Man pleads not guilty in Pomona murder case

POMONA -- A man accused of shooting and killing someone to avenge his brother's death pleaded not guilty this morning to murder.

Prosecutors accuse Joel Martin, 23, of shooting and killing Carlos Espinoza on Feb. 4, 2009 because he believed Espinoza was involved in the killing of Martin's brother, 24-year-old Miguel Martin.

Joel Martin pleaded not guilty this morning in Pomona Superior Court, and is next scheduled to appear in court May 13 for a preliminary hearing, said Deputy District Attorney Bjorn Dodd.

At a preliminary hearing, prosecutors must present evidence -- typically through testimony -- for a case to proceed to trial.

Joel Martin allegedly shot and killed Espinoza at a bus stop in the area of Mission Boulevard and Buena Vista Avenue in Pomona -- about a block east of where Miguel Martin was shot and killed two months earlier.

The murder case of Miguel Martin's alleged shooter, 17-year-old Jose Luis Gutierrez, is currently in trial. A jury started its third day of deliberations in the case this morning.