Delaware's Supreme Court has upheld the murder conviction and life sentence of Elder Saavedra, the man found guilty of running down 23-year-old Lester Mateo with a Cadillac Escalade outside a Bear nightclub in 2017. A three-justice panel issued the order on October 22, unanimously affirming the Superior Court's judgment even as it raised concerns about how the lower court had handled Saavedra's attempts to amend his postconviction claims.
The panel included Chief Justice Collins J. Seitz Jr., Justice Gary F. Traynor, and Justice N. Christopher Griffiths, according to First State Update. Saavedra was convicted of first-degree murder and possession of a deadly weapon during the commission of a felony for Mateo's death, and he had appealed after the Superior Court rejected his request for postconviction relief.
A Deadly Night Outside El Nuevo Rodeo
Mateo, a 23-year-old New Jersey man, was killed in the early morning hours of March 26, 2017, in the parking lot of El Nuevo Rodeo restaurant at 2000 Firedancer Lane in Bear, per the same outlet's reporting. Delaware State Police have attributed the chain of events to an altercation involving several people inside the restaurant before Mateo made his way out to the parking lot.
After the altercation, Mateo entered a Cadillac Escalade and drove it a short distance before getting out, First State Update reports. Investigators determined that Saavedra then drove the SUV into Mateo, pinning him against another vehicle. According to the Delaware Supreme Court's earlier opinion published by law.justia.com, “Saavedra caused the Escalade to leap a curb and then accelerated, ramming the vehicle violently into the fleeing Mateo resulting in his death from blunt force injuries.”
Mateo was transported to Christiana Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The Delaware Division of Forensic Sciences ruled his death a homicide. Saavedra fled the scene on foot, and detectives obtained an arrest warrant for him in May 2017, according to First State Update's account. He was later held in Pennsylvania on an immigration and customs enforcement detainer before being extradited to Delaware to face prosecution.
Cell Records and an Eyewitness Pointed to Saavedra
A witness named Madelyn Aramiz picked Saavedra's photograph out of a lineup, identifying him as the person she saw getting out of the vehicle right after it struck Mateo, according to court records published on courtlistener.com. Cell-tower and call-detail records also placed Saavedra's phone near a tower in North Carolina roughly seven hours after the collision, and in New York City a day and a half later, the same court filing shows.
Saavedra's trial lasted six days in September 2018. Prosecutors presented testimony from 14 witnesses and more than 150 pieces of evidence, including nightclub surveillance footage, First State Update reported. A Superior Court jury found him guilty of first-degree murder and weapons possession during the commission of a felony, and a judge sentenced him in March 2019 to life in prison for the murder plus 10 years for the weapons conviction.
First Appeal Rejected Misconduct and Evidence Claims
Saavedra's direct appeal reached the Delaware Supreme Court, which affirmed his convictions and sentence in a ruling issued January 30, 2020. He had argued that prosecutorial misconduct and the trial court's erroneous admission of evidence required his convictions be overturned, but the justices rejected those arguments, writing simply, “Therefore, we affirm,” per the opinion posted on law.justia.com.
Saavedra later challenged his conviction again, this time alleging ineffective legal representation. He claimed his attorney had failed to hire an accident reconstruction expert, inadequately questioned prosecution witnesses, failed to challenge certain identification testimony, and delivered an insufficient closing argument, according to First State Update's reporting on the latest ruling.
Procedural Concerns, But the Sentence Stands
The Superior Court rejected Saavedra's request for postconviction relief, and he appealed that denial. In its October ruling, the Delaware Supreme Court determined that the lower court should have permitted Saavedra's amended claims to proceed, after finding that procedural deadlines had been established while evidence was still being provided to him — even though he had reportedly been assured certain deadlines would not be imposed until he received his complete case file.
Despite flagging that handling, the Supreme Court noted that the Superior Court ultimately did consider the amended claims on their merits and rejected them. With that in place, the justices unanimously affirmed the Superior Court's judgment, leaving Saavedra's murder conviction and life sentence intact.
