Carson Capital Case So, So Close To Starting
It's been about a year and a half since a nearly retired Carson gas station attendant and his trainee were gunned-down during a robbery attempt. Trial was expected to begin today with opening statements before two juries who will decide the capital murder cases against Eric Sanford, 17, and Adam Loza, 24. (A third defendant, Julio Perez, 24, will have his trial with his own jury after this one finishes). But a medical emergency for the Compton Superior Court judge forced a postponement until tomorrow.
While all three Los Angeles men are charged with the special circumstances of murder during a robbery, none are facing the death penalty. If found guilty of the charge, though, they each face a mandatory life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Eduardo Rocco, 74, of Carson and Esther Arteaga, 32, of Wilmington, were killed in the predawn hours of Nov. 4, 2006, at the service station at Avalon Boulevard and 223rd Street. Rocco, a retired ship captain who immigrated from the Philippines, was shot as he tried to stop the crime. Arteaga's slaying left a then 7-year-old girl without her mother.
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About the Blogger
Larry Altman has covered crime in the South Bay since 1990. He's seen it all - the missing model who turned up dead in the desert, the wives found dead in trunks, the high-school coaches who get a little too close to their players. He drives his young colleagues nuts with his "I remember when" stories. He welcomes your tips and observations about the present, and you can mix in a little Lakers basketball talk if you like.
E-mail Larry at larry.altman@dailybreeze.com.
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About the Blogger
Denise Nix knew as young as grade school, when she spent every summer working on the camp newspaper, that she wanted to be a journalist. Denise has spent most of the last 12 years of her career in the courtroom. She joined the Daily Breeze in 2001, where she tracks and reports on hundreds of cases at every level of the justice system. And she's never, ever, seen a judge use a gavel.
E-mail Denise at denise.nix@dailybreeze.com.
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I can't believe this terrible crime is just now getting into the courtroom. I knew of the 17 year old through my volunteer work with a youth sports program. This young man seemed to have little or no support at all at home. I think every adult in the program tried to take this young man under their wing. He tried out for baseball, basketball, football, and track, always with a volunteer paying his fees. He lived right across the street from the park, and yet we still could not get him to come to practice, stay at practice, or show up at the meeting place to be transported on game day. I find it such a lost. People will think no one tried to help this young man, but plenty people did. This just will make us try harder for the next kid. I will be following this case, please keep us updated.