Jury selection got underway Monday in the trial of an Indio man charged with the 2018 murder of a Mecca man.
The Coachella Police Department arrested Gilbert Martinez, now 36, in Coachella in 2019, according to case records.
Martinez was identified as a suspect after Hugo Nunez was shot several times on April 8, 2018, on the 91-000 block of Fifth Street in Mecca, the sheriff’s department said. Nunez died after he was taken to a hospital.
Martinez entered not guilty pleas in 2019 to felony counts of murder and being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.
A series of pre-trial motions got underway Monday prior to the beginning of jury selection. Prospective jurors were ordered to return Tuesday at 1:30 p.m.
Martinez is being held at the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility in Banning.
According to court records, Martinez has a prior felony conviction for possession of a controlled substance, as well as multiple misdemeanor convictions, including carrying a loaded firearm and inflicting corporal injury on a spouse.