Closing arguments begin in trial over shooting of Stockton firefighter
STOCKTON - Displayed in front of the jury box in a Stockton courtroom Wednesday was a fire captain's jacket that was worn the day he was fatally shot while responding to a fire early last year.
The packed courtroom was filled with family members who listened for hours to closing statements from the defense and prosecution in the case against 68-year-old Robert Somerville, accused of killing 47-year-old Stockton Fire Capt. Vidal "Max" Fortuna.
Prosecutor Elton Grau alleged that on Jan. 31, 2022, Somerville fired a weapon several times into a dock door in the back of his warehouse, at 142 S. Aurora St., knowing that a person was there.
Grau told the jury that Somerville was guilty because he was able to see sparks of a saw cutting through the door and could hear the tool, yet he still shot at the door.
During a police interrogation Somerville had said he shot his gun to scare possible intruders away, not to kill anyone.
However, Grau said, "If you're doing warning shots you don't shoot at that person."
He continued to say that it was no longer warning shots when Somerville allegedly aimed at the source of the noise.
Fortuna died from a gunshot wound to the chest, the prosecution said.
"Mr. Somerville's regret after the fact does not negate what he did," Grau said.
Lead defense attorney Russell Humphrey began his closing statement by asking the jury to have the courage to find his client not guilty.
"If Somerville had known it was the fire department he wouldn't have shot," Humphrey said. "No one would of."
He argued there was a lot of fault to spread around when it came to Fortuna's death, especially the city of Stockton.
According to Humphrey, the city failed residents, employees, and business owners to provide a suitable place to live and work. He pointed out that in the area where the shooting took place there was a significant amount of homeless people, who allegedly had broken into Somerville's warehouse before.
The defense said firefighters were let down too, because they are expected to work in such unsafe environments.
Humphrey also reminded the jury how the 9-1-1 dispatcher who dispatched firefighters to the scene said the blaze was a "outdoor fire," which meant only three firefighters responded to the call.
However, the dispatcher's supervisor during the trial said given the context of the first 9-1-1 call that described the fire as "a building on fire" she would have dispatched firefighters to a structure fire.
In a structure fire, more than 10 fire crew members go to a scene, according to the defense.
He said by having more firefighters at the scene it would have allowed more resources besides the three responding firefighters alone in the dark at an approximately 14,000-square-foot warehouse.
Police reported on Jan. 31 that Fortuna and firefighters responded at 4:45 a.m. to reports of a dumpster fire at the warehouse.
City Manager Harry Black said when crews saw the blaze beginning to impinge on a nearby business, they attempted to enter the building to extinguish the fire but soon after heard gunshots.
Fortuna later was pronounced dead at a hospital.
Somerville said during his interrogation that he had yelled "move away from the building, I have a firearm," before firing shots.
He said he believed that the smoke he could smell was from the saws cutting the locks, not from a fire.
"I cannot believe this," Somerville said in the video. "This has got to be the worst day of my f---ing life."
Somerville will return to court Thursday for the continuance of closing statements.
