A 19-year-old man who pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the stabbing death of a co-worker in Chula Vista claimed “I was provoked” before the killing.
Joe Andrew Cortez will be sentenced to a likely term of six years in prison on Feb. 5, 2016 after a murder charge involving the death of Rene Macias Pressa, 44, was dismissed on Oct. 29.
“I was provoked. As a result of the provocation, I acted rashly and under the intense emotion that obscured my reasoning,” wrote Cortez’s attorney, Michael Ruiz, on a court document that Cortez signed showing his agreement.
“The provocation would have caused a person of average disposition to act from passion rather than judgment which resulted in my killing of someone because of said passion/emotion,” wrote Ruiz for Cortez.
Deputy District Attorney Victor Ou said Cortez told Pressa’s neighbor that “I was raped” or “he tried to rape me” in Spanish as he hurriedly left the scene April 23 after Pressa was stabbed multiple times.
Cortez fled so quickly he left his pants, wallet, shoes, socks, and shirt inside Pressa’s Third Avenue residence and walked to his parents’ home in his boxer shorts and a tank top around 1 a.m. He accidently cut himself and left a blood trail.
Pressa worked at a restaurant in Chula Vista and Cortez started working there that same week. Pressa invited Cortez to spend the night and at some point engaged in oral sex with Cortez, who is 5’5” and weighs 150 pounds.
Pressa was also texting before and after having sex, but the prosecutor said they were unable to access his messages on his phone.
Cortez claimed he stopped the sex act and found a knife on top of a dresser, and stabbed Pressa twice in the chest, and the abdomen. Ou said the largest wound was at the base of Pressa’s head.
The plea form says the maximum sentence is 11 years, but it also notes that Chula Vista Superior Court Judge Ana Espana has set a sentencing lid at six years.
“I can ask for 11 years. The judge set the lid at six years,” said Ou. “We’re leaving it in the judge’s hands, a sentence to the court.”
Cortez remains in the Vista Detention Facility without bail. His attorney said he would present some psychological information at sentencing. Cortez surrendered to authorities after being a fugitive in Mexico for seven days.
