCrimmon gave Ray $30 and the car keys. During trial, Ray, who had seen pictures of Petitioner on television following his arrest, identified "Martin Soto Fong..." Fong v. Ryan, No. CV 04-68-TUC-DCB (D. Ariz. Aug 05, 2011) as "Martinez."



At the time of the murders, the market was in the process of closing. Two registers had been cleared, leaving only one open. The body of the manager, Fred Gee, was found at the open register at the liquor counter. The register had a $1.69 sale rung up on it, and nearby on the counter were produce bags containing a cucumber and three lemons. Martin Soto Fong's fingerprints were found on each bag. On the floor near Gee's body were two crumpled $1 food stamps, not yet stamped with the market's name. Martin Soto Fong's fingerprints were also found on one of these food stamps. At least $175.52 was missing from the store. Testimony at trial indicated that Gee routinely permitted known customers through the iron security gate after the store's 9:00 closing time.



The investigation took a significant turn on August 31, 1992, when Detective Godoy received a tip from an anonymous caller and obtained information from a confidential informant working with Gang Unit Sergeant Zimmerling. From these sources, Godoy gleaned the name "Martin Soto," along with that of Christopher McCrimmon. A background check revealed that Soto and Fong were the same person. Godoy also learned from the Gee Family that Martin Fong was a former market employee.



Around this same time, Tucson Police Detective Fuller began investigating an August 26, 1992, robbery and non-fatal shooting at Mariano's Pizza. McCrimmon became a potential suspect after forensic evidence linked him to the crime scene. Fuller discovered that Minnitt also may have been involved in the robbery and relayed this information to Godoy on September 1. At that point, McCrimmon was already a suspect for the market murders. With the additional information connecting McCrimmon and Minnitt, Godoy considered Minnitt a possible suspect. Moreover, according to Fuller, McCrimmon and Martin Soto Fong were close friends. On September 2, McCrimmon and Minnitt were arrested for the pizzeria robbery and in the days that followed Godoy tried to locate Fong.



Also in late August, Keith Woods, a close friend of McCrimmon's, was released from prison. On August 30, Tucson police arrested him on drug charges. Because Woods was already a three-time felon, and possessing drugs was a parole violation subjecting him to a possible twenty-five year prison sentence, he agreed to become an informant in exchange for release and dismissal of the drug charges. On September 8, following an initial 30 to 45-minute untaped conversation, Godoy created a ruse to move Woods into a wired room. While being surreptitiously recorded, Woods told Godoy that on the day he was released from prison McCrimmon and Minnitt told him they committed the El Grande murders along with a third person, Cha-Chi, a Mexican guy, who had worked at the market and set up the robbery. Woods also said they told him Cha-Chi went into the store by himself "masked down or whatever," someone rebelled, and Cha-Chi shot them with a .25 caliber gun. McCrimmon and Minnitt then ran in, and the latter shot two of the victims after they were already down. Woods initially denied ever meeting or knowing Cha-Chi but in a later statement to Godoy on November 20 Woods said Cha-Chi was a guy named Fong, who was Betty Christopher's boyfriend. There was no dispute at trial that Fong was Betty Christopher's boyfriend.



Using an outstanding juvenile runaway complaint filed by Fong's mother, police finally found, arrested, and fingerprinted Fong on September 9, the day after Woods made his initial statement. In response to questioning, Fong denied any involvement in the crime, claiming that he had last been in the store about two weeks before the murders to buy beer. The next day, Godoy learned of Fong's fingerprint match to items found at the crime scene, and he was re-arrested.



Fong's trial took place before that of his McCrimmon. The prosecution theorized that Fong was recognized by market employees, permitted to enter the store during closing, filled plastic bags with lemons and a cucumber, and paid Gee at the liquor counter register with two $1 food stamps before the shooting began. The defense theory was one of mistaken identity: Petitioner claimed Cha-Chi was Martin Garza, another acquaintance of McCrimmon's. The defense also maintained that investigators improperly handled the forensic evidence, making the fingerprints inherently unreliable. Further, the defense called Keith Woods as a witness to support the theory that Detective Godoy improperly coerced both Woods and Ray to implicate Fong.

Both men were convicted and sentenced to death on November 29, 1993.



However, after the verdict had been read, the judge conducted a customary polling of the jury, asking each if he or she agreed with the verdict. When one juror wavered, the judge questioned him further and he finally agreed to the guilty verdict.



The Arizona Supreme Court ruled in 1997 that the juror had been coerced by the judge and remanded the case for a new trial.



McCrimmon was retried in 1997 and was found innocent after defense counsel provided that a police investigator had given perjured testimony.



McCrimmon did not get out of prison however because he was still in prison for the Mariano's pizza case.

Lougee filed a formal complaint against Preasley and he was disbarred to intently soliciting perjured testimony. Fong was removed from death row because he was only 16-years-old and is serving life in prison