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BROWNSVILLE — Jury selection began Tuesday morning in the death penalty trial of a 20-year-old Brownsville man accused of fatally gunning down a San Benito police officer following an hourslong chase across Cameron County.
Rogelio Martinez, who was 18 at the time of the shooting, could be seen dressed for trial on the first floor of the Cameron County Courthouse’s jury selection room. He was seated along with his attorneys.
He stands accused of the fatal shooting of San Benito Police Department Lt. Milton Resendez, who was 54 when he was shot and killed. Martinez has pleaded not guilty to a charge of capital murder of a peace officer, six counts of attempted capital murder of a peace officer and two counts of evading arrest.
Should he be convicted of capital murder of a peace officer, prosecutors will seek the death penalty.
On Tuesday morning, despite a ruling from 404th state District Judge Ricardo Adobbati allowing news media to observe general jury selection, staff with the Cameron County District Clerk’s Office refused to allow MyRGV.com into the proceedings.
Adobbati had previously ruled on a motion brought by one of Martinez’s attorneys, Ed Cyganiewicz, that sought to bar media covering from the entirety of jury selection.
The judge ruled that media would be allowed during the initial stages of jury selection, but not during individual questioning of potential jurors.
Adobbati previously said that 450 jurors have been summoned for jury selection, which is expected to take several weeks. On Tuesday, the jury selection room appeared to be a little more than half full of potential jurors.
The fatal shooting of Resendez — a 27-year veteran of the San Benito Police Department — occurred on Oct. 17, 2023 following a chase that began on South Padre Island, continued to Brownsville and then to San Benito.
That’s where Resendez was shot and killed while responding to the chase. Martinez and his co-defendant — 26-year-old Mexican national Rodrigo Axel Espinosa Valdez, then fled to Brownsville where they were arrested after a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper shot out the tires of the red GMC Sierra truck they were in.
Martinez is the accused shooter during the chase while Espinosa Valdez was the driver.
Espinosa Valdez previously pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of murder and is expected to testify when testimony begins in the trial.
He remains jailed on $2 million in bonds in the Cameron County Carrizales-Rucker Detention Center while Martinez is being held without bond, records show.