Jury Seated in Cathedral City Driveby Shooting Trial
A jury was seated today in the attempted murder trial of a man accused of firing on three men while they were outside a Cathedral City home.
Jose Jorge Cuadras, 38, is charged with three counts each of attempted murder and assault with a gun, along with a single count of firing at a dwelling.
Cuadras is accused in the alleged April 9, 2014, drive-by shooting at a home in the 31400 block of Avenida Juarez.
At about 10:30 p.m. that night, Cathedral City police received reports of shots fired at the home, according to a prosecutor’s trial brief. The men were on a porch outside the home when their friend, identified as Cuadras in court documents, allegedly drove up in a white Toyota Tundra and fired on them.
One of the men suffered a puncture wound to his stomach amid the gunfire, while the other two men were uninjured, court documents state. Four .45-caliber shell casings were found at the scene, along with six impact marks on the house.
No motive for the shooting was outlined in the documents, but Cuadras’ wife was interviewed by police after the shooting and told officers that about an hour and a half prior to the shooting, the couple found that their home had been vandalized.
Cuadras was arrested three days after the shooting. He told police that after he found his home had been vandalized, he immediately left town for Los Angeles and remained there for the next two days, the brief states.
Opening statements in the trial will be heard Wednesday morning.
