May 2010 Archives

POMONA -- A Jan. 3 trial date was set this morning in the lawsuit filed by a woman who alleges she was raped by retired NFL kicker Tony Zendejas.

The woman accuses Zendejas, 50, of drugging her during a night of drinking at his San Dimas restaurant in January 2008, then raping her at a nearby motel.

Zendejas was acquitted by a jury last year in his criminal case. He testified during his trial that he and the woman had consensual sex.

This morning's hearing in Pomona Superior Court was the first in the woman's civil case, which she filed against Zendejas in January.

The woman is seeking unspecified monetary damages from Zendejas. She accuses Zendejas of negligence, battery, sexual battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Judge Peter J. Meeka ordered attorneys for both sides to meet with a mediator before their next court date -- Dec. 21 -- to discuss the possibility of settling the case.

The attorneys told the judge they estimate a trial in the civil case would take five or six days.

Michael Payne, the attorney for Zendejas' accuser, told the judge that as many as five expert witnesses might testify on behalf of Zendejas' accuser if the case goes to trial.

After the hearing, Zendejas' attorney, Timothy Younger, said Zendejas will not settle the case, and is willing take the case to trial again.

"We expect to get the same result we got in the criminal trial," Younger said.

In an interview after the hearing, Payne downplayed Zendejas' refusal to consider a settlement.

"If it turns out that he's not interested in a settlement at that time, then so be it," Payne said. "It might be that my client's not interested in a settlement."

The woman alleges Zendejas served her a drink containing a date-rape drug at Zendejas Mexican Restaurant, 665 W. Arrow Highway, causing her to slip in and out of consciousness.

After she alleges she was drugged, the woman -- identified in court documents as Jane Doe -- claims Zendejas raped her at the nearby Red Roof Inn.

After his acquittal on criminal charges, Zendejas filed a lawsuit in federal court against the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and the lead investigator in his case, claiming that officials violated his civil rights.

That case is now in the "early discovery phase," Younger said.

Zendejas, a Chino native, played for four different NFL teams from 1985 to 1995, including four seasons with the Los Angeles Rams.

POMONA -- Attorneys may give opening statements Tuesday in the Pomona Superior Court murder trial of parolee Joseph Gary Orta.

Orta, 36, is accused of fatally stabbing his cousin's 22-year-old wife two years ago and leaving her body in a van that was abandoned beside Pomona City Hall.

Eileen Nicole Ponce-Orta's family members discovered the Covina woman's body in the van in February 2008 after police notified them that their vehicle had been abandoned.

Ponce-Orta's mother, Tracy Ponce, said attorneys in the case have begun the jury selection phase of the trial, and are expected to finish choosing a jury on Tuesday.

RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- A judge rejected a plea agreement this week for a pastor who pleaded no contest last month to felony bigamy charges.

Judge Shala S. Sabet said Thursday that a six-month jail sentence for Melvin Lynn Silas -- as Silas and prosecutors had agreed to in the plea bargain -- was not long enough.

Sabet said she felt a two-year prison term would be more appropriate, said Silas' prosecutor, Deputy District Attorney Theodore J. Smith III.

Silas, a 55-year-old former Upland resident, is the pastor of Church of the Great I Am in Bellflower.

He and his wife of separated in 2007, and prosecutors allege Silas married another woman the following year while still legally married to his wife.

Silas appeared in West Valley Superior Court on Thursday for sentencing.

During the hearing, his former wife spoke in court and said she believed Silas deserved a longer sentence, said Smith, who was not in court but reviewed another prosecutor's notes.

Sabet, citing the wife's comments as well as Silas' extensive criminal record, rejected the plea agreement and set a new court date for June 2, Smith said.

CHINO - A man accused of fatally stabbing his estranged wife in the street in Chino Hills this week was incensed over support payments he was ordered to make in the couple's divorce, according to court records obtained Thursday.

As Samir Wahid stabbed Iman Wahid Tuesday after chasing her down Sedona Avenue, a painter working on a nearby house heard the husband yelling about his broken marriage, reports show.

"This is what I get for being married to you," Samir Wahid said, according to what the painter told sheriff's investigators. "This is what you get for taking me to court and taking my money away."

The husband pleaded not guilty to murder charges Thursday in Chino Superior Court. The 39-year-old remained jailed without bail.

Samir and Iman Wahid married in 1995, and between 1997 and 1999 had three children - two boys and a girl.

In 2000, the family moved into a home in Chino Hills at the end of the cul-de-sac where Stone Ridge and Sedona drives meet.

The couple's relationship became increasingly strained, and Samir Wahid left the home in December and moved into a two-bedroom apartment in Upland.

In April, Iman Wahid, 33, filed for divorce. Documents filed in the case detail the couple's numerous disagreements - over their children, over money, and over a beauty salon in Glendora that the wife operated for a year before her husband shut it down.

On Monday, a court commissioner signed off on an agreement between the couple, raising Samir Wahid's monthly support payments from $8,000 to $13,000.

The husband co-owns a successful air-conditioning business in Montclair with his brother called West-Tech Mechanical. He is believed to be worth upwards of $8 million, according to San Bernardino County Sheriff's detectives.

Before lunchtime Tuesday at West-Tech Mechanical, Samir Wahid asked to borrow an employee's green Toyota Tercel, the employee told sheriff's detectives.

The husband's everyday car was a white 2009 Jaguar, according to documents filed in the couple's divorce.

At about 1:30 p.m., several of the Wahid's neighbors began calling 9-1-1 to describe the attack that began at the Wahid's home in the 5000 block of Stone Ridge Drive.

According to detectives' account of the incident, Iman Wahid returned home from grocery shopping and was inside her home carrying grocery bags when she was stabbed by her husband.

Investigators found blood on the grocery bags, in the kitchen, in the family room, and in a hallway that led outside through a garage.

Witnesses told investigators that Iman ran from the house and was screaming for help as she clutched bleeding wounds to her arm and chest.

The woman ran south from her home down Sedona Avenue. Her husband walked to the edge of the driveway holding a knife in his right hand and watching the woman run, witnesses told investigators.

Samir Wahid walked into his wife's garage and got into her SUV, and drove down Sedona after her.

When he caught up to her, he parked and left the car, still holding the knife.

The painter told detectives that Samir threw his wife to the ground and repeatedly stabbed her with the knife. She rolled over onto her stomach and Samir thrust the knife into her back with both hands so that only the handle was showing, leaving it there, the witness told investigators.

The painter ran outside as deputies were arriving and as he approached Samir Wahid, the husband asked him for a drink of water "like nothing had happened," the report says.

"The suspect then walked towards the back of the gray SUV and laid down until the deputy arrived and took him into custody," the report says.

As the first sheriff's deputy to arrive got out of his patrol car, Samir Wahid yelled, "I did it. I killed her," according to the deputy.

Wahid laid down on the ground and was handcuffed without incident, and the deputy put him in the back seat of his patrol car.

When paramedics arrived and checked on the wife's condition, Wahid yelled, "Don't help the (expletive). Let her die," according to the deputy.

After he was taken to the Chino Hills sheriff's station to be interviewed, Samir Wahid gave a lengthy confession, according to the report.

"Obviously I did, I did murder my wife. There's no ifs, ands or buts about that," he reportedly said.

He continued to speak without being prompted by a detective in the interview room.

He said he would be going to jail and would be unable to participate in activities "such as walks on the beach," the report says.

"Casper the friendly ghost didn't kill her. I did," he reportedly said.

In court documents in their divorce case, Iman Wahid said the couple had an extravagant lifestyle, spending $15,000 a month on things like entertainment, shopping, and dining at restaurants.

The husband denied the woman's account of their lifestyle, and in a court declaration said the woman "is not living in reality and her statements are inconsiderate, self-centered and spoiled."

Two years ago, the couple funded the opening of their own salon - Salon Eve in Glendora - which was managed by Iman Wahid.

The wife had complained that she was bored at home during the day and the husband agreed to help fund the salon, according to the husband's declaration in the couple's divorce case.

But according to the husband, his wife, rather than operate the salon responsibly, used the salon's funds for personal shopping and entertained friends, including men.

"She would spend considerable time with these male visitors in her private office behind closed doors consuming alcoholic beverages with them," Samir Wahid wrote. "This was done on a routine basis, according to reports by employees at the salon."

The salon lost money during the year it was open, according to the husband, so he closed it.

