The fate of Richard Joseph Rodriguez may come to whether a jury believes the testimony of Rodriguez's alleged accomplice,Brian Hughes, who has admitted he was involved in the 1997 killing of a Hemet resident.

Rodriguez, 29, of Riverside, is accused of fatally shooting 31-year-old Alfredo Bernal inside a travel trailer where the victim was staying. Authorities say the killing occurred while Rodriguez and Hughes, 25, of San Bernardino, robbed Bernal of drugs and money. Rodriguez, who had lived in the travel trailer briefly, is accused of using a shotgun to shoot Bernal at close range. He was arrested several days later after Hughes was taken into custody.

If found guilty of murder under special circumstances, Rodriguez could be sentenced to life in state prison without the possibility of parole.

Rodriguez is also charged with attempted murder in an incident that occurred while he was in custody awaiting trial. That charge is included in the murder trial.

The jury began deliberating the case Monday after closing arguments in Riverside County Superior Court. Defense attorney Jay Grossman and Supervising Deputy District Ron Coffee focused attention on the testimony of witnesses, especially Hughes, who has already pleaded guilty to attempted murder of Bernal and will be sentenced to 26 years in state prison.

Saying there was no physical evidence linking Rodriguez to the killing, Grossman focused on the testimony of Hughes and Yvonne Venegas, who lived in Hemet in the Stetson Avenue home where the travel trailer was located. He said both lied during testimony and while making statements to police investigators. Both sides agreed there was evidence of a drug lab in a shed near the home and travel trailer.

"How many lies and half-truths are you willing to put up with?," Grossman asked the jury during his closing statement. "These people are not credible, not believable."

Grossman suggested Hughes, whose nickname is "Shooter," was the trigger man and Venegas knew more about the crime and drug activity than she was willing to admit.

"He got the nickname 'Shooter' because he earned it, and he earned it in this case," Grossman said.

Coffee argued there was more to the case than the testimony of Hughes and Venegas. He said there were other witnesses who tied Rodriguez to the killing and physical evidence and statements that supported Hughes' version of the events. He conceded, however, the victim, suspects and others involved in the case lived in a world dominated by drugs.

"It is a crime that occurred in the bowels of hell," Coffee told the jury. "When the crime occurs in hell, we are not going to present angels as witnesses.

"Don't dismiss their testimony because you don't like these people," he said.

Coffee said Grossman tried to "twist, turn and torture" the evidence and urged the jury to evaluate each witness individually. He warned the jury not to take the "plane that gets you to fantasy land" that Grossman was trying to take them.

Coffee said that Rodriguez stabbed an inmate with a 9-inch-long metal shank while in custody in July 1998. Grossman said the incident was not an attempted murder and that the shank supposedly used in the attack was not found by police.