Photo via Wikimedia Commons.

A convicted fraudster was ordered out of a federal courtroom in Santa Ana Wednesday when he blurted out that he wanted his attorney fired for arguing that he was a conspiracy nut tricked by jailhouse snitches to plan hits on a judge, two prosecutors and a pair of FBI agents.

John Arthur Walthall, formerly of Laguna Beach, declared, “Enough! Enough of this. You are terminated,” as his attorney detailed the bizarre conspiratorial notions the 60-year-old defendant detailed in a 500-plus page “manifesto” that prosecutors allege was evidence of his desire to kill the federal officials.

As U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney admonished Walthall to stop speaking, he replied, “Your honor, I terminate this man… This is a false defense… Is there anybody out there who can get me an attorney? Help me.”

As federal marshals removed the wheelchair-dependent Walthall from the courtroom, he alleged he was “threatened” by one of the confidential informants, who is to testify against him, when the two were supposedly in the same van being brought to court this morning.

After Carney had jurors removed from the courtroom, he told the attorneys in the case, “I was anticipating this would be a problem,” so had a video camera set up in a holding cell outside of the courtroom so Walthall could view the proceedings outside of the presence of the jury.

Walthall, who was doing time in federal prison for a gold investment scheme, was indicted in December 2014 for allegedly soliciting the killing of U.S. District Judge Andrew Guilford, who sentenced him to 14 years behind bars, and the others. Walthall’s first trial in April ended with jurors deadlocked 10- 2 for guilt.

Wednesday wasn’t the first time Walthall has caused a scene in court. At his April 30, 2012, sentencing, he bickered with the judge, tried to fire his attorney and ripped his fraud victims. At one point, the defendant’s son, Christopher, stood up and implored his father, “You have to stop.”

The latest case against Walthall centers around comments he allegedly made to fellow Lompoc inmates Crisanto Diego Trejos Ortiz and Antonio Rodriguez, as well as an undercover FBI agent, about hiring someone to abduct the judge and the others and kill them.

Walthall became suspicious of Ortiz at some point, Assistant U.S. Attorney Fred Sheppard said.

“This defendant was getting pissed,” the prosecutor said. “According to him, in his own words, Diego Ortiz was either a snitch or a bullshit artist and he might go the same way as the others.”

Rodriguez told Walthall he knew of a “middleman” who could help get the jobs done, Sheppard said, and that man was an undercover FBI agent. Walthall allegedly told the agent, “Above all else they need to die, but first I want them tortured,” according to Sheppard.

“Some of this may sound absolutely fantastical,” Sheppard said of the evidence.

The prosecutor recounted for the jury how, while awaiting trial in the fraud case, the defendant jumped bail and fled to Nevada, where he was recaptured.

Before he jumped bail, he had a friend buy three guns for him, Sheppard said.

“When he said he wanted them dead he meant it,” the prosecutor said, alleging that walthall told the undercover agent, “Everything I’m asking you to do has been in the works for three years.”

“And it wasn’t because he didn’t know what he was saying,” Sheppard said, adding the defendant has not had a psychological diagnosis that he is suffering from a mental illness.

Walthall’s attorney, Tim Scott, portrayed Rodriguez and Ortiz as scam artists who had a long history of “double dealing” with authorities as confidential informants while still committing crimes.

The two hit up a couple of other inmates with an offer to get out of prison by having “something done” to their judge, but they refused, Scott said.

Walthall became an “outcast” in prison because he kept to himself and, when spoken to, he “would go off on one of his rants,” Scott said.

For Ortiz and Rodriguez, talking to Walthall was “just good fun and they enjoyed getting him going,” Scott said. “He would be off and running and they would elbow each other in the ribs.”

Then, “one day the light bulb went off and they realized John Walthall was their mark,” Scott said, alleging the two found out as much as they could about his client’s case and then “nursed” his conspiracy theories and “preyed on his paranoia.”

They got him to make incriminating statements so they could “play the hero” in the trial and get a break on their prison terms, Scott alleged.

One of the other inmates the two tried to con before Walthall warned the prison warden the pair was “framing” Walthall, but the prison official said, “It’s none of your concern and I have orders from above,” Scott told the jury.

“The government did not heed the warning of this man,” he said, alleging Walthall was “entrapped.”

–City News Service 

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Photo by Gustavo Castillo [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Sergey Gutsu and Ivan Morales were arrested in connection with the armed robbery Tuesday, the same day it was committed, authorities said.

Gutsu, 24, was interviewed by Los Angeles County sheriff’s detectives on Wednesday in Santa Rosa and “admitted to being involved in the” fatal shooting of Pravin Patel on June 2, 2015, authorities said.

Patel, 62, was shot and killed during a robbery at his Quiznos sandwich shop at 1034 W. Arrow Highway, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

According to detectives, a suspect approached the cashier’s counter brandishing a semiautomatic handgun and demanding money, and Patel gave him a bag containing an undisclosed amount of cash.