The wife disputed her husband's account of their dispute over the salon.

"The salon was very successful, however, when (Samir) would become angry at me he would close the salon," the wife said in her declaration. "This would leave all of my employees without a place to work and require all of our customers to find another salon.

"(Samir) is an angry person and has closed my salon three times," she continued. "Each time he did this was because he was mad at me and trying to punish me."

On the basis of Wahid's assets, a judge denied him bail Wednesday. The detective making the request said in a declaration that Wahid holds dual citizenship - in the U.S. and Lebanon, where the couple is originally from.

The two countries do not have an extradition agreement, making it difficult for local authorities to recapture Wahid should he flee to Lebanon, according to the detective.

POMONA -- A jury found a former Christian school principal not guilty of three counts of sexual abuse this morning, and deadlocked on a fourth count.

John Asher, 50, was accused of raping a 10-year-old girl and fondling a 9-year-old girl nearly a decade ago while he was principal at Life Center Christian School in Pomona.

He was found not guilty in Pomona Superior Court this morning of the three felony counts associated with the student he allegedly fondled.

The jury of seven women and five men was divided on Asher's guilt in the alleged rape. Eight jurors favored acquittal, and four favored guilty verdicts, said Asher's attorney, David Robert Cohn.

"My client feels fantastic," Cohn said.

Prosecutors have the option of again bringing Asher's case before a jury on the single count for the alleged rape.

"At this point, don't know," Deputy District Attorney Miji Vellakkatel said today about the prospect of again bringing Asher's case to trial.

Vellakkatel said he will discuss the case with the alleged victims and their families, as well as his supervisors, before reaching a decision on whether to bring the case to trial.

The prosecutor said he hopes to reach a decision before June 23, when Asher returns to court for a pre-trial hearing.

The jury deliberated for about two full days before announcing their verdicts. In two weeks of trial testimony, Asher's two alleged victims, Asher, and several other people took the witness stand.

Asher's alleged victims -- one is now 19 and the other is 18 -- said the former principal sexually abused them when they were sent to his office to be disciplined during the 2000-2001 school year.

Asher denied the abuse occurred, and there were no other witnesses who reported seeing or hearing the alleged abuse at the school, which is now known as Charisma Christian Academy.

Cohn told jurors during the trial that the two victims may have collaborated in their accusations -- a charge both women denied.

Asked for his reaction to the result in Asher's trial, Vellakkatel said: "The people accept (the jury's) decision based upon the time they put into it. We're thankful for that."

Cohn said he didn't believe prosecutors should again take Asher's case to trial. He emphasized that the jury favored acquittal in the one count where they deadlocked, rather than being evenly split or divided in favor of a guilty verdict.

"We're both ready to fight if they refile that charge," Cohn said.

CHINO -- Samir Mustapha Wahid pleaded not guilty to murder charges in Chino Superior Court this morning in his wife's fatal stabbing.

Wahid, 39, is accused of fatally stabbing 33-year-old Iman Wahid on Tuesday in the 15700 block of Sedona Drive in Chino Hills, where the wife lived with the couple's three children.

The couple had recently separated and the husband had been living in Upland. Court records show Iman Wahid filed for divorce in January.

Samir Wahid has retained a private attorney, Richard Ewaniszyk, to represent him in his murder case. Ewaniszyk did not immediately respond this morning to an e-mail seeking comment.

According to authorities, Samir Wahid stabbed his wife at her home in the Higgins Ranch area of Chino Hills, and she ran from the house. He allegedly chased her in an SUV, and continued stabbing her after he caught up to her about 100 yards from the house.

Samir Wahid remains held without bail, and is next due in court June 22.

CHINO -- Prosecutors filed murder charges Wednesday against the man accused of stabbing his wife to death Tuesday in Chino Hills, court records show.

Samir Mustapha Wahid, 39, is expected to be arraigned today in Chino Superior Court, according to online records from the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department.

Here's today's story on the case from reporter Lori Consalvo:

Investigators probe fatal Chino Hills stabbing

Lori Consalvo, Staff Writer

Created: 05/26/2010 04:51:20 PM PDT

CHINO HILLS - Sheriff's investigators worked through the night and into early Wednesday, trying to piece together a stabbing that left a mother of three children dead.

San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies were looking for information in a house in the 15700 block of Sedona Drive where Iman Wahid, 33, lived with her three children.

Her husband, Samir Wahid, 39, had moved out of the house in the Higgins Ranch neighborhood and was living in Upland, sheriff's spokeswoman Cindy Beavers said.

About 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, authorities said, Samir Wahid came over and attacked his wife with a knife.

Iman Wahid got out of the house and ran down the street, but authorities said her husband got into his vehicle and chased after her.

After about 100 yards, Samir Wahid got out and started stabbing Iman Wahid again, Beavers said.

Neighbors watched in horror as Iman Wahid was killed.

"I think they were in absolute shock, seeing what occurred," Beavers said. "(Some were) able to call the police and give some very detailed information on what was taking place in the street."

Iman Wahid finally collapsed in the driveway of a nearby vacant home. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

When sheriff's deputies arrived, Samir Wahid was sitting on the curb, Beavers said.

"It is very unusual behavior," she said.

Officials are speculating that Samir Wahid did not leave the scene because there were so many witnesses.

Samir Wahid, who cooperated with sheriff's deputies during the arrest, was booked on suspicion of murder at West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga. He is ineligible for bail, according to sheriff's booking records. He is scheduled to appear in court today.

The Wahids' three children on Tuesday were released to county Child Protective Services. Officials have notified extended family members about the stabbing, Beavers said.

Authorities have released the name of the suspect in custody for Tuesday's killing in Chino Hills. Below is a screenshot of Samir Mustapha Wahid's booking page on the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department's website. Wahid is accused of fatally stabbing his wife, 33-year-old Iman Wahid. Click on the image to see a larger version.

CHINO -- The day after a heated argument with his estranged wife, John Cordero Orosco told his children and other family members to move out of his home.

Once alone, Orosco allegedly set the house on fire and stood inside hoping he'd be killed.

Five or six minutes passed before Orosco, 60, fled the Chino home because he couldn't handle the smoke, he reportedly told police.

Saturday's fire in the 12500 block of Baker Court was allegedly meant by Orosco as retribution against his wife, who he'd been separated from for a year and a half.

Orosco pleaded not guilty to arson charges this morning in Chino Superior Court, and remains jailed in lieu of $30,000 bail at West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga.

According to a police report detailing the incident, Orosco visited his wife's new home in Chino on Thursday and saw her boyfriend's car parked outside.

The woman told police that Orosco banged on the front door and demanded that the woman's new boyfriend come outside. Orosco eventually left without any physical altercation taking place.

The next day, Orosco told the five family members who shared his home to move out, according to the report, which was attached to his court file.

At about noon Saturday, Orosco and his wife argued over the phone about what to do with the family's home.

He told police after his arrest that he told his wife he wanted to sell it and allow their children to divide the proceeds.

According to Orosco, his wife responded by saying she would hire a lawyer to kick him out and would live there with her boyfriend.

"You're not going to live in this house with your boyfriend," Orosco allegedly responded, according to his wife. "I'm going to burn it down."

At 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Chino police officers were dispatched to Orosco's home.

"I looked at the residence and saw flames coming out of almost every window and the front door," wrote Officer Jason Bemowski. "The interior of the residence appeared to be completely engulfed in flames."

According to Bemowski's report, he saw Orosco in front of the home, leaning on the perimeter fence and watching firefighters battle the flames.

"I walked to John and when I got within a few feet of him he stood up from the fence," Bemowski wrote. "He turned towards his house and took a step in the direction of the burning building and the firemen."

After police arrested him, Orosco initially denied responsibility for setting the fire. He later confessed under questioning, according to the report.

"OK, sit down for a minute," Orosco reportedly told Bemowski. "I need to tell you the real reason. I wanted to commit suicide."

Orosco told the officer he used a cigarette lighter and a newspaper to set his bed and living room couch on fire, and the flames spread.

"I'll take the blame for lighting the fire," he told the officer, according to the report. "It didn't work. I wanted to light myself."

May 28, 2010: Length of separation corrected.

CHINO -- A low-level Motocross racer accused of trying to bribe sheriff's deputies with event tickets after a drunken-driving arrest pleaded guilty this morning to criminal charges.

