In Loving Memory: Joanna Kathryn Rogers - TX - 5/4/04

[Kelly]

http://www.lubbockonline.com/stories/052407/loc_052407033.shtml

Judge denies change of venue request in Rodriguez trial for Baldwin murder

BY HENRI BRICKEY

5/23/07

A Lubbock judge ruled Wednesday that Rosendo Rodriguez III will face capital murder charges in Lubbock, denying his request for a change of venue.

Rodriguez is charged with the 2005 beating death of Summer Baldwin. He also is a suspect in the disappearance of Lubbock teen Joanna Rogers, who went missing in May 2004. Her body was found last year.

Richard Wardroup, the attorney representing Rodriguez, argued earlier this month that intense media coverage of the case would make it impossible for Rodriguez to get a fair trial in Lubbock County.

But Judge Jim Bob Darnell ruled against Wardroup's request Wednesday. "Publicity alone is not sufficient enough to warrant the case being transferred," Darnell said.

Darnell added that it would probably be difficult to find 12 impartial Lubbock jurors, but he wants to try to keep the trial local. If it becomes an issue, attorneys would address it when it arises.

Matt Powell, Lubbock County Criminal District Attorney, said he is open to moving the trial if no impartial jurors can be found in Lubbock County.

"Then I'll be the first one to say we need to go," Powell said. Jury selection should take place sometime in early September, Darnell said.

Rodriguez was arrested more than a year ago on suspicion of murdering 29-year-old Baldwin, whose body was discovered Sept. 13, 2005, inside a suitcase at a city-owned landfill, about 15 miles north of Lubbock..

He was later indicted on a charge of capital murder and accused of raping the mother of four and killing her unborn child. Baldwin was five weeks pregnant at the time of her death.

Rodriguez was expected to plead guilty to Baldwin's death in October but then withdrew his plea at the last minute. Powell has said he intends to seek the death penalty in Rodriguez's trial.

Investigators have also named Rodriguez as a suspect in the disappearance of Rogers, whose body was found in the same landfill where Baldwin's body was found. Rodriguez has not been charged in connection with Rogers' disappearance.

He is being held at the Lubbock County Jail in lieu of a $1 million bond.

[Kelly]

http://www.myfoxlubbock.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=6164067&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.1.1

Jurors Convict Rosendo Rodriguez of Capital Murder  
 
3/28/08

Jurors deliberated for a little more than two hours before finding Rosendo Rodriguez guilty on two counts of capital murder.

The first count for raping and murdering Summer Baldwin, the second count for murdering Baldwin's unborn child. Baldwin was 10 weeks pregnant at the time of her death.

Baldwin's family shed tears when the verdict was read, and say they are relieved that this half of the trial is over.

"I'm ecstatic," said Baldwin's mother, Uvah Roback. "It's been a long time coming."

The jury has two options for sentencing Rodriguez: life without parole, or death.
     
The punishment phase of the trial started Friday afternoon. The prosecution began by laying groundwork to establish that Rodriguez is a predator.
     
Rodriguez's high school girlfriend, as well as three women he had met in his college fraternity testified that Rodriguez had raped them.
     
Each woman bravely took the stand to recount the aggressive sexual episodes.
     
They said Rodriguez would court them, and tell them to keep the relationship a secret.
     
The four women said something would snap in Rodriguez and he would turn into an evil person.
   
The punishment phase of the trial continues Monday morning. The parents of Joanna Rogers are expected to take the stand. Rodriguez reportedly confessed to Rodgers' murder. She was killed and her body discarded in the same manner as Summer Baldwin's.

We're told Rodriguez's father will be called as a witness for the defense. 

[Kelly]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/5658141.html

March 28, 2008, 11:21PM

Man who stuffed pregnant woman in suitcase convicted of murder

CANYON, Texas — A 28-year-old San Antonio man accused of beating a pregnant woman before stuffing her body in a suitcase and dumping it in a landfill was convicted Friday of capital murder.

Rosendo Rodriguez was found guilty after two hours of deliberations in the slaying of Summer Baldwin, 29, and her unborn child. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in the trial's punishment phase.

Baldwin, who was a prostitute, was killed in a Lubbock hotel room in 2005. She was about 10 weeks pregnant at the time.

A Lubbock medical examiner testified that Baldwin was raped. Her death was caused by blunt force trauma and asphyxiation, although a single lethal injury couldn't be isolated, said Dr. Sridhar Natarajan, Lubbock County chief medical examiner.

Rodriguez claimed he killed Baldwin in self-defense after she attacked him with a knife for stealing her crack pipe.

The medical examiner also testified that Baldwin, may have been alive when Rodriguez stuffed her body in a suitcase and tossed it into an industrial-sized trash bin.

The next day her body was found in the Lubbock landfill, about 15 miles north of Lubbock.

Detectives tracked the suitcase back to Rodriguez through store purchase records, according to police reports.

The trial was moved to Canyon after attorneys found extensive media coverage hampered the ability to seat an impartial jury.

Rodriguez is also suspected of killing Joanna Rogers, a 16-year-old who disappeared in 2004. Her remains were found in 2006 in the same landfill where Baldwin's body was discovered.

[Denise]

http://myhighplains.com/content/fulltext/?cid=7807
Rodriquez Sentenced to Death

Reported by: Ashley Pontius
Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008 @06:37pm CST

A Randall County judge has sentenced Rosendo Rodriquez to death. Rodriquez was found guilty on two counts of capital murder. He killed a pregnant woman, put her body in a suitcase, and dumped it in a landfill. The case is out of Lubbock, but was moved to Randall County. Rodriquez has also been linked to the disappearance of 16-year old Joanna Rogers.