Results tagged “highland” from Inland Empire Courts

A jury found a second defendant guilty Friday in the 2005 robbery and fatal shooting of a Highland store owner and a clerk.

Jurors reached the verdicts late Thursday -- three days after hearing lawyers' closing arguments and seeing a compelling security video of the shooting, according to prosecutors.

Court personnel announced the verdicts Friday afternoon in San Bernardino Superior Court, as rows of family and friends of the victims looked on.

By Mike Cruz on December 5, 2008 10:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) |

A jury has reached verdicts for a second defendant in a Highland liquor and video store robbery in 2005 that left a store owner and clerk dead, court officials announced.

The verdicts on charges against Darwin Lamont Richardson will be read at 1:30 p.m. today in San Bernardino Superior Court. The jury reached the verdicts late yesterday, but court officials scheduled them to be announced this afternoon, said Deputy District Attorney Dan Detienne.

A separate jury, in the same case, found co-defendant Christopher Turelle White guilty on similar charges earlier this week. White was found guilty of two counts of murder, two counts of second-degree robbery and multiple special allegations, including using a firearm during the acts and committing multiple murders.

Mike Cruz, Staff Writer
Posted: 12/02/2008 10:07:01 PM PST

It took less than a day for a jury to find Christopher Turelle White guilty on all charges in the March 2005 robbery and deadly shooting of Cee Vee Liquor store owner Steven Hall and clerk Brian Gregorio in Highland.

A separate jury was still deliberating about a second defendant, 22-year-old Darwin Lamont Richardson.

Closing arguments were given by the lawyers Monday in San Bernardino Superior Court. White's jury reached verdicts later that day, but court officials announced the verdicts Tuesday.

After less than a day, a jury has found Christopher Turelle White guilty on all charges in the March 2005 robbery and deadly shooting of Cee Vee Liquor store owner Steven Hall and clerk Brian Gregorio in Highland.

Lawyers are still awaiting verdicts for a second defendant, 22-year-old Darwin Lamont Richardson, who has a separate jury.

Closing arguments in the case were given by the lawyers Monday, however White's jury reached verdicts later that day. Court officials waited until this morning to announce the verdicts in San Bernardino Superior Court.

Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Posted: 12/01/2008 10:06:00 PM PST

SAN BERNARDINO - The surveillance video played over and over before the juries, showing the final moments in the lives of Steve Hall and Brian Gregorio.

The two were shot to death during a notorious robbery at Cee Vee's Liquor and Couch Potato Video in Highland the night of March 16, 2005.

Family and friends of the two victims choked back tears as the video played Monday during closing arguments in the murder trial of suspects Christoper Turelle White and Darwin Lamont Richardson in San Bernardino Superior Court.

White, the 21-year-old alleged gunman, and Richardson, 22, were tried together, but they had separate juries. Both juries heard closing arguments Monday, White's in the morning and Richardson's in the afternoon.

Lawyers in the trial for two men suspected in the robbery and deadly shooting of a Highland store owner and his clerk rested their cases this week. Proceedings resume Monday, as jurors await closing arguments.

Deputy District Attorney Dan Detienne rested his case against Christopher Turelle White and Darwin Lamont Richardson on Monday morning in San Bernardino Superior Court, according to court records.

The defendants face charges in the deaths of Steve Hall, 54, and 25-year-old Brian Gregorio at Cee Vee Liquor and Couch Potato Video, in Highland, in March 2005.

Mike Cruz, Staff Writer
Posted: 11/25/2008 10:01:44 PM PST

The lawyer for a San Manuel tribal member who was recently sentenced in a murder conspiracy case downplayed his client's alleged violations of her probation as "small, technical issues" on Tuesday.

Stacy Barajas-Nunez was arrested Friday by sheriff's deputies on suspicion of trespassing on casino property. On Tuesday, she appeared in San Bernardino Superior Court for allegedly violating her probation.

San Manuel security contacted deputies after Barajas-Nunez was seen blocking a tribal road to pick up a friend, was in a parking lot and was at a guard station to fill out a complaint about an employee, authorities said.

