March 11, 2010 San Diego

Opening statements are set to begin today in the trial of a young man who stabbed his roommate to death. 23-year-old Ian Suazo pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity in the death of his roommate Ocie Raines.

If Suazo is found guilty then the jury will have to make the decision weather or not Suazo was insane at the time of the killing. According to Defense Attorney Richard Gates he said that Suazo was showing signs of early stages of schizophrenia when Raines was stabbed to death on September 24, 2008.

Suazo stabbed Raines then used the same knife to cut his wrists in a bathtub. He then ran out of his apartment and ran headfirst into traffic at a near by intersection. Suazo had no recollection of stabbing the victim according to Gates.

But Deputy District Attorney Ana De Santiago thinks otherwise. She will try to prove that Suazo knew exactly what he was doing and that he had known the difference between right and wrong when he murdered Raines. They had been roommates for about three months before the incident happened.

Suazo could be sentenced to 26 years to life if found guilty.

San Diego Criminal Law

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