Jered Peter Thomas, 20, pleaded guilty to bribery, a felony, and DUI as part of a plea bargain reached with prosecutors in Chino Superior Court.

The plea agreement, if approved by a judge, carries a jail sentence of 180 days and three years of probation.

Thomas was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving Jan. 31 after a San Bernardino County sheriff's deputy saw him driving erratically near Rolling Ridge Drive and Chino Hills Parkway in Chino Hills.

As Thomas, of Perris, was being booked in the Chino Hills sheriff's station, he reportedly offered tickets to upcoming Motocross events to two deputies and their supervisor, a sergeant, if they would "let him off" or reduce his charge.

Thomas told deputies that he'd bribed a Riverside County officer with event tickets in the past, and he assured them he'd keep their arrangement secret, according to an investigative report attached to Thomas' court file.

"In order to assure us and minimize our concerns, Thomas said that his mother's ex-husband was a law enforcement officer," Sgt. Chris Ilizaliturri wrote in the report.

FONTANA -- A 17-year-old boy accused of participating in an alleged gang stabbing pleaded guilty to criminal charges Monday as part of a plea bargain that carries a yearlong jail sentence.

Daniel Hernandez, of Fontana, will be required to admit as part of the agreement that he's a member of the Latin Kings street gang.

Hernandez, whose gang moniker is "Serio," was allegedly part of a group that confronted two reputed gang rivals on Jan. 15 near Tamarind Avenue and Arrow Highway in Fontana.

The group chased one of the men after he fled, and one person in the group stabbed the 18-year-old as he approached his mother's apartment. The man suffered a collapsed lung.

The victim told police that Hernandez chased him but was not the person who stabbed him, according to a police report attached to Hernandez's court file.

Hernandez was initially charged with attempted murder, but that charge will be dropped as part of his plea bargain.

He pleaded guilty to assault with a deadly weapon Monday in Fontana Superior Court, and is scheduled to be sentenced June 23.

POMONA - A jury of seven women and five men is expected to begin deliberating Tuesday in the trial of a former principal at a Christian school accused of sexually abusing two students nearly a decade ago.

Attorneys traded arguments over the merits of John Asher's case today, with Asher's attorney calling into question the truthfulness of Asher's accusers, and a prosecutor telling jurors that the alleged victims have no motive to lie.

"You don't just make something up like this unless it happened," said Deputy District Attorney Miji Vellakkatel.

Asher, the former principal of Life Center Christian School in Pomona, is charged with four felonies for allegedly raping a 10-year-old girl and fondling a 9-year-old girl in his office.

In their trial testimony, both alleged victims said the abuse happened during the 2000-2001 school year when each was sent to Asher's office to be disciplined. The school has since been renamed Charisma Christian Academy.

Asher, 50, denies the abuse occurred. In his closing argument Monday in Pomona Superior court, Asher's attorney told jurors that no one reported hearing or seeing the abuse, despite Asher's office being next to other workers in the school's main office.

"It doesn't make sense," David Robert Cohn told the jury. "It's illogical."

Cohn noted several inconsistencies in the students' allegations against Asher, and implied they may have collaborated in their accusations.

Though both alleged victims said they knew nothing of each other's allegations when each came forward, the student Asher allegedly fondled named the other victim when she disclosed the abuse to a teacher three years ago, Cohn said.

"He didn't pull this out of his hat, this name," Cohn said of the teacher's testimony.

Cohn also reminded the jury that several character witnesses - including Asher's former colleagues and students at the school - said they never saw Asher act inappropriately with children.

Vellakkatel mocked the defense implication that the alleged victims collaborated as "nonsense, fiction and fantasy," and called several of Asher's character witnesses "cronies."

"The big lie is that he did it, and he's not going to admit it," Vellakkatel said.

POMONA - Before he was sentenced for fatally shooting a man outside a Mission Avenue market, 17-year-old Jose Luis Gutierrez pleaded with a judge for a second chance.

"I'm a different kid now," Gutierrez, of Pomona, told Judge Tia Fisher. "I would like you to give me a second chance. I don't want to do life. I want to be home with my family."

After listening to Gutierrez's statement this morning in Pomona Superior Court, Fisher said she regretted that it took a death - that of 24-year-old Miguel Martin - for Gutierrez to change.

"Unfortunately for Mr. Gutierrez it is too little and too late," Fisher said. "... One person has been killed and the lives of many have been effectively destroyed."

Fisher then sentenced Gutierrez to 40 years to life in prison - a sentence that was mandated by law because Gutierrez was tried and convicted as an adult.

A jury of eight women and four men convicted Gutierrez of second-degree murder last month in Martin's Dec. 5, 2008 shooting death in the parking lot of Guadalajara Market in the 1100 block of Mission.

Prosecutors said Gutierrez may have been motivated to kill Martin in retaliation for a dispute between Martin and two of Gutierrez's friends.

During Gutierrez's trial, a man convicted as an accessory said he was with Gutierrez when the 17-year-old fatally shot Martin.

But several of Gutierrez's family members testified that Gutierrez couldn't have been the shooter, because he was at a relative's home paying video games and watching movies.

In court today, Gutierrez said he was sorry for what happened to Martin, adding: "I'm still innocent."

His attorney, Henry Bastien, said at the end of the hearing that he would appeal Gutierrez's case.

Prior to the shooting, Gutierrez had brushes with the law for possessing a concealed firearm and for vandalism, Fisher said, and was also reportedly shot at six months prior to Martin's killing.

She lamented that it took an arrest on murder charges to change Gutierrez, who said he has reformed since his arrest and now preaches to other incarcerated minors.

"It took killing someone to come to this reconciliation," Fisher said.

CHINO - A jury found a man guilty of first-degree murder this morning in the fatal shooting of his cousin, a prosecutor said.

Jurors deliberated two days in Chino Superior Court before returning a guilty verdict for Miguel Ramos, 29, who was accused of targeting 25-year-old Valentin Barria two years ago because he believed Barria had an affair with his wife.

Ramos, of Chino, must now go through the second portion of his trial - to determine whether he was sane at the time of Barria's killing. That phase of the trial will begin next week, said Deputy District Attorney Anil Kaushal.

If he is declared sane, Ramos will face a prison sentence of 50 years to life, which includes 25 to life for first-degree murder plus an additional 25 to life for using a gun, Kaushal said.

Prosecutors accused Ramos of shooting Barria five times - including a final shot to Barria's head once he fell to the ground - on May 10, 2008 outside a party on Fifth Street in Chino.

Ramos had purchased the revolver used in the killing five days earlier at a swap meet in Pomona, he explained to police after his arrest, in case he saw Barria, according to prosecutors.

A year and a half before Barria's death, Ramos' wife left him. Rumors had spread among Ramos' friends that the woman left because she was having an affair with Barria, and had become pregnant with his child, according to prosecutors.

In his closing argument last week, Barria's attorney, Eduardo Madrid, acknowledged that Ramos shot Barria, but he argued his client should be convicted of second-degree murder rather than first-degree murder.

Madrid said there was no evidence that Ramos planned the killing in advance.

"Why would he want to kill him in front of people who knew him? It doesn't make sense," Madrid said. "If he planned it he could have killed him at any time, but he didn't do it."

The night of Barria's killing, Ramos drove to Orange County, where many of his family members live. Detectives arrested him about a week later at a home in Stanton where he had rented a room.

RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- A Montclair man has been arrested and charged with 20 felonies for allegedly sexually abusing his 15-year-old stepdaughter for the past year.

Juan Trujillo Barajas, 38, was arrested May 12 after his stepdaughter told police Barajas had sex with her two or three times a week the past year, including several instances where he forced her to have sex.

After his arrest, Barajas told police he never had sex with the girl, according to a police report attached to his court file.

He told investigators that the girl had been lying more frequently since she started spending more time in the past month with a new group of friends.

Barajas pleaded not guilty to criminal charges Monday in West Valley Superior Court. He remained jailed Friday in lieu of $2.5 million bail at West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga.

The girl told police that her sexual contact with Barajas began in April or May last year. Barajas would have sex with the girl while her mother and other adults who lived in their house were away, the girl told police.

They also had sex in the kitchen at a Baldwin Park Mexican restaurant, where Barajas worked as a chef and the girl worked as a waitress, the girl told police.

The girl told police that on several occasions, she threatened Barajas that she would tell her mother about his alleged abuse.

