A man accused of killing a father and his two sons in San Francisco’s Excelsior District in 2008 Thursday wrapped up his testimony on his own behalf in the murder trial.
Edwin Ramos, 25, of El Sobrante, is charged with fatally shooting Anthony Bologna, 48, and his sons Michael, 20, and Matthew, 16, on June 22, 2008, at Congdon and Maynard streets.
Ramos began testifying on Monday under questioning from his attorney Marla Zamora, and after cross-examination from Assistant District Attorney Harry Dorfman on Tuesday and Wednesday, he finished his testimony by answering questions from the jury today.
Judge Charles Haines has allowed jurors to ask written questions of witnesses in the trial, and several jurors had questions for Ramos about the day of the shooting, as well as other parts of his earlier testimony.
Ramos has admitted that he was driving his Chrysler 300 that the shots were fired out of, but said that his friend Wilfredo “Flaco” Reyes was the shooter. Reyes remains at large.
Prosecutors allege that Ramos fatally shot the Bolognas after mistaking them for rival gang members. Ramos was an MS-13 gang member but said he quit the gang in 2006, while Reyes was allegedly a leader of the gang’s “Pasadena Locos Surenos” clique.
In a response to a question from one of the jurors, Ramos said today that while he remembers hearing the shots fired from his car, he did not remember seeing the gun.
“Everything happened so fast,” he said. “All I really remember is the boom and the loud noise.”
Another juror wrote a question asking Ramos if he was a religious man.
“Yes and no,” he said.
“I believe in God … and try to help people as much as I can,” he said. “But on the other hand, I was also selling drugs.”
Ramos said he sold cocaine to help financially support his family after his daughter was born in 2007.
This afternoon, Haines also told the jury the tentative schedule for the rest of the trial.
The judge said both the prosecution and defense are expected to finish presenting their cases by next Thursday, and the jury will have the following week off while the judge and attorneys discuss jury instructions and the admissibility of various pieces of evidence in the case.
Closing arguments are expected to begin as soon as May 1, he said.
The trial began back in January with jury selection and has included testimony from Andrew Bologna, who was with his father and brothers when they were shot as they drove home from a family outing in Fairfield.
Andrew, who escaped injury in the shooting, testified that Ramos was the gunman and the only person in the Chrysler.
Danielle Bologna, the wife and mother of the victims, has been in court for most of the trial, which is being held in a courtroom outfitted with a metal detector and bulletproof glass.
Dan McMenamin, Bay City News
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