Justice for Brisenia: Minuteman Shawna Forde's friend Gunny Bush received Death Penalty!

Immigration Clearinghouse reports: Arivaca Minuteman Murders - Two down One to go - Jason Bush received Death Penalty Not that there was any doubt, but Jason Eugene Bush, Minuteman Shawna Fordes trigger man in the 2009 Arivaca home invasion murders, received the death penalty yesterday by a Pima County jury for the murder of 9-year-old Brisenia Flores and her father Raul. In what has been a very swift yet bizarre trial, on March 25, jurors convicted Bush of two counts of first degree murder, attempted first-degree murder of Gina Marie Gonzalez, one count of burglary in the first-degree; one count of aggravated assault, serious physical injury; one count of aggravated assault, deadly weapon/dangerous instrument; one count of armed robbery; and one count of aggravated armed robbery. (The same charges as Minuteman Shawna Forde was convicted of.) Bizarre in the fact that defense attorneys Richard Parrish and Chris Kimminau never gave opening nor closing statements in the case, instead conceding Bush’s guilt from the gitgo. When it was all said and done, it took the jury less than two hours to find Bush guilty as charged and in the aggravation phase of the trial, the jury returned after only 15 minutes of deliberation finding that Bush was eligible for the death penalty. Factors in that quick decision included the crimes were committed in tandem with other felonies and a minor younger than 15 was one of the victims.

The mitigation phase of the trial, where defense attorneys sought to make excuses for Bush’s action and spare him the death penalty, through testimony from witnesses for hire and Bush’s parents who apparently gave up on him at an early age, was not successful. Defense attorney’s even tried to lay the blame back on prosecution witness, mother and wife of the victims for a victim impact statement she made saying, “I went to bed in heaven and woke up in hell.” They also tried for a mistrial based on some of the statements Gonzalez made, a motion denied by presiding Judge John S. Leonardo. Parrish told the jury, “Some things have to be said about this case that nobody’s had the guts to say.” What he was referring to was revealed shortly afterwards when he continued; “Gina Gonzalez said to you that she went to bed that night in heaven and she woke up in hell. She had a drug dealer husband. She was living in a trailer in Arivaca on five or 10 acres. There was a loaded assault rifle in the nook of the front door. There was a loaded .40 caliber Smith & Wesson pistol near the stove. She knew enough to take that .40 caliber weapon, pull back the slide, undo the safety and shoot at somebody.” Prosecutor Rick Unklesbay, who has been outstanding in the presentation of the prosecution’s case in this trial and the Forde trial that preceded this said; “It’s astonishing and offensive that a defense attorney would stand up here and say that they are not worthy of having the law applied equally to them,” And he was correct. Defense attorneys also accurately suggested that had it only been Raul Flores that was murdered, there wouldn’t have been a trial. Something we have alluded to from the beginning. So it goes in Arizona where the life of a Hispanic is considered worthless by some. He was of course insinuating that the lives of Raul and Brisenia were basically without value because of who they were and the situation they lived in. It took jurors less than 4 hours of deliberation over two days to come to their decision. Bush showed no reaction other than his normal “deer in the headlights look” he’s had throughout the trial at sentencing this morning. Two down, one to go as Albert Gaxiola goes on trial on June 1, 2011. There is no reason to expect any different and outcome as strong evidence also ties Gaxiola to the crime. For more in-depth coverage, check out Rickers Radar Screen which has some pretty decent first person coverage of the trial and it’s players. In particular, following in the footsteps of Laine Lawless, is the report of Jason Bush’s brother Dan, contacting Ricker suggesting there was money to be made for both of them, as he had the “lowdown” on things people couldn’t imagine about his brother. Looking at the photo of Dan with an assault weapon in hand, one can only imagine…………………. Don’t know about y’all, but a 60 day break until the next and final trial is needed for all of us. This afternoon, Bush will be taken, as was Forde, to Arizona’s death row, where he’ll reside for the next 15 or 20 years while his appellate lawyers try to save his worthless axx.