RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Thursday marked the fourth and final day of the jury trial of David Gutierrez’s jury trial, the former George Wythe High School student accused of shooting two teenagers in the school’s parking lot last April.
Gutierrez’s family and friends packed the courtroom Thursday, Feb. 15 to watch the last day of the trial, staying throughout the evening to wait for a verdict from the jury.
At around 11 p.m., Gutierrez was found guilty of unlawful wounding of one victim, malicious wounding of the other victim, guilty of using a firearm while committing a felony and guilty of possession of a firearm on school property. He was found not guilty of the other count of using a firearm while committing a felony.
8News was in the courtroom all week, including on Thursday, as both sides gave their closing arguments.
The defense’s closing argument rested heavily on the assertion that Gutierrez was acting in defense of his friend when he fired the gun on April 27, 2023. His attorney also brought up “heat of passion,” which essentially means he acted in the heat of the moment.
The defense attorney called multiple witnesses throughout the week, including Gutierrez’s friend, Christian, his brother and Gutierrez himself.
The witnesses testified that Gutierrez and his friends had trouble with a group of teenage boys in the past — the same group who would go on to be involved in the altercation on April 27.
Regarding the “heat of passion” defense, witnesses — including Gutierrez — testified that immediately preceding the shooting, the teenager saw that his friend, Christian, was being beaten up by the group of bullies.
Further adding to the argument that he was acting in defense of his friend, Gutierrez’s legal team highlighted a moment from earlier this week, in which one of the prosecution’s witnesses testified that even he feared the group might kill Christian.
An important caveat to the “defense of others” argument rests in the prosecution’s clarification that, according to the law, in order to act in one’s defense, the defender must fully believe the person they are defending is without fault.
The prosecution noted that, before Christian was overpowered and tackled by the group of boys — the incident the defense said justified the gunfire — Christian had walked towards the group of boys holding a baseball bat.
The prosecution’s closing argument reminded the jury of the importance of the word “malice” when it comes to this case. Their argument for the more serious charges hinged largely on the jury ruling that Gutierrez acted with conscious wrongdoing and hatred.
The prosecution said there was no clear evidence the teenager had been bullied and questioned why he had parked at the back of the school if he was only there to drop off his friend.
Prosecutors also suggested Gutierrez knew there was going to be a fight on the day of the incident and that he had planned to be armed with the gun and two baseball bats that were in the back of the car at the time.
The Commonwealth believed Gutierrez was, in the words the prosecuting attorney, “looking for trouble.” Their closing arguments also tried to appeal to the jury’s emotions, showing bodycam footage of an officer finding one of the shooting victims, wounded and gasping for water. They also reminded the courtroom how serious his lifelong injuries are.
Gutierrez is scheduled to be sentenced on May 10.
