WOODLAND, CA - Judge Paul Richardson upheld a Yolo County jury's sentence of death for convicted cop killer Marco Topete on Tuesday.
He said the weight of the evidence was "simply enormous".
Topete was arrested in June 2008 for shooting and killing Yolo County Sheriff's Deputy Tony Diaz following a car chase near Dunnigan, California.
When the chase ended, Topete ran from his vehicle, leaving his baby girl inside the car. When Deputy Diaz tried to help the girl, Topete emerged from hiding and fired 17 shots in 3.9 seconds from his assault rifle.
The eighth shot killed Diaz on Father's Day, 2008.
"They lost their dad, there's no more Father's Day," Tony's sister Lupe Diaz said. "They have to (spend) Father's Day at the cemetary looking at a cold stone."
Diaz was one of three Diaz family members who spoke directly to Topete before he was sentenced to death.
They constantly used the word "coward".
"I think Tony would want us to forgive and that's the only way we'll be able to move on," Diaz said afterwards.
On the courthouse steps Marcos' wife Angelique Topete said, "You know what, I still love that man and that doesn't make me a bad person. Justice was not served. The only thing that was guaranteed is that we'll be back here in 8 to 10 years."
In November 2011, a jury unanimously recommended a sentence of death after hearing evidence surrounding the case.
STORY: Topete receives death penalty recommendation
Topete's lawyers had made a third request for a new trial on the grounds that one juror was dismissed because she could not understand English.
However, Richardson ruled against that request, as well as two other pleas for a mistrial throughout the hearing, stating, "the weight of the evidence is simply enormous."
STORY: Mistrial denied in cop killer case
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