Patel then followed the robber outside, where a brief struggle ensued in the parking lot and he was shot, the sheriff’s department reported. He died at a hospital that night.

Los Angeles County supervisors had offered a $20,000 reward in the case and a composite sketch of the gunman was circulated.

Sonoma County sheriff’s detectives allege that Gutsu and Morales, 23, have been involved in crimes throughout the state, including the robbery on March 29 of an armored car guard outside a Ralphs supermarket at Chatsworth Street and Zelzah Avenue in Granada Hills, according to the Santa Rosa Press- Democrat.

Gutsu and Morales have been arraigned in Sonoma County on attempted murder, armed robbery and conspiracy charges and remain in custody, according to the Press-Democrat.

Los Angeles County sheriff’s homicide detectives are continuing to investigate Gutsu’s alleged involvement in Patel’s killing.

Gutsu faces possible charges in Napa County, where the Calistoga police officer was fired upon, and in connection with the Patel homicide.

Both Gutsu and Morales are from Northern California.

–City News Service

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Photo via Pixabay

A former Laguna Beach resident was convicted Tuesday of attempting to arrange for the kidnapping and murders of a judge, two prosecutors and a pair of FBI agents.

John Arthur Walthall, 60, was convicted of soliciting the killing of U.S. District Judge Andrew Guilford, who sentenced him to 14 years behind bars in a fraud case, and the others, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Fred Sheppard. Walthall was scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 11.

Walthall’s second trial on a count of solicitation to commit a crime of violence — his first ended with a deadlocked jury — got off to a strange start.

Walthall was ordered out of the courtroom as his attorney was making his opening statement of the trial last Wednesday.

As his attorney made the case that his client had a penchant for bizarre conspiracy theories and was entrapped by a couple of jailhouse snitches, the defendant declared, “Enough! Enough of this. You are terminated.”

As U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney admonished Walthall to stop speaking, he replied, “Your honor, I terminate this man… This is a false defense… Is there anybody out there who can get me an attorney? Help me.”

After Carney had jurors removed from the courtroom, he told the attorneys in the case, “I was anticipating this would be a problem,” so he had a video monitor set up in a holding cell outside of the courtroom so Walthall could view the proceedings outside of the presence of the jury.

Walthall, who was serving a federal prison sentence for a gold investment scheme, was indicted in December 2014 for soliciting the killing of Guilford and the others. Walthall’s first trial in April ended with jurors deadlocked 10-2 for guilt.

Last Wednesday, wasn’t the first time Walthall has caused a scene in court.

At his April 30, 2012, sentencing, he bickered with the judge, tried to fire his attorney and ripped his fraud victims. At one point, Walthall’s son, Christopher, stood up and implored his father, “You have to stop.”

The latest case against Walthall centered around comments he made to fellow Lompoc inmates Crisanto Diego Trejos Ortiz and Antonio Rodriguez, as well as an undercover FBI agent, about hiring someone to abduct the judge and the others and kill them.

Walthall became suspicious of Ortiz at some point, Sheppard said.

“This defendant was getting pissed,” Sheppard said. “According to him, in his own words, Diego Ortiz was either a snitch or a bullshit artist and he might go the same way as the others.”

Rodriguez told Walthall he knew of a “middleman” who could help get the jobs done, Sheppard said, and that man was an undercover FBI agent. Walthall told the agent, “Above all else they need to die, but first I want them tortured,” according to Sheppard.

“Some of this may sound absolutely fantastical,” Sheppard said of the evidence.

Sheppard recounted for the jury how, while awaiting trial in the fraud case, the defendant jumped bail and fled to Nevada, where he was recaptured.

Before he jumped bail, he had a friend buy three guns for him, Sheppard said.

“When he said he wanted them dead he meant it,” the prosecutor said, adding that Walthall told the undercover agent, “Everything I’m asking you to do has been in the works for three years.”

“And it wasn’t because he didn’t know what he was saying,” Sheppard said, adding the defendant has not had a psychological diagnosis that he is suffering from a mental illness.

Walthall’s attorney, Tim Scott, portrayed Rodriguez and Ortiz as scam artists who had a long history of “double dealing” with authorities as confidential informants while still committing crimes.

The two hit up a couple of other inmates with an offer to get out of prison by having “something done” to their judge, but they refused, Scott said.

Walthall became an “outcast” in prison because he kept to himself and, when spoken to, he “would go off on one of his rants,” Scott said.

For Ortiz and Rodriguez, talking to Walthall was “just good fun and they enjoyed getting him going,” Scott said. “He would be off and running and they would elbow each other in the ribs.”

Then, “one day the light bulb went off and they realized John Walthall was their mark,” Scott said, alleging the two found out as much as they could about his client’s case and then “nursed” his conspiracy theories and “preyed on his paranoia.”

