The defense attorney for an Andrews man who was sentenced to two life prison sentences earlier this month in the death of his girlfriend has filed a motion for a new trial arguing the woman didn’t die twice.
On Dec. 15, an Ector County jury convicted Humberto Polanco, 37, of murder, accident involving death (failure to stop and render aid) and tampering with evidence in the Dec. 20, 2020 death of Veronica Carrillo, 38.
Prosecutors presented evidence Polanco purposely struck Carrillo with a Chevrolet Tahoe near 16th Street and Moss and left her to die.
The jury sentenced Polanco to the maximum prison sentence on each charge, two life sentences and 20 years in prison and Judge Justin Low ordered each of the sentences to be run concurrently. Polanco will have to serve at least 30 years before becoming eligible for parole.
Last week, defense attorney Michael McLeaish filed a motion for a new trial calling the results of the trial and the sentences “ridiculous.”
“Defendant believes the record supports that Veronica Carrillo is dead. She died as a result of murder or as a result of an accident. It cannot be both,” McLeaish wrote. “The defendant was convicted of intentionally and knowingly murdering Veronica Carillo. The defendant was also convicted of leaving the scene of an accident involving death. Veronica Carrillo did not die twice.”
McLeaish wrote the prosecution team is a “credit” to Ector County for convincing the jury and the judge Carrillo died twice.
“Defendant would show that the suggestion that a human being dies two times on the same date is an impossibility because, as yet, no human being has been resurrected and then died again,” he wrote.
The Ector County District Attorney’s Office has not yet responded to the motion and Ector County District Attorney Dusty Gallivan has a policy of not commenting on pending litigation.
McLeaish said the judge can choose not to hear arguments on the motion, which would amount to denying the motion. It would then be up to Polanco’s appellate attorney to take the matter up to the Court of Appeals.
