A 22-year-old man who killed a Tucson cab driver was deemed eligible for the death penalty Friday by Pima County Superior Court Judge Richard Fields.
The judge decided that prosecutors proved "beyond a reasonable doubt" that Ruben Archunde shot Timothy Royce, 27, for money and that he did so shortly after being released from jail to the county's pretrial services division on a car theft charge.
Prosecutors did not, however, prove that the slaying was "especially cruel, heinous or depraved," Fields said.
Last month, Archunde, admitted shooting Royce, a Yellow Cab driver, during a robbery in March 2008 and agreed to have Fields, rather than a jury, decide if he should be sentenced to life in prison or receive the death penalty.
On Monday in Pima County Superior Court, prosecutors began the first phase of the sentencing process, trying to convince Fields that aggravating factors exist that warrant execution.
People are also reading…
Since Fields ruled at least one aggravating factor did exist, defense attorneys will begin presenting evidence Wednesday that mitigating factors exist and Archunde's life should be spared.
Authorities believe Archunde, Marisela Pacheco and Jessica Gallegos needed money to bail Archunde's brother out of jail. The brother was Pacheco's boyfriend.
One of the shots was fired from the backseat of the cab through the driver's seat and into Royce's back.
Royce's body was found near his car in an alley near the University of Arizona. The defendants were arrested within a week.
Gallegos, 17 at the time of the crime, pleaded guilty to armed robbery and was sentenced in April to seven years in prison.
Pacheco, 31, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and armed robbery. She is serving a 22-year prison sentence.
Read more in tomorrow's Arizona Daily Star.