They got him to make incriminating statements so they could “play the hero” in the trial and get a break on their prison terms, Scott alleged.

One of the other inmates the two tried to con before Walthall warned the prison warden the pair was “framing” Walthall, but the prison official said, “It’s none of your concern and I have orders from above,” Scott told the jury.

“The government did not heed the warning of this man,” Scott said, arguing Walthall was “entrapped.”

–City News Service

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Photo via Pixabay

A 21-year-old woman has pleaded not guilty to a charge of murder in connection with the death of her 19-day-old son in the unincorporated Florence-Firestone area, authorities said Wednesday.

Calixta Landa was arrested on Friday, the day before her son Sebastian Landa died at a hospital of blunt force trauma to his brain, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Detectives responded to the hospital on Thursday after staff reported the child had possibly been subject to abuse, the Sheriff’s Information Bureau reported.

They spoke with Landa, who “admitted to abusing the child,” according to a sheriff’s department statement.

She was arrested and Sebastian was pronounced dead at the hospital the following night, officials said.

Landa pleaded not guilty Tuesday to murder and assault on a child causing death, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.

Prosecutors say family members saw the child, pale and limp, in his bassinette on Thursday.

The boy was taken to a hospital, “where medical officials determined that the child was underweight and suffering from multiple injuries,” according to the district attorney’s office.

Charges against Landa were filed on Tuesday.

Landa is being held in lieu of $2 million bail at the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood and is next due in court in Norwalk on Aug. 2 for a preliminary hearing setting, according to the sheriff’s department and district attorney’s office.

She faces a maximum possible sentence of 25 years to life in state prison if convicted as charged.

–City News Service

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Photo by Alexander Nguyen

A Mexican national convicted of the attempted murder of a peace officer was among 112 foreign nationals arrested in the Los Angeles area during a federal operation targeting “at-large criminal aliens,” officials said Thursday.

The four-day operation, which ended Wednesday night, was conducted by personnel from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

All of the 100 men and 12 women taken into custody had criminal histories, and 62 of them had prior felony convictions for serious or violent offenses, such as child sex crimes, weapons charges, and assault, ICE reported.

“The remaining arrestees had past convictions for significant or multiple misdemeanors,” an ICE statement said. “One of those taken into custody is a previously deported criminal alien who will now be presented for federal prosecution for re-entry after removal, a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison.”

The remaining arrestees will be processed administratively for removal from the United States.

Those who have outstanding orders of deportation, or who returned to the United States illegally after being deported, are subject to immediate removal from the country, and the rest are in ICE custody awaiting a hearing before an immigration judge, or pending travel arrangements for removal in the near future, ICE reported.

Among those arrested during this week’s operation were:

— a 64-year-old Mexican man arrested in unincorporated Riverside County near Hemet July 17 who has a 1996 conviction for attempted murder of a peace officer;

— a 46-year-old male from Tonga arrested July 17 in Rancho Cucamonga who has prior conviction for assault with a deadly weapon;

— a 37-year-old Salvadoran gang member arrested in Los Angeles July 18 who has a lengthy rap sheet, including previous convictions for burglary, attempted burglary, receiving stolen property and DUI; and

— a 45-year-old Mexican man arrested July 19 in Los Angeles who was previously convicted of assault to commit rape and failure to register as a sex offender.

While the largest number of those taken into custody during the enforcement action are originally from Mexico (89), 11 countries are represented, including El Salvador (7); Guatemala (5); Belize (2); Honduras (2); Vietnam (2); Egypt (1); Philippines (1); Tonga (1); the United Kingdom (1); and Azerbaijan (1).

Of the six Southland counties and more than 50 communities where arrests occurred, Los Angeles County accounted for the largest number of apprehensions (56); followed by San Bernardino County (16); Orange County (13); Riverside County (12); Ventura County (11); and Santa Barbara County (4).

—City News Service

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Photo via Pixabay

A La Puente woman pleaded no contest Thursday to murdering an 82-year-old man whose body was found in his West Covina home that was set aflame.

Brenda Armstrong, 41, entered her plea to one count each of first-degree murder of Ralph Simonian and arson of an inhabited structure. She is expected to be sentenced to 30 years to life in prison on Dec. 14.

Armstrong was a waitress at a local restaurant that Simonian frequented. She stabbed Simonian and set on fire his house in the 900 block of South Holiday Drive. His body was found Nov. 15, 2012.

Armstrong was arrested in September 2013 in Delaware.

“We believe that the murder was committed during a burglary,” said Deputy District Attorney Tony Cho, who prosecuted the case, when asked about Armstrong’s motive.

The criminal complaint against Armstrong included a special circumstance allegation that the murder was committed during a burglary.

That would have made Armstrong eligible for the death penalty if convicted as charged, however, prosecutors opted not to pursue the death penalty in this case.