He responded by telling the girl that her mother would not believe her, and would throw her out of the house, the girl told police.

RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- A local attorney pleaded no contest this week to criminal charges alleging she embezzled more than $40,000 from a client in a divorce case.

Catherine Brame, 53, pleaded no contest to one felony count Thursday as part of a plea bargain that carries a jail sentence of no more than 120 days, said Deputy District Attorney Mary Izadi.

Brame, who lives in Rancho Cucamonga and once maintained her law office there, also said Thursday that she would agree to be disbarred, Izadi said.

Brame was arrested May 4 after investigators discovered evidence that in 2008 she made unauthorized withdrawals totaling more than $40,000 from a bank account she controlled for a divorce client.

The client, a Riverside County man, had sold a Juice It Up store that he owned jointly with his wife.

With the man's divorce case unresolved, proceeds from the transaction were set aside in an account controlled by Brame that was to be divided by the ex-couple once their divorce was finalized.

After the man hired a new divorce lawyer, Brame was asked in December to transfer the contents of the account to the new attorney. By then, only about $15 remained in the account.

Izadi said investigators are unsure what Brame spent the missing money on.

When Brame entered into a plea agreement with prosecutors in West Valley Superior Court, she agreed to repay the entire amount missing from the account, Izadi said.

Judge Raymond P. VanStockum allowed Brame to be released from custody Thursday in exchange for a promise that she return to court June 21 for sentencing.

Brame had been jailed since her arrest, unable to post $70,000 bail. She would have had to produce $7,000 in cash to secure a bail bond, Izadi said.

In addition to serving jail time and paying restitution as part of her sentence, Brame will be placed on probation for three years, Izadi said.

If Brame completes her sentence and complies with the terms of her probation, her conviction may be reduced to a misdemeanor in a year and a half, Izadi said.

But if additional victims come forward, Brame could face new criminal charges, Izadi said.
"They shouldn't be victimized by their attorney," Izadi said.

San Bernardino County court records show that Brame has been involved in several lawsuits the past five years in disputes with clients over legal fees.

Her office landlord filed a lawsuit against her last year because she reportedly failed to pay rent.

Izadi said anyone with information about Brame's case can contact San Bernardino County sheriff's Detective Stacey Schneiderwent at 909-477-2800.

POMONA -- A small window in John Asher's office door has been the subject of great scrutiny in the former principal's sexual abuse trial.

A woman who accuses Asher of raping her when she was 10 testified last week that the window to the principal's office -- where the assault allegedly occurred -- was not see-through.

Asher's defense countered the 19-year-old woman's memory by putting several people on the witness stand, including Asher, who said the window was never covered.

The clear glass window would have provided an easy opportunity for people walking past to see the alleged sexual abuse, which Asher, 50, denies occurred and no witnesses reported seeing.

But today in Pomona Superior Court, testimony from a a teacher at Charisma Christian Academy seemed to support the alleged victim's contention that the window was covered.

Amalia Escalante testified that during the 2000-2001 school year, when the alleged abuse occurred, she served as "master teacher" at the Pomona school, which was then known as Life Center Christian School.

As part of her duties as master teacher she often observed other teachers and reported back to Asher about their performance.

In her visits to Asher's office that year, she recalled that his window was often covered with paper on Asher's side of the glass.

Asher's predecessor had done the same thing, according to Escalante, and said she she felt "it wasn't unusual."

"I never had to question that because I didn't think there was anything wrong with it," Escalante testified.

Asher is charged with four felonies for allegedly raping one student and fondling another student who was 9 during the alleged abuse.

Escalante was one of four witnesses called to testify today as part of the prosecution's rebuttal of the defense portion of the case, which ended Tuesday.

The other three witnesses today -- which included a former student, a day care supervisor, and a police detective -- provided information to support Asher's accusers' testimony about the circumstances of the alleged abuse.

Both women testified last week that the abuse occurred when each was sent unescorted to Asher's office to be disciplined.

Once each alleged victim was alone with Asher in his office -- with the office door closed -- the sexual assault occurred, according to each victim's testimony.

Defense witnesses said that it was against school policy for students to be sent to the office unescorted, and for students to be alone with an adult behind closed doors.

Asher testified on Tuesday that he always adhered to those school policies.

This morning one of the alleged victims' former classmates, Steven Acevedo, testified that he was sent to Asher's office unescorted in the 2000-2001 school year.

Acevedo told an investigator two year ago that during at least one of his three or four visits to Asher's office, he was alone with the principal with the office door closed.

In his court testimony, Acevedo said he couldn't remember whether the office door was closed.

Pomona police Detective Jennifer Turpin testified that when she interviewed former Vice Principal Rachel Madrid three years ago, Madrid told her Asher would have closed-door meetings with single students "on some occasions."

Turpin's statements contradict Madrid's testimony from last week, in which she said she could remember only one such instance.

The school's day care supervisor, Denise Vandenberg, testified that during afternoon day care sessions, Asher would sometimes ask her to send individual students to the front office.

She said she didn't know whether they were sent for solo meetings in Asher's office.

"I sent the student," Vandenberg testified. "That's all I did."

Asher's trial is set to resume Monday.

POMONA - "Never."

"No, sir."

"Never happened."

"I didn't do anything."

Those were among the responses when a former principal took the witness stand today in his sexual abuse trial to deny allegations that he assaulted two students nearly a decade ago at a Christian school in Pomona.

John Asher, 50, said his life has been a "living Hell" since his arrest for allegedly raping a 10-year-old girl and sexually touching a 9-year-old girl at Life Center Christian School, which is now known as Charisma Christian Academy.

"By the grace of God I found strength and sustenance," said Asher.

Asher, who was the school's principal from 2000 to 2003, could face up to 60 years to life in prison if convicted of all charges in a four-count felony complaint.

Asher's two accusers testified last week in Pomona Superior Court that the former principal sexually assaulted them in his office after they were referred to him for discipline during the 2000-2001 school year.

One of the alleged victims came forward in 2004, and the other came forward in March 2007. Asher testified today that he heard nothing about the allegations until his arrest on April 26, 2007 in North Carolina.

"I was confused. I had no idea why I was being arrested, who was making these allegations," Asher said.

One of Asher's alleged victims, who is now 19, said that during her fifth-grade school year Asher raped her when she was sent to his office for bringing a ladybug into class.

The other alleged victim estimated that Asher fondled her four or five times during her fourth-grade year when she was sent to his office to be disciplined.

"You're a bad person," Asher allegedly said as he fondled her, according to the 18-year-old accuser's testimony. "This is what happens when you do bad things."

Asher said that the 19-year-old woman who accuses him of rape never came into his office - whether to be disciplined or for any other reason.

"She was a good student and never had any behavior issues" that would warrant an office visit for discipline, Asher said.

In responding to the woman's explanation for being sent to the front office, Asher said: "No student ever came to the office for a ladybug."

Asher said he remembered the other accuser regularly coming to his office for discipline - "for fighting, for cheating on tests" - during the three years he was the principal.

He denied fondling her during the office visits. "I never touched her inappropriately," Asher testified.

In his cross-examination of Asher, Deputy District Attorney Miji Vellakkatel questioned Asher about an instance when he paddled the fourth-grade victim to discipline her for misbehaving at school.

The school's paddling policy was in place before Asher arrived at the school. Asher said he didn't object to the school's policy or seek to change it.

"Because you enjoyed spanking kids, isn't that right?" Vellakkatel asked.

"No, sir," Asher said.

Asher also denied that he received sexual gratification when students gave him high-fives and hugs.

"No, sir," Asher testified. "I was for the kids and wanted them to become all that they could be."

Asher's wife, Rhonda Asher, testified this afternoon that she and her husband have had a healthy sexual relationship for the duration of their nearly 30-year marriage.

After Rhonda Asher's testimony, jurors were scheduled to travel with Judge Carol Williams Elswick and attorneys in the case to the campus of Life Center Christian Academy to view the school's front office as well as Asher's former office.

Asher's trial is scheduled to resume Thursday morning. Wednesday is a court furlough day.

POMONA - A former principal at Life Center Christian School took the witness stand today in his sexual abuse trial and said he never closed his office door when alone with single students.

John Asher, 50, is accused of raping a fifth-grade girl and touching a fourth-grader in a sexual manner in his office at the private school in Pomona, which is now known as Charisma Christian Academy.

