A Camden man accused of an armed home invasion with his brother was ordered held in jail.
Christian Vazquez, 21, and his brother allegedly forced their way into the Folsom home of Jose Rodriguez just before 11 p.m. May 2.
When police arrived, they found Vazquez's brother shot and Rodriguez in possession of two guns.
The homeowner told police the .40-caliber handgun was his while a 9mm Glock belonged to the wounded man, Joseph Correa-Vazquez, 22.
Another man ran, Rodriguez told police.
Vazquez was later arrested Route 54 near the Atlantic City Expressway entrance.
But Vazquez's attorney argued there was nothing tying her client to the scene other than his wounded brother, who was shot in the neck and is currently paralyzed, according to information given in court.
"There's no DNA, no blood, no fingerprints, nothing connecting (Vazquez) to the home whatsoever," Robin Lord told the judge.
She pointed out that the alleged victim is also in jail, after police discovered what charges claim was a drug-production facility inside the home. The gun Rodriguez admitted owning also was illegal.
He was ordered held following a detention hearing last week.
Chief Assistant Prosecutor Alison Eiselen said the drugs are believed to be the motivation behind the armed home invasion.
Lord argued that was "pure speculation and conjecture."
"They have this theory, 'Oh this was a home invasion. Oh they tried to rip off this drug dealer,'" she said. "How do they know? How do they know?"
"For all that we know, the alleged victim set up these two individuals to come to his house for whatever reason," she said. "Maybe they were his supplier, which is not Mr. Vazquez. Maybe Mr. Vazquez was a purchaser of marijuana who had just left and saw this horrific thing happen."
She painted a picture of her client as a hard-working father dedicated to his 1-year-old daughter who he has sole custody of after he mother was injured in drunk-driving crash. Several character letters submitted to the court did the same.
Vazquez wiped tears as his attorney spoke of his daughter.
"This isn’t a man who’s ever been in jail in his entire life," Lord said. "He's never even had a parking ticket."
Eiselen said that the lack of a criminal history does not represent a law-abiding history but "a law-evading history."
"The argument is offensive quite frankly," Lord countered. "That because this gentleman has no prior record, it’s just that he hasn’t gotten caught yet? Is that what the state is saying? Undetected criminality?"
Superior Court Judge Donna Taylor ordered Vazquez held pending the outcome of the case.
His brother is charged on summonses, likely due to his current condition.