–City News Service 

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Photo via Pixabay

A 66-year-old transient was sentenced to 61 years to life in prison for fatally stabbing another homeless man in the city of Orange in a dispute over $100.

Lee Roy Castellano was convicted April 28 of second-degree murder, with a sentencing enhancement for the use of a deadly weapon, according to Senior Deputy District Attorney Scott Simmons.

Castellano, a third-striker who has been convicted multiple times of armed robbery, received a significantly higher punishment because of his criminal history, Simmons said.

Before Orange County Superior Court Judge Gregg Prickett sentenced Castellano, the defendant tried to fire his attorney, Randolph Driggs. Prickett would not let him, prompting Castellano to try to leave the courtroom as deputies restrained him.

After the Friday hearing, Prickett said he refrained from telling the defendant why his request was denied because the judge viewed it as a “potentially volatile situation.”

Prickett said he waited until the defendant was led out of the courtroom because Castellano appeared “extremely agitated” in a prior closed-court hearing on the defendant’s request to fire his attorney.

“I did not want to make a factual finding in front of him because I thought it would exacerbate the situation,” Prickett said.

The judge made a point of emphasizing that Driggs did a good job defending his client.

Castellano stabbed 59-year-old Steven Jolly on Feb. 24, 2015, Simmons said.

Jolly was found dead in a van he used for shelter that was parked in the lot at Cadillac Plating Co. at 1147 W. Struck Ave. The owner, who let Jolly use the van to sleep in, went to see him as he did every morning and found the body, Simmons said.

Jolly offered to sell Castellano a car a few months prior to the stabbing and, as part of the deal, the defendant gave the victim $100 up front, Simmons said. When Castellano followed up with the victim, Jolly told him another man was “processing the paperwork,” Simmons said.

When Castellano asked the other man about the status of the car deal, he said he didn’t know anything about it, Simmons said.

Castellano tried to get his $100 back from Jolly for a few months, but Jolly would not return the money, Simmons said.

–City News Service

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Trabuco Creek. Via wikimedia commons

A half-dozen people were charged Monday with the love-triangle killing of a man near Trabuco Creek in San Juan Capistrano, where the victim was lured to his death.

The victim — 38-year-old Alvaro Rios of Perris — was romantically involved with one of the defendants, who was dating one of the other accused killers, according to Senior Deputy District Attorney Scott Simmons.

Rios’ stabbed body was found near the dead end of Trabuco Creek Road about 10 a.m. July 13.

The defendants are Ashkan Dezhangfard, 22, of San Juan Capistrano; Ryan Huebner, 20, of Laguna Niguel; Siavish Hosseinaliarhani, 18, of Laguna Niguel; Myles Emmanuel Jones, 22, of Laguna Hills, Angelica Shiabata, 28, of San Juan Capistrano; and Brion Hyde, 22, of San Juan Capistrano.

They are charged with murder with a special circumstances allegation of lying in wait, making them all eligible, if convicted, of life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty if the prosecution opts to pursue capital punishment.

Dezhangfard, Hosseinaliarhani and Huebner were scheduled to be arraigned Monday afternoon with the others due to make their initial appearances Tuesday, Simmons said.

Shibata and Hyde were living together as a couple in San Juan Capistrano, according to the prosecutor, who said Shibata was also dating Rios at the time the married father was killed.

Shibata allegedly asked Rios to meet her in a remote area near a bike path in San Juan Capistrano early July 12, Simmons said.

All of the defendants were there when Rios was attacked and left for dead, the prosecutor said.

A jogger found the body the next day and called sheriff’s deputies.

–City News Service 

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Photo via Pixabay

A Jan. 17 trial date was set Thursday for a Palmdale couple charged with capital murder in the beating death of the woman’s 8-year- old son.

Pearl Sinthia Fernandez, 32, and Isauro Aguirre, 36, were indicted in July 2014 on a murder charge with the special circumstance allegation of torture in the May 2013 death of her son, Gabriel Fernandez.

The boy’s death death triggered investigations into the county’s child welfare system and resulted in criminal charges against two former county social workers and two of their supervisors.

The prosecution announced last summer that the death penalty would be sought against Fernandez and Aguirre, who were initially charged in May 2013.

Prosecutors took the case to the grand jury to avoid continued delays in the case, Deputy District Attorney Jon Hatami said in 2014.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge George G. Lomeli noted that Fernandez’s attorneys had asked that the trial be postponed to April, but said he was “not inclined” to grant a continuance.

“Three years is ample time to work on this,” Lomeli told the attorneys, noting that they will still have several more months to prepare for the trial.

Fernandez and Aguirre, who are jailed without bail, are accused of inflicting multiple injuries on the boy. The prosecution alleges that the child suffered a fractured skull, several broken ribs and was burned.