Both of his accusers testified in Pomona Superior Court last week that Asher abused them in the 2000-2001 school year after his office door was closed.

Asher testified for about an hour this afternoon before the court recessed for the day.

He outlined his background in ministry work and discussed some of the school's policies, but he has not yet addressed the sexual abuse allegations. He is expected to testify about the accusations Tuesday morning when he retakes the witness stand.

A psychologist who was hired by Asher's defense team testified today that after conducting two days of testing with Asher - which included interviews and true/false questioning - she concluded Asher did not fit the profile of a pedophile.

On Tuesday afternoon jurors are scheduled to travel to the school's Arrow Highway campus to take a brief look around the front office and principal's office.

The layout of the adjoining areas is a key element of Asher's defense. In his testimony, Asher said that when he was in his office, a secretary or the school's vice principal, and usually both, were working in the front office.

Front office workers have testified that they never saw or heard Asher have any inappropriate contact with students.

"I trusted him with my kids," said former secretary Cherie Dominguez, whose children attended the school while she worked there from 2000 to 2002.

Both of Asher's accusers said in testimony last week that Asher abused them when they were sent to his office to be disciplined.

A 19-year-old woman said she was sent to Asher's office after she brought a ladybug into class. The woman said Asher raped her on the office floor.

Asher's other accuser, an 18-year-old woman, said Asher fondled her during four or five visits to his office in the 2000-2001 school year.

Asher testified that since his graduation from Bible college in 1982, he's worked primarily in church-related jobs.

From 1990 to the time criminal charges were filed against him in 2007, the married father of two said he spent many years working with children, either through pastor positions at churches or in volunteer work.

"I love kids," he said. "I love teenagers."

Three character witnesses also testified this afternoon for the defense. They said they didn't believe the allegations against Asher were true.

"I still think he's an outstanding individual," said Ronald Harris, a friend of Asher's for 20 years.

POMONA -- Several former students, teachers and administrators from Life Center Christian School took the witness stand today in a former principal's sexual abuse trial and described school practices at odds with some aspects of the accusers' allegations.

Two former students accuse John Asher of sexually abusing them behind closed doors in his office at the Pomona school, which is now known as Charisma Christian Academy.

When the abuse allegedly occurred in the 2000-2001 school year, one of the alleged victims was 9 and the other was 10.

Several witnesses testified in Pomona Superior Court today, the fourth day of testimony in Asher's trial, that the 50-year-old adhered to the school's policy of keeping his office door open when alone with students.

School employees who sat near Asher's office said the interior of the office was visible through a window on Asher's door. They also said they could sometimes hear Asher's voice even when his door was closed.

The witnesses -- most of whom were called by Asher's defense attorney -- said they never saw Asher, who's charged with four felonies, act inappropriately with children.

"He was always very positive with the students," said Rachel Madrid, who was the school's vice principal when Asher worked there from 2000 to 2003.

The prosecution rested its case this afternoon after calling a clinical psychologist to the witness stand who specializes in sexual abuse against children.

Jayme Jones testified that it's not unusual for children to wait months or years before disclosing abuse. She estimated that 35 to 40 percent of victims never come forward.

"At the end of the day, it's easier to say nothing," Jones said.

One of Asher's accusers came forward three years after she was allegedly raped, and the other waited six years.

The 19-year-old woman who accuses Asher of raping her testified this week that the rape occurred when she was sent to Asher's office to be disciplined for bringing a ladybug into class.

The woman's teacher at the time, Jeannie Davis, testified that she doesn't remember sending the woman to Asher's office to be disciplined.

"I would not punish a child for bringing a ladybug into a classroom," Davis said.

Asher's son, Michael Asher, said he worked at the school while his father was principal. He testified that he often visited his father's office, and would "just pop in" without announcing himself.

Madrid and a secretary who worked in the school's front office both said Asher adhered to the school's policy that adults not be alone with students behind closed doors.

Madrid recalled only one instance that Asher acted otherwise. In the 2002-2003 school year, he was alone for five to seven minutes with a girl who was being disciplined, Madrid said.

Elizabeth Razo, the secretary, said she never saw Asher's door closed when he was alone with a student.

"During the time I worked there, that policy was always practiced," Razo said.

Razo, as well as other witnesses, said they often walked past Asher's office on the way to the bathroom in the front office. The secretary said she peered through Asher's office window each time she passed.

"You could see the office in its entirety," Razo said.

Testimony in Asher's trial is set to resume Monday.

POMONA - The two women who accuse former Life Center Christian School principal John Asher of sexually abusing them claim they didn't know of each other's allegations when each came forward.

The lack of collaboration between the two alleged victims, plus an absence of prior knowledge of each other's claims, is a key aspect of the prosecution's case against Asher, 50.

But that aspect of the case was called into serious question today when a teacher took the witness stand in Asher's sexual abuse trial and said that one of the alleged victims identified the other woman by name in March 2007 when she first disclosed Asher's alleged abuse.

"What happened to (Jane Doe No. 2) happened to me," the alleged victim said, identifying Asher's other accuser by name, according to testimony from Andrew Hiben, the woman's former teacher at Rancho Cucamonga High School.

Asher is charged with four felonies for allegedly raping a fifth-grader and touching a fourth-grader in a sexual manner in 2000 and 2001 at the private Pomona school.

His defense attorney, David Robert Cohn, has told jurors this week in Pomona Superior Court that the charges are false, and also implied that the accusers may have collaborated in their allegations.

One of Asher's accusers said in her testimony this week that when she disclosed the alleged rape in 2004, she told only school officials, police and her parents.

The 19-year-old said she never discussed the allegations with anyone else until 2007, when police reopened the investigation into Asher's alleged abuse after the second woman came forward.

The other alleged victim, now 18, testified that she the other woman knew each other from school, but didn't discuss the alleged abuse by Asher. She said she didn't know of the other woman's accusations when she came forward.

Her testimony was contradicted this afternoon by Hiben, her former teacher, who provided detailed recollections of his conversation with the woman - aided by three pages of notes he took the day of her disclosure.

The day the woman disclosed the alleged abuse, she confronted Hiben in his classroom because she was upset that he would not allow her to re-enroll in one of his elective classes.

Hiben said he told the student he had issues with her trustworthiness because she was accused of stealing items from his classroom. She initially blamed the thefts on a girl she later admitted didn't exist, Hiben said.

"I wanted her as a student, but I could not trust her," Hiben testified.

While Hiben and the alleged victim were arguing about the theft allegations, she began crying and alluded to an issue from her fourth-grade year at Life Center Christian School. She identified the other alleged victim by name, and said the same thing happened to them both, Hiben said.

Hiben said that at the time, he felt the woman might have been trying to manipulate him in the course of their argument over her trustworthiness. He said he was unsure whether her disclosure was self-expression - a "cry for help" - or manipulation.

"It could be a way to get what she wanted," Hiben testified.

The defense's contention that the two alleged victims may have collaborated was further supported this afternoon by a Pomona police officer who interviewed the 18-year-old woman's mother two weeks after the disclosure.

Richard Sprague testified that the woman said her daughter told her Asher "did to me what he had done to (Jane Doe No. 2)."

In testimony Wednesday, the alleged victim's mother denied telling police that her daughter named the other accuser.

POMONA -- A judge ruled today that a Pomona man must stand trial in the February 2009 shooting death of Carlos Espinoza.

Joel Martin, 23, is accused of shooting and killing Espinoza in the area of Mission Boulevard and Buena Vista Avenue in Pomona because he believed Espinoza was involved in the killing two months earlier of his brother, 24-year-old Miguel Martin.

Deputy District Attorney Bjorn Dodd said Martin was held to answer on murder charges after testimony at a preliminary hearing Thursday from two police officers and a "civilian witness."

Martin is next due in Pomona Superior Court on June 3, Dodd said.

RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- A man convicted of physically abusing his 84-year-old mother was sentenced Wednesday in West Valley Superior Court to three years in prison.

Lance Martin Nolan, 50, allegedly choked his mother in February in the woman's Rancho Cucamonga home, then pressed a pillow into her face as she tried to scream for help.

Nolan, a registered sex offender who was convicted of forcible sodomy in 1996, was initially charged with attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon for the alleged attack.

Prosecutors agreed to drop the two counts against Nolan in exchange for a no contest plea last month to elder abuse.

POMONA - When she was a fourth-grader at Life Center Christian School, a former student was often sent to the principal's office to be disciplined for minor infractions, such as throwing wet paper towels or scuffling with other girls.

