A prosecutor began a heated cross-examination today of Edwin Ramos, the man accused of shooting a father and two sons in San Francisco in the summer of 2008.
Ramos, 25, of El Sobrante, began testifying in his own defense on Monday. He is charged with murdering Anthony Bologna, 48, and his sons Michael, 20, and Matthew, 16, on the afternoon of June 22, 2008, at Congdon and Maynard streets in the city’s Excelsior District.
Under questioning by his attorney, Marla Zamora, on Monday, Ramos denied that he shot the Bolognas. He said his friend Wilfredo “Flaco” Reyes fired the shots from the Chrysler 300 Ramos was driving. Reyes remains at large.
After Zamora finished her questioning today, Assistant District Attorney Harry Dorfman began cross-examining Ramos. Dorfman alleges that Ramos fired the shots after mistaking the Bolognas for rival gang members. A third Bologna son, Andrew, who was with his father and brothers that day and survived the shooting, testified earlier in the trial that Ramos was the shooter and was alone in the Chrysler.
Dorfman today focused on the various versions of events that Ramos gave to police after his arrest on June 25, 2008.
“You will lie if you think the truth will hurt you, correct?” Dorfman asked.
Ramos admitted he lied to investigators, saying, “I don’t know how many stories I’ve told.”
After initially claiming that he was at home in El Sobrante at the time of the shootings, Ramos eventually admitted to police that he was driving the car that the shots were fired from, while insisting Reyes was the shooter.
Dorfman pointed out that there were still discrepancies between the story he told police and what he said to the jury on Monday.
Ramos had testified Monday that after Reyes fired the gun from his car, he drove away, dropped Reyes off, then parked the Chrysler and had his cousin pick him up.
However, he had told investigators when he was arrested that he walked around the city for hours after parking the car, and did not mention his cousin.
“Yes, I decided to lie,” Ramos said today. “I wanted to protect him … I didn’t want to get him involved.”
The exchanges between Dorfman and Ramos were frequently combative, with Ramos accusing the prosecutor of “twisting my words” as he answered questions.
“Well, untwist them,” Dorfman replied.
Under questioning from Zamora earlier this morning, Ramos expressed remorse for what happened to the Bolognas while maintaining that he was merely driving the car.
“I felt bad,” he said. “If I had turned on the right street, these people wouldn’t have died.”
Ramos said that before he was arrested, Reyes threatened him and his family if he talked about the shooting.
“He said ‘If they get to you, you know what we can do to your family,'” Ramos said.
Dorfman’s cross-examination of Ramos will continue this afternoon.
Dan McMenamin, Bay City News
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