Los Angeles County Fire Department personnel were sent May 22, 2013, to a home in the 200 block of East Avenue Q-10 in response to a call that the boy was not breathing. He was declared brain-dead that day, but not taken off life support until two days later.

Two former Los Angeles County social workers — Stefanie Rodriguez, 31, and Patricia Clement, 66, and their supervisors, Kevin Bom, 37, and Gregory Merritt, 60 — were charged earlier this year with one felony count each of child abuse and falsifying public records.

The four pleaded not guilty last week after a Los Angeles Superior Court judge rejected a bid to dismiss the case based on the defense’s claim that the statute of limitations for the charges arising from Fernandez’s death had expired.

Rodriguez, Clement, Bom and Merritt are due back in court Aug. 25, when a date is scheduled to be set for a hearing to determine if there is enough evidence to require them to stand trial.

Earlier this week, the Los Angles County Board of Supervisors voted to approve a settlement with the boy’s family, who had filed a wrongful death lawsuit. Details of the settlement are expected to be finalized in October.

–City News Service 

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Photo via Pixabay

A prolific burglar-turned-murderer, who was behind bars for the 1980 killings of a Santa Monica couple when he was linked to the 1972 slaying of an elderly Hollywood woman, was sentenced Friday to a potential life prison term.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Laura F. Priver noted that Harold Holman, now 70, has to serve a minimum of seven years in prison before he is eligible for parole under sentencing guidelines in place at the time of Helen Meyler’s Aug. 27, 1972, bludgeoning death.

“This case will give them (state parole officials) plenty to keep him in state prison for the rest of his life. He’s never going to get out,” Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman said outside court.

Holman was convicted July 13 of first-degree murder.

DNA evidence from a blanket found at the scene of Meyler’s killing was linked to Holman after the Los Angeles Police Department’s Cold Case unit re- opened an investigation into the crime, resulting in his arrest last year, the prosecutor said.

He was serving a 45-year prison sentence at the time for the January 1980 bludgeoning deaths of 67-year-old Gertrude Forst and her 72-year-old husband, Otto, in their eighth-floor unit in a Santa Monica apartment building.

Holman is a “horrible person” who attacked a “79-year-old completely vulnerable, innocent victim” and “deserves to die in state prison,” the deputy district attorney told the judge.

Nikki Meyler Miller told the judge that her grandmother “spent much of her life helping others” and had moved to a security apartment building because she felt exposed and unsafe after her husband’s death shortly after their 50th wedding anniversary.

“Her death was devastating to our family,” she said, noting that her grandmother had decided to stay home from a family vacation at the last minute. Her body was discovered when a family member came to pick her up for church.

“Two of her children and two of her grandchildren have passed, but when the detectives told us they had identified the killer, we were all relieved to find out he had been in prison for most of those years,” Miller said. “And that is all we are asking for now — to keep him in prison until he is no longer breathing, and prevent any parole or compassionate release at any time, now or ever.”

Holman — who complained that he had not properly been defended during his trial and objected to being “part of a media blitz” as a result of a TV camera being allowed in court — was taken back in a wheelchair to a courtroom lockup to listen to the proceedings through a speaker.

Silverman said it was a “perfect example of a case that would never have been solved but for the DNA evidence.”

The widow, who lived alone in a second-floor apartment in a secured building, was found dead in bed with a pillow covering her head, the prosecutor said. Meyler’s apartment had been ransacked, and her assailant had likely entered through a sliding-glass window.

The woman was bludgeoned with a candelabra that had been a 50th anniversary gift from her husband, Silverman said outside court.

During an interview in state prison in December 2014, Holman admitted to LAPD detectives that he had been involved in a series of similar crimes, including the killings of the Forsts, and acknowledged that he had “made a career out of being a high-rise burglar,” Silverman said. Law enforcement referred to the culprit as “Spider-Man,” she said.

Holman said during the prison interview that he had special shoes with suction cups on them and that he wore night-vision goggles during the burglaries, LAPD Detective Richard Bengtson testified during the trial.

Holman was initially arrested in 1975 after an LAPD surveillance team that was looking into a series of high-rise residential burglaries watched him scale the outside of a 14-story apartment building and move from balcony to balcony, Silverman said. He was in custody for several years before resuming his criminal activity, the prosecutor said.

Along with the killings of the Forsts, Holman was involved in two other break-ins in January 1980 — one in which he shot and killed a woman’s 12-year- old Dachshund and the other in which a woman locked herself in a bathroom and screamed for help, Silverman told jurors. The latter resulted in a manhunt in which a Santa Monica police K9 was called in to help Los Angeles police apprehend him.

Holman’s attorney, Robin L. Baessler, called it a “tragic case,” but urged jurors to keep an open mind about “whether or not there is reasonable doubt for the charged crime.”

She noted that Meyler was killed 44 years ago in a crime without any eyewitnesses and that Holman was never considered a suspect until LAPD cold case detectives re-opened the case.