During some of her visits, the principal, John Asher, groped the student's breasts and touched her vagina, the woman, now 18, testified today in Pomona Superior Court.

"You're a bad person," Asher said as he touched her, according to the woman's testimony. "This is what happens when you do bad things."

Asher, 50, is charged with four felonies for allegedly groping one student and raping a fifth-grader who is now 19. The alleged abuse occurred at the Pomona school during the 2000-2001 school year.

Asher's attorney told a jury of seven women and five men this week that the abuse never occurred, and isn't substantiated by other witnesses.

David Robert Cohn implied that the women - former classmates at Rancho Cucamonga High School - may have collaborated in their allegations against Asher.

The alleged victims, who said they are casual friends, each testified this week that they were unaware of each other's abuse claims when they came forward.

In her testimony this afternoon, the 18-year-old woman recalled that after she would enter Asher's office, he would close the door behind her.

While chiding the student for behavior such as talking too much in class, Asher would sit beside her and grope her, the woman testified. She estimated the abuse occurred four or five times.

"Nobody likes you," Asher told her, the woman testified. "And if you tell, nobody's going to believe you anyways."

The woman said the alleged touching made her feel confused, sick, ashamed and dirty, "like I was a terrible person."

"I was scared," she said. "And after the fourth or fifth time I believed him - that that was what I deserved."

The woman disclosed the abuse in 2007 after a heated argument with a teacher at her high school.

The woman cried at times during her testimony, and said she felt uncomfortable detailing the alleged abuse in front of strangers in a courtroom.

"I don't want to remember them," the woman said. "I would like to forget everything."

In testimony today, the mother of the 19-year-old alleged victim testified about two of her daughter's medical examinations: one was two months after the alleged rape, and another was after the woman disclosed the alleged rape in 2007.

Neither examination turned up evidence that a rape occurred, though the first examination wasn't extensive enough to check for damage to the alleged victim's vaginal area, the woman testified.

POMONA - Six teens pleaded not guilty to criminal charges today in connection with the double slaying in January at Ted Greene Park, a prosecutor said.

The alleged shooter, 14-year-old Denzel Isaiah Omar, and five others are charged with two counts of murder and one count of attempted murder for the Jan. 29 incident, in which Timmy Moore, 17, and Prithesh Dunn, 15, were killed.

Prosecutors allege that Omar and his five co-defendants belonged to a gang that rivaled Moore and Dunn's gang.

Omar allegedly fired 13 rounds from a .22-caliber rifle into a group of rival gang members at the Pomona park, hitting Moore, Dunn and another boy who survived his wounds.

Omar's five co-defendants, who prosecutors say aided and abetted Omar, include Omar's brother, 16-year-old Devin Adel Omar, as well as Johnny Moore, 16, Davontay Jenkins, 16, Samuel Boyd, 17, and Dayveon Thomas, 17.

The six teens are charged as adults and could face life in prison if convicted. They are next due in Pomona Superior Court on June 28, said Deputy District Attorney Bjorn Dodd.

POMONA - A 19-year-old woman took the witness stand today in a former school principal's sexual abuse trial and said the administrator raped her when she was 10.

The woman testified in Pomona Superior Court that she was sent to John Asher's office to be disciplined in 2001 after her fifth-grade teacher saw she'd brought a ladybug into class at Life Center Christian School in Pomona.

Once she was in Asher's office, he ordered her to lie on the floor and then raped her, the woman testified.

"He told me that would be my punishment," she said.

Today was the first day of testimony in the trial of Asher, 50, who's charged with four felonies for allegedly raping one student and touching another in a sexual manner during the 2000-2001 school year. He faces a prison sentence of at least 15 years to life if convicted.

"I want justice," the 19-year-old said during her testimony. "I want Mr. Asher to go to prison."

In his opening statement this morning, Asher's attorney told a jury of seven women and five men that Asher, who was principal of the elementary school on Arrow Highway from 2000 to 2003, "was very well liked by all people."

David Robert Cohn said that students, teachers and other employees at Life Center Christian School will attest to Asher's character in the trial. Asher and some of his family members will also testify, Cohn said.

"He has a great character of being an honest and truthful person," Cohn told the jury.

Deputy District Attorney Miji Vellakkatel said the 19-year-old woman first disclosed the rape allegation in 2004, when she became emotional following a closed-door meeting with a vice principal at her middle school.

The second alleged victim, who was in fourth grade when the alleged abuse occurred, came forward in 2007, Vellakkatel said in his opening statement.

The woman, now 18, accuses Asher of touching her at school on three separate occasions: twice he fondled her breasts, and later he touched her vagina, Vellakkatel told jurors.

"This is what you get because you're a bad kid," Asher told the woman, according to Vellakkatel. "No one's going to believe you. You're a liar."

Cohn told jurors that the 19-year-old's allegations are implausible.

He said that the office walls where the alleged rape occurred are very thin, and an assault would have been audible to secretaries and a vice principal in adjoining areas. But no one reported hearing an assault, Cohn said.

Cohn also said that the door to the office had a window, but no one reported seeing a sexual assault. The 19-year-old said in her testimony that she remembered there being a window, but she said it wasn't transparent.

Cohn told jurors that when the 19-year-old has been asked to repeat the story of the alleged rape, she's been inconsistent in some of the details.

RANCHO CUCAMONGA - A man charged in the alleged abuse death of his 3-month-old daughter pleaded not guilty to criminal charges today in West Valley Superior Court.

Brandon Kekoa Viquelia's daughter was hospitalized May 3 after authorities found her injured in an apartment in the 9800 block of 19th Street in Rancho Cucamonga.

The next day authorities arrested 26-year-old Viquelia on suspicion of abusing the girl. He was in custody Thursday when his daughter was pronounced dead at Loma Linda Medical Center.

Viquelia appeared in court this morning via video link from West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga, where he remained jailed in lieu of $200,000 bail.

Judge Elia V. Pirozzi appointed the San Bernardino County Public Defender's Office to represent Viquelia, and ordered him to return to court May 13.

Court records show that Viquelia was convicted in San Bernardino County in 2007 of grand theft of personal property, a misdemeanor. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail and placed on probation for three years.

View Brandon Viquelia in a larger map

RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- With a mistrial declared this week in his molestation case, James Andrew Megaw's life remains "on hold," according to his attorney.

Though a majority of jurors favored acquittal on at least three of four molestation counts, the former Upland teacher still faces the prospect of a second trial.

And Megaw's future plans -- including whether he will seek to return to the classroom -- will have to wait until his case is resolved, his attorney, Leonard Levine, said today.

"At this stage he has no plans because this case has not been resolved," Levine said. "And until this is resolved there's no way he can make any plans for the future."

After deliberating three days in West Valley Superior Court, the jury in Megaw's case, which included six men and six women, declared it was hopelessly deadlocked.

Five of Megaw's former students testified in his monthlong trial that the former Valencia Elementary School teacher touched them sexually in class. A sixth child testified that Megaw made a lewd comment to him in a school bathroom.

Megaw, of Rancho Cucamonga, faced four felony charges related to the allegations.

For charges associated with three of the alleged victims, a majority of jurors favored not guilty verdicts. For the remaining count, it was unclear whether the jury split favored guilt or acquittal.

A juror said in an interview after the hearing that the 8-4 jury split favored acquittal. But another juror said Friday that the split was in favor of guilt.

[Editor's note on July 19, 2010: The first juror was apparently mistaken when he said the jury favored acquittal on all four counts. Attorneys in the case confirmed the second jurors' statement that the jury favored guilt on count one.]

Levine said Megaw was pleased with the result of the trial, in which numerous character witnesses testified that they believed the allegations against Megaw were false.

"He was pleased," Levine said. "We were all pleased -- his friends, his family -- that a majority of jurors believed he was not guilty of these offenses."

The attorney also said he felt the jury deadlock was a "mixed bag" -- because he had hoped for a full acquittal.

Levine declined to comment when asked whether Megaw was open to taking a plea bargain. He said he hoped to get all the criminal charges against Megaw dismissed.

A pre-trial hearing in the case is scheduled for June 4.

Levine said he hasn't discussed the case with Megaw's prosecutor, Deputy District Attorney Jason Anderson, since the mistrial.

He said he believed the San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office would take at least a week or two before making a decision on whether to take Megaw's case before a second jury.

