Recently in Homicide Category

Jesus Sedillo smiled and blew kisses at his family in the Long Beach courtroom before heading into the lock-up to begin the rest of his life in prison - without the possibility of ever getting out. He was sentenced today for the murders of Manuel Lopez, 17, of Wilmington on Sept. 23, 2006, in a car-to-pedestrian shooting at Bayview Avenue and F Street and Richard Romero, 18, of Wilmington, about six weeks later.

During the last crime, Sedillo wore a wolf mask as he shot from his car into the vehicle carrying Romero, his cousin Edward Villegas and his sister, Jessica Romero, near Pacific Coast Highway and Broad Avenue.

Full story will be up later on a contentious hearing on Sedillo's new trial motion and Romero's mother's tearful courtroom statement 

The law is pretty clear on what the difference is between first and second-degree murder. Well, clear to legal scholars, anyway. But even then, how that law is interpreted and applied to a set of facts is quite a subjective process. Getting 12 jurors to agree during that process can often be the backbone of a murder trial.

In closing arguments Tuesday in the capital murder trial for Miguel Magallon, Deputy District Attorney Darren Levine gave one of the clearest analogies I've ever heard in explaining the difference. Everyday, he said, when he leaves his office at the Civic Center, he must decide whether to walk a half-block up to the crosswalk, then a half-block back ... or merely hustle across several lanes of traffic. Complicating the decision is that police cars often park at a nearby Metro station.

Levine said when he pauses, looks toward the police cars to see if any cops are around, then proceeds across - he is guilty of first-degree jaywalking. It was willful, deliberate and premeditated. But when he simply just heads across without a thought to the consequences - even for a brief millisecond - that is second-degree jaywalking.

While Magallon's defense attorney, Victor Salerno, said the slaying of Los Angeles Police Capt. Michael Sparkes on Aug. 10, 2004, was a "classic case" of second-degree murder, Levine used the same term to argue that the deadly confrontation on the street near Carson was first-degree murder. In the end, it's up to the jury.

By Denise Nix
Staff Writer
In murdering his mistress, who he believed was pregnant, in her Hawthorne apartment, Ricky Madison would stop "for no one or nothing," a judge said Friday before sentencing Madison to die.
As Judge James Dabney told Madison of his fate, the robust and shackled 49-year-old rocked gently in his chair, causing a soft clink.
Otherwise, Madison showed no reaction to his punishment for killing Aysha Sly, 27, who was stabbed 172 times in her apartment in the 12200 block of Manor Drive on Dec. 5, 2006.
But for the shackles and Dabney's quick and clear voice as he read from the death warrant he would later sign, the Airport Courthouse courtroom was still and quiet.
Outside of court, Sly's mother described feeling a release of relief as Dabney ordered Madison to death row.
"He got what he deserved," said Rosalind James.

Back in 2007, when Phillip Michael Dorsett went on trial for the June 16, 2005, shooting death of Jesse Fujino, 18, in Inglewood, it struck us as a strange case of a seemingly rich kid from The Hill who found a life of crime down below. I don't remember but the specifics of why, but I do remember there being a lot of fall-out from Dorsett's family after we ran an article about his conviction (after the jump).

Last month, the 2nd District Court of Appeal upheld Dorsett's second-degree murder conviction, but said the prosecutor did not present enough evidence to support the allegation he committed the murder for the benefit of a criminal street gang. The appellate court said he could not be re-tried on the allegations because doing so would be double-jeopardy. The end result, though, doesn't change things much as far as Dorsett's 40 years to life in prison sentence goes.

Aysha Sly's family was in Judge James Dabney's Airport Courthouse courtroom this morning awaiting to hear what he would do with Ricky Madison - send him to death row or order to spend the rest of his life in prison without parole for Sly's Dec. 5, 2006, violent death in Hawthorne. But Madison's attorney called in sick, so the whole thing got put over until Friday, July 17. I plan to return again...

To read more about the case, follow the jump.

Opening statements are underway in a downtown courtroom in the murder trial against Miguel Magallon, who is accused of killing Los Angeles Police Captain Michael Sparkes on a street corner near Gardena in 2004.

So far, Deputy District Attorney Darren Levine has laid out his case against Magallon, who is facing the death penalty. Magallon turned 26 today.

Before the jury was brought in, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Kathleen Kennedy said she had some security concerns. Magallon, it seems, is not behaving himself in jail. Over the weekend, he slashed a jailer who was attempting to save another inmate from being killed by Magallon and another inmate. The deputy was slashed on the hand with some kind of razor that was flushed down the toilet before the cell could be searched. Magallon will spend the trial with one leg shackled, over his attorney's objections - who said Magallon has had no problems during the three weeks it took to pick a jury.

"The defendant hasn't attacked anybody in court ... yet," Kennedy replied, raising the ire of defense attorney Victor Salerno.

Magallon, who appeared in a blue dress shirt and a shaved head, looked back over his shoulder to someone sitting in the packed courtroom audience and smiled.

