Hearing continues for man who shot alleged burglar

self-defense-- or a vigilante shooting? a former valencia county marine is in court right now-- f...  More »

self-defense-- or a vigilante shooting? a former valencia county marine is in court right now-- for a hearing on whether or not he should have to face charges from a july shooting-- after he reportedly found a man leaving the scene of a crime. minute thumbnail 12:29 pm austin reed joins us live from valencia county district court in los lunas-- in our top story. austin? today's hearing was supposed to be at magistrate court in belen, but was re-located at the last minute here because of security reasons. and this whole case is really the talk of this county right now. close to 4,000 people have signed this petition, supporting what sanchez did. no cameras were allowed inside the courtroom today. however, i was able to sit in. opening statements by the prosecution, and the defense were made. the judge also heard from a few witnesses. the defense says that sanchez had no other option but to shoot gary gabaldon, who by the way does have a previous criminal record, including two former assaults made against deputies. the defense also points out gabaldon was attacking sanchez, and was the instigator. the prosecution claims sanchez pursued, and continued to follow the suspects after first noticing a burglary in progress at the minute thumbnail 12:30 pm "enchantment propane" business in belen. they say yes...he did the right thing by calling 9-1-1-- yet did not have the right to continue to follow the suspects upon them taking off in their vehicle when they noticed sanchez. prosecutors say the problem arises-- because sanchez had control of the situation. people-- are divided on the issue. "if he stole, ok yes he is in the wrong, but he doesn't deserve to be killed for it, yeah maybe to be in jail for it right now " i think its self defense, cus he coulda been hurt himself... you can't just let them hurt you and not be able to retaleate, so i think he did the right thing the courtroom is on break for lunch right now. more witnesses are expected to testify later this afternoon. the court will hear more of the 9-1-1 call made by sanchez as well. no word on how long this hearing could take.  « Less