Anderson declined to comment on the case Thursday, and today did not respond to interview requests.

RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- A local divorce attorney was charged with embezzlement and grand theft this week for allegedly stealing more than $40,000 from a bank account she controlled for one of her clients.

Catherine Margaret Brame, 53, who lives in Rancho Cucamonga and maintained her law office there, pleaded not guilty to criminal charges this morning in West Valley Superior Court.

According to investigative reports attached to her court file, one of Brame's divorce clients was a Riverside County man who jointly owned two Juice It Up stores with his wife.

When the client, Mark Naulls, sold one of the stores in July 2008 for a profit of about $81,000, the money was placed in a trustee account maintained by Brame, according to reports.

Two months later, only $15.74 remained in the account, though Brame was asked to transfer only about $37,000. More than $43,000 was unaccounted for.

By December of last year, Naulls had hired a new attorney to represent him in his divorce case.

In a court hearing that month before Judge Becky Dugan, Brame was ordered to account for the money that had been placed in the trustee account.

After initially stalling with the disclosure, Brame returned to court the following day and handed over records associated with the account.

She took the Fifth Amendment -- which states a person cannot be compelled to make self-incriminating statements in court -- and declined to offer an explantation when Dugan said the material was "a little confusing to me."

"It's clear to us that she has taken this money," said Naulls' new attorney, Laura Rosauer, according to a transcript of the hearing.

"It's clear to me too," Dugan responded.

The judge held Brame in contempt of court and said she would refer the matter to the State Bar of California.

Brame was arrested by San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies Tuesday at her home in the 6000 block of Falling Tree Lane, and she remains jailed in lieu of $70,000 bail at West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga.

RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- A judge declared a mistrial this afternoon in a former Upland teacher's molestation case, after a jury declared it was "hopelessly deadlocked" following three days of deliberations.

In all four counts filed against former Valencia Elementary School teacher James Andrew Megaw, a majority of jurors favored not guilty verdicts, a juror said in an interview.

For count one, eight jurors favored acquittal and four favored a guilty verdict. For count two, the split was nine to three. For counts three and four, the split was 10 to two.

[Editor's note on July 19, 2010: This juror was apparently mistaken when he said the jury favored acquittal on all four counts. Another juror said in a subsequent interview that on count one, eight jurors voted for guilt. Attorneys in the case confirmed that the jury favored guilt on count one.]

"There wasn't enough evidence presented in trial that convicted me beyond a reasonable doubt" that Megaw was guilty, said the juror, who declined to give his name.

Five children testified in Megaw's monthlong trial that the former head of Upland's teachers union touched them sexually during school hours in classrooms filled with other students.

A sixth child said Megaw, 43, made a lewd comment to him in a school bathroom.

In the defense portion of the case, several of Megaw's former colleagues and other people took the witness stand and said they didn't believe the charges were true.

Several teachers and parent volunteers who observed Megaw's class testified that they never saw the Rancho Cucamonga man have any inappropriate contact with students.

After Judge Michael A. Sachs declared a mistrial, he scheduled a new pre-trial hearing for June 4 in West Valley Superior Court.

Because Megaw wasn't acquitted, prosecutors can try him again for the charges on which jurors deadlocked.

Reached after the hearing, Megaw's prosecutor, Deputy District Attorney Jason Anderson, declined to comment.

He said he spent the afternoon reviewing police reports in another case that he filed after a mistrial was declared in Megaw's case.

"I really haven't had time to switch gears, so I really don't want to comment," Anderson said.

The juror who granted an interview after the hearing said that at the very start of jury deliberations Monday, two jurors said they felt strongly that Megaw was innocent.

"It was very obvious that we weren't going to get a conviction because of those two people," the juror said.

A lack of physical evidence plus an absence of eyewitnesses to the alleged abuse made it difficult to come to a guilty verdict, the juror said.

"It was a tough, difficult, difficult decision to make," he said.

BARSTOW -- A judge ruled today that a Pomona man must stand trial on murder charges for allegedly killing his grandmother in the desert two years ago.

Arturo Hernandez, 21, allegedly killed his grandmother -- 58-year-old Luisa Aguilar Ventura -- after she earned $1,000 selling women's clothing at a Las Vegas swap meet, according to testimony from detectives in Barstow Superior Court.

When Ventura's body was discovered behind a shrub near a 15 Freeway offramp about 25 miles south of the Nevada state line, one of the pockets from her pants was turned inside-out, San Bernardino County Sheriff's Detective Mark Pederson testified.

Hernandez and Ventura, also of Pomona, traveled to Las Vegas in November 2008 to visit relatives.

While there, Ventura sold clothes at a swap meet, as she often did in the Pomona area, according to investigators, five of whom testified in Hernandez's preliminary hearing.

When the two left Las Vegas together in Ventura's truck the evening of Nov. 16, 2008, it was the last time any of Ventura's family members saw her alive.

Nine days later, a big-rig truck driver discovered her body after he exited the freeway to stretch at the Cima Road offramp.

A medical examiner later ruled Ventura's cause of death was "probable smothering," Detective Robert Warrick testified.

Hernandez was tied to the crime by several pieces of evidence, according to testimony at his preliminary hearing.

When he was arrested, the soles of the shoes he was wearing matched shoe prints found in the area where Ventura was dumped.

Hernandez's DNA was found on a shirt in Ventura's truck, which was abandoned in a Barstow shopping center. The tires on Ventura's truck also matched tire tracks at the crime scene.

Blood drops identified as Ventura's blood were discovered in her car, as was a torn purple bed sheet that was in the bed of her truck, detectives testified.

The other half of the sheet was discovered in the area where Ventura's body was dumped, detectives testified.

Several of Hernandez relatives told detectives that before Ventura's killing, Hernandez had threatened multiple times to kill family members, detectives testified.

After hearing two hours of testimony, Judge Cheryl C. Kersey held Hernandez to answer on murder charges.

Bail for Hernandez, who today was wearing green jail-issued clothing indicating he's in protective custody, remained set at $1 million. He is next due in court May 18.

RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- An Upland woman was sentenced to seven years in state prison today for stabbing her husband to death with a sword.

Naomi Valdivia, 35, maintained she acted in self-defense when 36-year-old Jose Luis Gonzales was killed on April 26, 2008 in the 800 block of West Orchid Court.

Though Valdivia believed she was innocent, the mother of five opted to plead no contest to voluntary manslaughter last month to avoid a potentially longer prison sentence if convicted of murder, her sister said.

Today in West Valley Superior Court, Judge Shahla S. Sabet sentenced Valdivia to seven years in state prison, said Deputy District Attorney Nancy Cooper.

POMONA - A court commissioner indicated today that he will give a 180-day jail sentence to a former Claremont High School football standout convicted of statutory rape.

Commissioner Wade D. Olson announced his tentative decision after hearing statements in Pomona Superior Court from Tyler Singleton's mother and the mother of a 14-year-old girl named as a victim in the case.

Singleton, 18, pleaded no contest in March to a felony and a misdemeanor for allegedly having sex with two underage classmates at Claremont High School.

His no-contest pleas were part of a plea bargain with prosecutors that carried a jail sentence of 180 days to one year.

When Singleton entered into the plea bargain, Olson said he would choose Singleton's sentence after considering statements from people involved in the case.

Singleton's mother, Rita Singleton, told Olson that the criminal case against her son has caused "much pain and suffering" for her family.

She said she felt that even a 180-day jail sentence for her son is unfair. "Tyler is a productive member of society, not a menace," his mother said.

A prosecutor read a statement aloud in court that was written by a 14-year-old girl named as a victim in the case.

"This young man Tyler Singleton took something from me, something I can't get back," the girl said.

The girl said she had to leave Claremont High School after the incident, and lost many of her friends.

Singleton, of Pomona, was arrested in February after multiple girls came forward with rape accusations. One of the girls told police Singleton forced her to have sex in a park bathroom.

When Singleton was interviewed by police, he admitted he had sex with the girls but he said the sex was consensual.

Singleton was Claremont High School's starting running back the last three seasons. He led the team in rushing those years, and was named the past two seasons to the All-Baseline League.

Before announcing his tentative sentence of 180 days in jail, Olson told Singleton he didn't consider him a criminal.

"I consider you just stupid," Olson said. "What you did is just stupid."

"You're not like the people I seem to send continuously to state prison and county jail," the commissioner added.