Opening statements began with Deputy District Attorney Darren Levine telling the jury that, really, the case is pretty simple:

-There's a co-defendant who told the whole story to the police and during a preliminary hearing. Orvis Anthony said they set out to do a robbery and Magallon saw Sparkes riding his bicycle and wanted to "jack" him. Anthony's previous testimony will be read to the jury.

-There's the AK-47 assault rifle, recovered from Anthony's gang "stash" car ouside his Gardena residence. Ballistics, DNA and gunshot residue all tie Magallon to the military-style assault weapon used by U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.

-Before dying, Sparkes fired off 16 rounds from his handgun - hitting Magallon in the torso and "marking him for life," Levine said.

-The jury will also hear Sparkes 911 call, made as he lay bleeding on the ground after the first round of shootings and before being fired on moments later from the same suspects on the car.

"Officer down!" Sparkes yelled. "Help me, Jesus.... Come on man, they had, they killed me."

Sparkes was the head of security at County-Harbor UCLA Medical Center, and was on his way to work on his red Schwin before dawn when he was killed.

Trial will resume this afternoon with Salerno's opening statement, The guilt phase is expected to last until late next week. If convicted, there will be a penalty phase.

The LA Weekly last week launched its Murder was the Case blog. It's introductory paragraph says it aims to write about every homicide in the City of Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles Times took on a similar charge a couple years ago with its Homicide Report, which attempts to document every homicide in the County as reported by the Coroner's Department. The Times' blog proved very successful in its first year, and very tiring for it's original keeper. Now, it seems several people contribute.

 

Considering how many trials - including murder trials - I sit through, it's rare that I think one would make great fodder for book or a Law & Order episode. But the trial that started yesterday for Gorgonio Gonzalez has enough twists and mystery to be pretty riveting.

As usual, way more happened in court than I could possibly fit into one newspaper article. 

In an interesting move to show Gonzalez is not the killer, Salvador Alcantar, the defense team of Michael Brush and Loredana Nesci (who calls herself the Legal Diva and has a myspace page), are trying to prove that descriptions of Alcantar do not match those of their client. For instance, Alcantar's former girlfriend, Marie Sandoval, testified he was about 5-feet, 9-inches tall. Brush, claiming to stand 5-feet, 10-inches, had his client stand next to himself and Nesci, who he said is 5-feet, 5-inches. It was clear the defendant was only an inch or two taller than Nesci.

I found this curious, so I used my iPhone to check the Sheriff's Department inmate Web site. Gonzalez is listed 5-feet, 10-inches tall on his booking documents. Hmmmm....

During opening statements, Nesci told the jury she'll show Gonzalez is not Alcantar because Alcantar had tattoos. However, Sandoval said she did not recall Alcantar having any ink.

Nesci ran into some hurdles during her opening by going places she just wasn't allowed to. For instance, she told the jury that her client's "life is now on the line here," earning her an objection from the prosecutor and a sidebar with the judge. Lawyers can't say anything that would suggest to the jury that they can consider penalty in their deliberations. Judge James Brandlin also stopped her as she started to argue the law as it pertains to reasonable doubt - also not appropriate during opening statements.

Noticing I was there, Brandlin - who already instructed the jury not to read anything published about the trial - asked the jurors if any of them read the Daily Breeze. Four of the 14 panelists (including two alternates) raised their hands.

Wow. So, knowing now that only about 28 percent of the community reads the paper, I would like to say to you, dear reader: "Thanks for reading! It's good for you, good for us and good for the community!"

 

The jury deliberated a few hours before finding Timothy Burnett guilty of first-degree murder and allegations he used a knife. Here's today's story on the closing arguments. Will have a new story on the verdict later.

Torrance Superior Court Judge Eric Taylor's courtroom was pretty filled yesterday for the reading of the verdicts in Joe Nino and Miguel Torres' trial. About two-thirds of the audience were their family members, while the other third were family and friends of the dead man - Juan Vasquez.

Before the verdicts were read, the audience was silent. A few women on the defendants' side held their hands as if they were in prayer. One woman cupped rosary beads between her hands.

Meanwhile, more than a dozen bailiffs took posts around the courtroom. "Try and control your emotions, no outbursts please," one of them told the crowd. "It's most important that you remain seated so the deputies don't interpret anything." Everyone's cellular telephones were confiscated - a move I've never seen before - to keep onlookers from contacting anyone outside the courtroom. After the verdicts were read, jurors were whisked away out a back door and no one from the courtroom could leave. Vasquez's family was dismissed 20 minutes later, the defendants' family members were allowed to go about 10 minutes after them. It didn't appear that there was any trouble.

Even during the first trial and before, this was an emotionally-driven case with the defendants' supporters vehemently proclaiming Nino's and Torres' innocence and informant Erick Velasquez's guilt. The comments following today's story will give you a pretty good taste of that debate.

Previous entries are here.