—City News Service

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Jim McDonnell is the new L.A. County sheriff. Photo by John Schreiber.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Jim McDonnell issued a formal apology Tuesday to a man who spent 20 years in prison before his murder conviction was overturned and who claimed a sheriff’s deputy had steered a witness to identify him as the shooter.

Francisco “Franky” Carrillo Jr. was convicted of killing Donald Sarpy in a 1991 drive-by attack in an area of Lynwood that was home to two rival gangs. Carrillo was 16 at the time.

“On behalf of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, I extend our apology to Mr. Francisco Carrillo Jr.,” McDonnell said in a statement. “Every defendant deserves due process under the law.”

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors agreed last month to pay out $10.1 million to Carrillo to settle a lawsuit he brought against the Sheriff’s Department. It is the third largest settlement to be paid out in the last 10 years.

A gang member who served as a key witness “believed that the shooter was a rival gang member” and picked Carrillo out of a “gang book” of 140 photos on the night of the shooting, according to a summary provided to the board. The witness then re-identified Carrillo from a “six-pack” photo array.

Five other witnesses looked at the photo array just before Carrillo’s preliminary hearing — about six months after the shooting — and chose Carrillo’s photo before testifying at trial that he was the gunman, according to that summary.

However, at a 2011 hearing to reconsider Carrillo’s conviction, eyewitnesses admitted that they couldn’t really see the gunman’s face. The first witness had already recanted his identification, saying he was convinced someone else was the shooter.

Defense attorneys said two other men had since confessed to the crime, though those men refused to testify and incriminate themselves, according to the Santa Clara University School of Law.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Paul A. Bacigalupo ordered Carrillo’s release, concluding that “the eyewitness evidence against him was either false, tainted or both.”

Carrillo subsequently sued the Sheriff’s Department, arguing that former Deputy Craig Ditsch had steered the first witness’ identification.

That witness had randomly selected several photos from the gang book, but was told each time by Ditsch that his selection “could not be the suspect,” according to court documents. When the witness picked Carrillo, Ditsch told him he’d made the “right choice.”

The witness said Ditsch threatened him when he later decided to recant, according to the court.

Ditsch testified during trial that witnesses often recant for fear of being seen as “snitches” and said the witness changed his story after being sent to jail.

Though the District Attorney’s Office chose not to retry Carrillo, county attorneys challenged his lawsuit. The county argued that Ditsch and the department were immune from prosecution because the law was unclear in 1991 about whether police, and not just prosecutors, had to disclose exonerating evidence.

A federal appeals panel ruled last August that law enforcement personnel could be held liable — in Carrillo’s case and another unrelated case — because the law requiring police to turn over exonerating evidence was well established and would have been understood by any reasonable police officer.

Eyewitness testimony is a leading cause of wrongful convictions.

In a “corrective action plan” submitted to the board, county employees concluded that the primary cause of the problem was that five of the witnesses were not shown the photo array until six months after the shooting. The plan also acknowledged that training and policies regarding suspect identification were inadequate.

New policy was formally set in 2016 that aims to prevent undue influence on witnesses and limit communication between witnesses.

“Ensuring that criminal investigations are thorough, unbiased and accurate is critical to maintaining public trust. It is unacceptable for any person to be improperly convicted of a crime,” McDonnell said today. “Although the criminal justice system will never be perfect, my expectations of Sheriff’s personnel are that investigations are of the highest quality, serve the interests of justice impartially and are consistent with proven investigative methods.”

–City News Service

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Erick Julian Ortega. via http://www.redondo.org/.

An ex-con who penned rap lyrics describing details of a killing — but denied any involvement — was sentenced Wednesday to 94 years to life in state prison for the gang-related murder of a father of two who was shot in the back in Redondo Beach.

Superior Court Judge Mark Arnold imposed the term on Erick Julian Ortega, 30, who was convicted June 28 of first-degree murder for the June 21, 2013, shooting death of Bobby Reynolds.

The jury also convicted Ortega of being a felon in possession of a firearm, and found that he committed the crime for the benefit of a criminal street gang.

Ortega was arrested in May 2014 after authorities got a tip that he had fled to Utah, where he was working as a dishwasher in a restaurant. Ortega’s tattoos, inked across his body, helped  identify him to the tipster, who had seen an FBI wanted poster online, according to authorities.

Ortega refused to identify himself when agents from the FBI’s Salt Lake City office showed up with a warrant for his arrest. He was carrying identification bearing his photo with someone else’s name, authorities said.

During a search of the room he had been renting, investigators found rap lyrics describing shooting someone five times in the back and disappearing “like Houdini,” Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Turk said.

Reynolds, 38, was shot four times in the back and suffered a graze wound to the head five days after being asked where he was from, according to the prosecutor.

Ortega, who testified in his own defense, contended that another man committed the crime and that the shooter later told him details about the killing.