Mike Cruz and Joe Nelson, Staff Writers
Posted: 11/22/2008 10:17:55 PM PST

A San Manuel tribal member who was sentenced to probation almost three weeks ago in a murder conspiracy case was back in jail Friday night after being arrested at the tribe's casino and could face at least a decade in state prison.

Casino security reportedly contacted sheriff's deputies after a disturbance developed involving Stacy Nunez-Barajas, who was sentenced earlier this month in San Bernardino Superior Court for her role in a murder conspiracy that was discovered by police and federal drug agents who were investigating the Mexican Mafia's drug trade in San Bernardino.

Nunez-Barajas, 26, was arrested about 9 p.m. on suspicion of trespassing at San Manuel Indian Bingo and Casino and booked into West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department.

She was being held without bail.

Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Posted: 11/25/2008 09:58:45 PM PST

SAN BERNARDINO - The victim of a murder conspiracy involving two San Manuel tribal members has filed a complaint with the county Probation Department, claiming a probation officer erroneously noted in reports that he was a gang member.

Highland attorney Frank Peterson filed the complaint Monday on behalf of Leonard Epps, who has sued San Manuel tribal members Stacy Barajas-Nunez, 26, her brother Erik Barajas, 36, and several others involved in a conspiracy to kill him. He is seeking $50 million in damages.

Epps, the former manager of the now closed Brass Key bar in Highland, alleges in the one-page complaint that information included in Probation Officer Jeremy Smith's reports, which indicate Epps is a gang member, is inaccurate.

Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 11/17/2008 10:45:14 PM PST

HIGHLAND - The killings were cold and callous - two lives taken for a little money and some lottery tickets.

On March 16, 2005, two men walked into Cee Vee's Liquor Store and Couch Potato Video in the 7700 block of Palm Avenue, and robbed, at gunpoint, 54-year-old store owner Steve Hall and 25-year-old clerk Brian Gregorio. When it was all done, Hall and Gregorio lay dead from gunshot wounds.

Those wounds bled deep into the surrounding neighborhood and community. Many still speak of the crime as if it were yesterday.

Mike Cruz, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 11/17/2008 10:45:14 PM PST

SAN BERNARDINO - Store owner Steve Hall was a well-known fixture in the Highland community. Longtime customer Brian Gregorio later became a clerk at Hall's store while going to school.

A trial for two of the men charged with the deadly shooting of Hall, 54, and 25-year-old Gregorio during a robbery in March 2005 got under way Monday with lawyers' opening statements in San Bernardino Superior Court.

Prosecutors say evidence shows Darwin Lamont Richardson cased the Cee Vee Liquor and Couch Potato Video stores on Palm Avenue in Highland and then waited as a getaway driver while Christopher Turelle White and another man robbed the store at gunpoint.

Lawyers gave opening statements to jurors today in the trial for two men charged with a double homicide and robbery of a Highland liquor and video store in March 2005.

Defendants Christopher Turelle White and Darwin Lamont Richardson face charges in the deadly shooting of Cee Vee Liquor store owner Steve Hall, 54, and 25-year-old store clerk Brian Gregorio.

The dual-jury trial is being heard before Judge Brian McCarville in San Bernardino Superior Court. Each defendant has his own jury to hear evidence regarding his specific charges.

Lawyers have begun selecting jurors for an upcoming trial for two men charged with the deaths of a Highland covenience store owner and a clerk, according to court records.

Opening statements in the trial for Christopher Turelle White, 21, and Darwin Lamont Richardson, 22, are currently set for Nov. 17 in San Bernardino Superior Court, court officials confirmed.

White, Richardson and a third man face charges in the robbery and shooting deaths of store owner Steve Hall, 54, and clerk Brian Gregorio, 25, both of Highland, at Cee Vee's Liquor and Couch Potato Video in Highland in March 2005.

The mother of a teenage boy who died after being struck by a sheriff's deputy while riding his bicycle filed a lawsuit against the city, Sheriff's Department and county today alleging wrongful death.

In the lawsuit, seeking $3,000 for funeral expenses and general damages yet to be determined, Stacey McCombs alleges the unnamed deputy was speeding and blinded by a setting sun when he struck her son, Justin Ames, at the intersection of Ninth Street and Drummond Avenue the evening of Aug. 22.