Singleton is scheduled to return to court June 9 for sentencing. Olson told him that if he is arrested or has any contact with the girls named as victims, he will scrap the planned 180-day sentence.

"If there's no problem, you know what the sentence is going to be," Olson said.

In court Wednesday, the mother of the 14-year-old alleged victim called Singleton "a predator of the worse kind."

"Everything that comes out of his mouth is a lie," the woman said. "... As an adult, he needs to learn that he cannot prey on minors."

After the hearing, the woman said she felt Singleton should have been charged with forcible rape rather than statutory rape.

Singelton's attorney, Vincent Malone, told Olson that Singleton said he was remorseful for his actions in an interview with a probation officer who completed a pre-sentencing report.

"A sentence of 180 days does serve society," Malone said. "It does punish him."

Singleton's prosecutor, Deputy District Attorney Lauren Guber, asked the commissioner to give Singleton a year-long jail sentence.

VAN NUYS -- A Chino Hills man convicted of sexually assaulting young women was sentenced in Van Nuys Superior Court this week to nearly five years in prison.

Prosecutors accused Miguel Angel Barrera, 46, of posing as a fashion photographer on the streets in the Hollywood area to lure young women to motels - ostensibly for modeling work - but instead sexually assaulting the alleged victims, who were 14 to 23 years old.

Barrera pleaded no contest last month to three felony sex crimes as part of a plea bargain with prosecutors. On Monday, he was sentenced to prison for four years and eight months.

Five counts were dismissed as part of the plea bargain, and about two and a half years will be deducted from his prison sentence because of time he's spent in custody since his August 2008 arrest, according to a minute order from Monday's sentencing.

CHINO -- A judge has suspended criminal proceedings after declaring he has doubts about the mental competence of a man accused of running over his estranged wife with an SUV.

Judge Gerard S. Brown appointed a doctor to examine Carlos Briseno, 45, after questioning Briseno's mental competence Thursday in Chino Superior Court.

Briseno faces attempted murder and other criminal charges for allegedly running over his wife with a GMC Yukon in March in the parking lot of an AutoZone store at 12160 Central Ave. in Chino.

"I was informed by Briseno's attorney that he felt his client was not mentally competent based on his recent dealings with Briseno," Deputy District Attorney Will Wooten said today.

Wooten said the doctor's report on whether Briseno is mentally competent should be completed before Briseno's next scheduled court appearance on June 9.

In a November court declaration filed in response to his wife's request for a restraining order, Briseno said he has a "major depressive disorder, recurrent."

"I admit I have a mental illness, but I have done everything in my power to control them," Briseno wrote. "I take my medication, I regularly see my doctors."

RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- An 18-year-old India native was sentenced to 240 days in jail this week following his conviction for allegedly fondling a 5-year-old boy in the swimming pool at an Ontario apartment complex.

Sukhwinder Singh is eligible to complete his jail time through weekend work-release with the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department, according to minutes of Monday's sentencing in West Valley Superior Court.

He pleaded no contest in April to a felony count of assault with a deadly weapon. He will be required to register as a sex offender during his five years of probation.

Singh was arrested in September after a the alleged victim and his 7-year-old friend told police Singh touched the boy in a pool at an apartment complex at 1352 W. Fifth St.

When he was arrested, Singh, a native of Chandigarh, India, told Ontario police he was enrolled Universal Technical Institute, an automotive college in Rancho Cucamonga.

The alleged gunmen in a shooting at a Pomona baby shower have pleaded not guilty to five counts of attempted murder.

Five people were injured, two critically, when Mario Albert Cardoza, 31, and Michael Madrid, 15, allegedly opened fire March 13 during the gathering at an apartment complex in the 800 block of Buena Vista Avenue.

Cardoza and Madrid entered their pleas Thursday in Pomona Superior Court. They also denied allegations in the complaint that the shooting was carried out for the benefit of a street gang.

Commissioner Wade Olson set bail for the defendants at $5 million. They are next due in court May 18.

RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- An accountant convicted of embezzling more than $500,000 from an Ontario land development company was sentenced this morning to 180 days in jail.

Heng Bill Chhay, 37, brought about $557,000 in restitution checks to West Valley Superior Court to repay Empire Cos., where Chhay worked as an accountant during the alleged embezzlement, said Deputy District Attorney Michael Dowd.

In order to repay the embezzled money, Chhay, of Arcadia, "mortgaged his home, and then he received loans from family members," Dowd said.

Chhay pleaded no contest to grand theft in March as part of a plea bargain with prosecutors.

During the last 14 months of Chhay's employment at Empire Cos. -- where he worked from 2006 to 2008 -- Chhay allegedly wrote himself 13 checks from company accounts and deposited them into his personal bank accounts.

He would manipulate the company's computer system to make it appear the checks had been voided prior to being cashed, according to an investigative report attached to his court file.

In Chhay's confession in October to a U.S. Postal Service criminal investigator, the married father of three said he felt Empire Cos. didn't compensate him enough for his work, and he felt unappreciated by his employer, the report says.

RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- A jury of six men and six women began deliberating this afternoon in the trial of a former Upland elementary school teacher accused of lewd acts with students.

The jury retired after attorneys in the case spent a full day in West Valley Superior Court arguing over whether James Andrew Megaw, 43, rubbed students' genitals through their clothing and pressed their hands to his crotch during class time.

"This case comes down to whether you believe the kids or not," Deputy District Attorney Jason Anderson told jurors.

Megaw's attorney, Leonard Levine, told jurors that the children who have accused the former Valencia Elementary School teacher of abuse are either lying or mistaken in their allegations.

"There's an innocent man there," Levine said as he gestured toward Megaw sitting in court. "You heard from enough people from the community to know that."

Levine predicted that in five, 10, or 15 years, one or more of Megaw's accusers will recant their allegations.

"It did not happen, and it certainly has not been proven, by God, beyond a reasonable doubt," Levine said.

Levine and Anderson spoke before a packed audience in Judge Michael A. Sach's courtroom.

Extra chairs were brought in from other courtrooms to accommodate the overflow audience, which included Megaw's family and supporters, the alleged victims' parents, and other people.

Jurors spent about 20 minutes deliberating today. They are set to return to court Tuesday morning to resume deliberations.

The details of Megaw's alleged abuse varied in the six accusers' testimony in Megaw's monthlong trial.

Some of the students said that when they would walk to Megaw's desk seeking help on classwork, he would rub their genitals through their clothing.

Others said Megaw would press their hands to the crotch area of his pants or rub his own genitals as he touched them.

Some of the students described similar abuse, but said it occurred when Megaw would walk to their desks when they raised their hands seeking help on classwork.

Three of the alleged victims were in Megaw's class in late 2008. One of the victims was in his 2006-2007 class, and two others were Megaw's students nearly a decade ago.

Megaw, a Rancho Cucamonga resident and former head of Upland's teachers union, did not testify during the trial. He could face more than 10 years in state prison if convicted.

During the defense portion of the case, Megaw's attorneys called several character witnesses to the stand, as well as students and others whose testimony refuted some claims by Megaw's accusers.

Perhaps most dramatic was the testimony of a Valencia custodian who undermined claims by a boy, now 16, who said Megaw made a lewd comment to him nearly a decade ago as both used side-by-side urinals in a school bathroom.

The custodian said Valencia bathrooms each have one urinal, and the urinals are separated from the rest of the bathroom by tall partitions.

Levine called the boy's accusations "an out-and-out lie" -- a phrase he used several times to describe other accusers' testimony -- and said the boy "wanted to be part of the show."

The defense attorney saved the harshest words of his two-hour argument for the boy whose October 2008 accusations touched off the police investigation into Megaw's conduct.

Levine said the 10-year-old boy fabricated the allegations to avoid punishment after a substitute teacher caught him in class with a note that contained profanity.

Once he first made the allegation, Levine said the boy felt pressured to repeat his story about Megaw's alleged abuse.

"He cannot get up on that stand and say, 'No, it did not happen,'" Levine said. "Someday I hope he'll have the courage and maturity" to admit his allegations are false.

In his rebuttal to Levine's closing argument, Anderson told jurors that the children have not wavered in their core accusations against Megaw.

In multiple interviews and court testimonies, the children described the alleged abuse consistently, Anderson said.

"The kids are not on trial in this case," Anderson said. "Mr. Megaw is on trial."