–City News Service 

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Los Angeles County Superior Court. Photo by John Schreiber.

A state appeals court panel Wednesday upheld the murder conviction of a former Orange County resident who repeatedly shot his estranged wife in the head outside the Montebello restaurant where she worked.

The three-justice panel from California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal rejected the defense’s contention that jurors in Arthur Andrew Andrade Jr.‘s trial were erroneously given one instruction and should have been given a separate instruction.

Andrade was convicted in December 2014 of first-degree murder for the March 16, 2013, killing of his estranged wife, Esperanza, who was shot six times in the head while sitting in her car in a parking lot outside the eatery.

The shooting was captured on a video surveillance camera outside the restaurant.

Deputy District Attorney Pallavi Dhawan told jurors that the victim had obtained a restraining order against Andrade and hoped “to be left in peace.”

The prosecutor said the evidence showed that the killing was planned by the Tustin man.

Defense attorney Dale K. Galipo said when his client’s wife told him she never loved him, was sleeping with another man and had only used him to get documentation to stay in the United States legally, Andrade was pushed beyond his limits.

“Art lost it, he totally lost it,” the attorney said after suggesting that Andrade brought the gun with him because he may have planned to kill himself.

Andrade was sentenced in February 2015 to 50 years to life in state prison after Los Angeles Superior Court Judge William Sterling refused to reduce the conviction to second-degree murder or manslaughter.

“I looked at that (surveillance) video over and over,” the judge said, relating how Andrade stuck a gun in the back waistband of his pants and then looked around for possible witnesses before approaching his estranged wife.

“I think the evidence is more than sufficient. I think it’s powerful,” the judge said. “I think he made a clear decision to kill her.”

–City News Service 

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Photo by Gustavo Castillo [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Samuel Calvario was able to evade authorities for so long by assuming a new identity, LAPD Officer Deen Alcaraz told the Los Angeles Times Thursday.

His arrest at his place of work last week was the result of a tip from a woman who left a voice message for police. She said she was  browsing the “most wanted” section of the Los Angeles Police Department’s website when she spotted a photo of a man she recognized, The Times reported.

The crime attributed to Calvario took place at about 9 p.m. on Nov. 9, 2000, when 31-year-old Daniel Felix saw Calvario and his girlfriend arguing inside a white truck, police said, according to The Times. Felix intervened in the dispute, prompting Calvario to shoot him, Alcaraz told The Times. After the shooting, police found marijuana in the white truck, which Calvario had abandoned.

Calvario faces charges of murder, assault with a firearm, kidnapping and transportation of marijuana, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office. He’s due in court Aug. 10.

Police urged anyone with additional information about the case to call Newton Division detectives at (323) 846-6556.

—City News Service

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Los Angeles County Superior Court. Photo by John Schreiber.

A state appellate court panel Thursday upheld a gang member’s conviction for murdering a 22-month-old boy and the toddler’s uncle, who were struck by stray gunfire in South Los Angeles five years ago.

The three-justice panel from California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal rejected the defense’s contention that a trial court judge erred in denying the defense’s motion to suppress Davion McClelland’s statements about his gang affiliation to police five weeks before the May 23, 2011, shooting deaths of Joshua Montes and his uncle, Josefat Canchola.

The justices also rejected the defense’s claims that there were other errors in McClelland’s trial in Los Angeles Superior Court.

McClelland was convicted in September 2014 of two counts of first-degree murder, along with two counts of attempted murder involving the intended targets. Jurors also found true a special circumstance allegation of multiple murders, along with gang and gun allegations.

Deputy District Attorney Russell Moore told jurors that McClelland and an accomplice rode bicycles into neighboring gang turf in an effort to locate rival gang members and that one of the two began firing at two men, who hid behind a car.

None of the shots hit their intended targets, but the toddler and his 46- year-old uncle — who was holding the boy — were struck by the same bullet, which went across the street, through a vacant lot, through a fence and into a backyard, the prosecutor said.

The toddler died the same day, and Canchola died two days later.

In his closing argument, defense attorney Marc Lewinstein countered, “My position is he wasn’t there. They haven’t proved he was there.”

McClelland’s attorney said there was “enormous pressure” on police to solve the case, telling jurors that authorities had to “make the case fit” after McClelland’s arrest.

McClelland was sentenced in December 2014 to a pair of consecutive life prison terms without the possibility of parole.

–City News Service 

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Photo via Pixabay

A transient accused of killing a woman he was dating and dumping her body in a West Hollywood trash bin pleaded not guilty Thursday to a murder charge.

Abdulla Tario Camran, 29, is charged in the July 6 killing of Joie Nicole Kinney. The 28-year-old woman’s body was discovered that day across from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in the 8700 block of Beverly Boulevard.

Authorities have not said how Kinney was killed.