The deputy was one of two responding to a call about 6:30 p.m. when the collision occurred. Neither of the deputies, both alleged to have been traveling between 50 and 60 mph, had their sirens or flashing lights on, and the posted speed limit was 35 mph, according to the lawsuit.

A trial could be as early as the first week of November for three men charged in the deadly shooting of two men during a robbery of a Highland liquor and video store in March 2005.

Store owner Steve Hall, 54, and a clerk, 25-year-old Brian Gregorio, both of Highland, died during the violent robbery at Cee Vee's Liquor and Couch Potato Video.

A trial for defendants Christopher Turelle White, 21, Darwin Lamont Richardson, 22, and Tristan Darnell Allan, 23, is set to begin Nov. 3.

By Joe Nelson on October 22, 2008 5:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) |

An attorney representing the mother of a 14-year-old Highland boy killed after he was struck by a sheriff's deputy's patrol car in August plans to file a lawsuit against the city of Highland, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department and the county no later than Friday.

The city and county have rejected a claim, the predecessor to a lawsuit, filed by San Bernardino attorney Mark McDonald in September. McDonald represents Stacey McCombs, mother of 14-year-old Justin Taylor Ames, who was struck by an unnamed Highland sheriff's deputy at the intersection of Ninth Street and Drummond Avenue on Aug. 22.

This much is fact: Two deputies responding to a disturbance call in the area passed through the intersection where Justin was struck. Justin and a friend were riding their bicycles south on Drummond Avenue about 6:30 p.m. The two deputies were headed west down Ninth Street.

By Joe Nelson on October 1, 2008 5:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Brass Key, once a popular haunt for San Manuel tribal members until it became associated with a murder conspiracy case involving its former manager, tribal members and the Mexican Mafia, has closed.

The Highland Avenue bar closed Aug. 15 and its owner, San Manuel tribal member Greg Duro, is looking for a buyer for the 1,880-square-foot building north of the 210 Freeway and west of Victoria Avenue, said Ted Desmet, a semi-retired restaurant consultant who is working with Duro on the sale of the property.

Duro, brother of former San Manuel tribal chairman Henry Duro and uncle of current tribal vice chairman Vince Duro, bought the property in March 2004 and spent $200,000 in renovations over the last two years. Those renovations include new tiled walls, six televisions, a state-of-the-art surveillance system, new karaoke equipment, all new booths and tables and a new bar with marble countertop, Desmet said.

By Joe Nelson on October 2, 2008 4:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A 64-year-old Highland man was charged with murder today on suspicion of shooting his former boss to death in a fast food restaurant earlier this week.

Jodie James "J.J." Sanders is also charged with a special allegation for firing a handgun multiple times at Robert Henry Jackson Jr., a 74-year-old San Bernardino man, according to San Bernardino Superior Court records.

Jackson died late Tuesday in a Jack in the Box parking lot on Highland and Del Rosa avenues.

SAN BERNARDINO - Two men will be sentenced in December after a jury found them guilty of murder charges in the 2002 shooting death of 21-year-old Steven Van Gestel.

Ernest Frank Chastain, 26, and Jorge Herrera, 31, are scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 12 in San Bernardino Superior Court, according to court records.

A jury found the pair guilty last week of murder charges and special allegations for the use of a handgun, records state.

Three men were ordered held to answer charges Monday in the deadly fight that claimed the life of 24-year-old Nicholas Mark Luque in December.
A judge ruled there was sufficient evidence to hold over for trial Eric Moreno Jr., Frank Paul Hernandez and Paul Vincent Matus during a preliminary hearing in San Bernardino Superior Court, confirmed Deputy District Attorney Dan Detienne.
Moreno, 20, Hernandez, 40, and Matus, 25, face charges of murder while Hernandez and Moreno also face a street gang allegation, Detienne said.
Luque, of Highland, was found dead Dec. 23, 2007 inside a house in the 26200 block of Cypress Avenue. Paramedics pronounced him dead at 1:07 a.m., authorities said.
A caller alerted Sheriff's personnel shortly after midnight that a person had been assaulted, officials said. Neighbors who heard a loud fight called deputies.