Camran, who was charged with murder on July 14 and taken into custody five days later, is due back in court Aug. 25.

He faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

–City News Service 

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Photo via Pixabay

A Palmdale woman pleaded not guilty Wednesday to murder and other charges stemming from the death of a 5-month-old boy who was left in her care.

Brittany Ann Ingrassi, 20, is charged with one count each of murder, assault on a child causing death, assault on a child becoming comatose and child abuse of Aiden Lopez, along with allegations that Ingrassi personally inflicted great bodily and that the child was under 5.

The baby was left in Ingrassi’s care at a Lancaster home the morning of March 22, Deputy District Attorney Keri Knittel said in April.

The boy’s mother returned home that evening and was allegedly met by Ingrassi outside the home and was made aware that the baby was not breathing, the prosecutor said.

The boy’s mother called 911, and the baby was taken to a local hospital, where he died four days later.

Defense attorney Nancy Mazza contended in April that the baby had scratches that “could be consistent with a dog attack,”  while the prosecutor countered that there was “no evidence consistent with their theory,” according to an ABC7 report.

Ingrassi — who remains jailed in lieu of $1 million bail — is due back in a Lancaster courtroom Sept. 7 for a hearing to determine whether there is enough evidence to require her to stand trial.

If convicted as charged, she could face up to 25 years to life in state prison, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

–City News Service 

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Photo via Pixabay

A man was found guilty Friday of first-degree murder for the fatal stabbing of a man at the Port of Long Beach 14 years ago.

Stewart Teofilo, 40, of Patterson, was convicted of the June 24, 2002, killing of 33-year-old San Gabriel resident Maurice Howard.

Sentencing is set for Sept. 1.

Howard’s body was found inside his vehicle near Pier E in the Port of Long Beach. He had stab wounds to his head, upper body and torso area.

Several years later, cold case investigators submitted evidence to the Los Angeles County Crime Lab for DNA testing.

In May 2014, detectives received information that a DNA profile resulted in a match to Teofilo, who was then living in the Central Valley.

–City News Service

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Photo via Pixabay

A state appeals court panel Monday reversed one of two murder convictions of a Signal Hill man who was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for a 1996 killing in Whittier and another slaying in Long Beach in 2007.

The three-justice panel from California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal reversed Jeffrey Keith Means’ 2014 second-degree murder conviction for the June 1996 bludgeoning death of 48-year-old Hal Dean Shaw.

The reversal was based on testimony by a supervisor about blood found on the defendant’s shoes. The panel found that it amounted to hearsay because the supervisor did not prepare the relevant reports.

“The extent to which witnesses may testify in criminal trials about the results of scientific testing that they did not personally perform is an issue that has vexed federal and state courts since the United States Supreme Court decided Crawford v. Washington … in 2004,” Justice Victoria Gerrard Chaney wrote in the opinion.

The panel found that Means, now 51, had the right to confront witnesses against him and that the lower court erred in allowing the reports and data about the shoes into evidence over the defense’s objection.

The supervising criminalist did not do his own analysis, but only testified to the contents of his subordinate’s reports, according to court documents.

Chaney cited People v. Leon, noting that issues regarding the right to confrontation may arise when an expert “simply recites portions of a report prepared by someone else, or when such a report is itself admitted into evidence.”

Means also appealed his first-degree murder conviction for the fatal stabbing of 67-year-old Ronald Henry in his Long Beach apartment, arguing that there was insufficient evidence of premediation.

The panel found “sufficient substantial evidence” to support the jury’s verdict and affirmed that conviction, for which Means is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole.

–City News Service

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A man convicted of fatally shooting his 68-year-old wife at their Canyon Country home and then killing his ailing 59-year-old sister at a North Hills nursing facility was sentenced Wednesday to 100 years to life in state prison.

Superior Court Judge Hayden Zacky — who heard the case after Lance Anderson waived his right to a jury trial — found the 63-year-old man guilty July 19 of two counts of first-degree murder for the Dec. 11, 2013, killings of his wife, Bertha Anderson, and his sister, Lisa Nave.

The judge also found true an allegation that Anderson intentionally discharged a firearm causing death.

Deputy District Attorney Julie Kramer argued in court that Anderson tried to control both women and killed the two in an ultimate form of control.

Anderson shot his sister in the head in bed at Country Villa Sheraton Convalescent and Rehabilitation Hospital, according to police.

The woman was able to breathe on her own, but was unable to move and had to be fed through a feeding tube, according to Ricardo Santiago of the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.

Anderson set the gun down, walked into a patio area and waited for police to arrive, according to police.

Upon hearing what had happened at the nursing facility, Nave’s family became concerned about Anderson’s wife, police said. Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies found Bertha Anderson dead at the couple’s home.

Anderson told detectives that his wife was depressed, had anxiety and was having trouble adjusting to menopause, according to Santiago.

–City News Service

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