Mike Cruz: November 2011 Archives

After a six-month investigation, sheriff's detectives have arrested a man and woman from Apple Valley in the shooting death of 19-year-old Raquel Rayas at Deep Creek.

Sheriff's detectives say the two suspects, Joseph Villa and Angela Lucia Sanchez, knew the victim. But detectives did not release any motive that the pair may have had in Rayas' death, said Cindy Bachman, a sheriff's spokeswoman.

Villa, 23, and Sanchez, 38, pleaded not guilty to murder charges at their arraignments Wednesday in Victorville Superior Court, according to the San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office.

A man who raped and killed a Redlands High student in 1977 was denied parole during a hearing at a state prison in Blythe.

A parole board determined that John Wilton Zenc was "unsuitable" for release on parole during proceedings Wednesday at Ironwood State Prison, confirmed Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Dawson.

Zenc, now 54, was convicted of raping and killing 15-year-old Paula Hernandez, as she walked home from school in March 1977.

The California Supreme Court announced that it will issue a written opinion tomorrow morning in the standing case over Proposition 8, which sought to define marriage in this state as being between a man and a woman.

The court is scheduled to release the opinion at 10 a.m. in the case Perry v. Brown, according to a statement today from the Judicial Council of California. It will be available on the California Courts website at: www.courtinfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/opinions.cgi

At issue is whether supporters of Prop 8 have the legal standing to appeal a federal judge's ruling last year - which overturned the ban on same-sex marriage - when the governor and attorney general decline to do so.

A man who raped and killed a female Redlands High student in 1977 is seeking parole at a hearing Wednesday in Blythe.

Family members of 15-year-old Paula Hernandez are doing whatever they can to keep the teen's killer, John Wilton Zenc, behind bars. They will be attending the hearing at Ironwood State Prison, where Zenc is currently housed.

"I don't want this to happen to another family," said Ruth Lopez, Paula's sister. Zenc, now 54, has hired an attorney in his bid to get paroled, Lopez said.

A proposed settlement has been reached in a 2006 federal class-action lawsuit filed against San Bernardino County and its courts over accessibility for disabled persons at more than a dozen courthouses.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Riverside, claimed that parking, paths of travel, courtrooms, bathrooms and other areas were inaccessible to people with mobility or manual dexterity disabilities.

Lawyers for the Disability Rights Legal Center in Los Angeles, which represented plaintiffs in the case, said Tuesday that both sides worked hard to reach what they described as a model settlement that could be a blueprint for any court system in any county.

By Melissa Pinion-Whitt, The (San Bernardino County) Sun
Posted: 11/14/2011 12:44:44 PM PST

San Bernardino Superior Court has agreed to settle an $831,000 class-action lawsuit claiming the county's courthouses are inaccessible to the disabled, court officials said today.

Four plaintiffs named in the federal lawsuit will split $80,000 in damages. San Bernardino County is expected to pay $690,000 in attorneys' fees and costs, and another $61,000 to monitor the county's progress in making courthouses accessible.

The settlement terms include plans to improve disabled access in entrances, emergency exits, witness stands, jury boxes and other areas of the courthouses.

San Bernardino County and the Superior Court officials "denied and continue to deny the allegations and claims in the actions," according to the settlement.

SAN BERNARDINO - A judge dismissed criminal charges this morning against Andrew Eloy Lozano, a local member of the Vagos motorcycle club who was arrested last month in a law enforcement sweep across Southern California.

At a scheduled preliminary hearing for Lozano in San Bernardino Superior Court, Judge James Dorr ruled that prosecutors presented insufficient evidence to hold Lozano for trial on charges of possessing body armor and participating in a criminal street gang.

"The court finds there is insufficient evidence as to both counts and the allegation," Dorr said during the proceedings.

Joe Nelson and Mike Cruz, The (San Bernardino County) Sun
Posted: 11/10/2011 05:01:31 PM PST

RIVERSIDE -- A federal judge seemed poised to rule that federal agents did not violate the civil rights of Rancho Cucamonga developer Jeff Burum when they served search warrants at his home and office in September.

During a two-hour hearing Thursday in U.S. District Court, Judge S. James Otero heard arguments from Burum's attorney, Stephen G. Larson, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jerry A. Behnke over whether federal prosecutors should be able to retain documents and other information seized during the Sept. 15 raid.

There is no deadline or estimated amount of time for Otero to deliver a decision, lawyers said. All they can do is wait for an email alert from the court that a ruling is available.

RIVERSIDE -- District Attorney Michael A. Ramos announced plans Wednesday to strengthen his office's partnership with federal prosecutors.

Ramos told members of the Inland Empire Chapter of the Federal Bar Association that he plans to cross-designate one of his local prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Ramos revealed the plan while discussing a host of top issues affecting public safety, such as street gangs, medical marijuana and mortgage fraud, alongside Riverside County District Attorney Paul Zellerbach and U.S. Attorney Andre Birotte Jr. during a meeting at U.S. District Court in Riverside.

SAN BERNARDINO -- Prosecutors delivered their opening remarks Monday in the trial for two young men who repeatedly struck an elderly San Bernardino woman with hammers while ransacking her home for money and other valuables.

"Storma Del'Andrae, who is 87 years old, was murdered for a handful of cash, a suitcase and some costume jewelry," said Deputy District Attorney Tristan Svare. "That's what this case is all about."

The prosecution's opening remarks came just prior to witness testimony in San Bernardino Superior Court. Defense lawyers reserved their statements for later in the trial. Each defendant has his own jury.

By Jim Steinberg Staff Writer
Posted: 11/05/2011 09:23:21 PM PDT

FONTANA - The teachers union has filed a lawsuit against the school district seeking to reinstate laid-off counselors on the basis of seniority.

The legal action, filed in San Bernardino County Superior Court, contends that the Fontana Unified School District's practices violate the California Education Code, a charge the district denies.

Pat Mazzulli, president of the Fontana Teachers Association, said the district created new job categories after it laid off 68 counselors at the end of the 2010-11 school year.

A Claremont mother and son are among four people named in a federal indictment alleging they operated a money laundering scheme related to the distribution of a powerful cough syrup nicknamed "purple drank."

A trial is set to begin November 29 for Lucita Uy, 70, and her 42-year-old son, Lemuel Libunao, both of Claremont, in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, according to a statement Friday from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles.

Two defendants from Texas appeared Friday in U.S. District Court in Houston.

Two young men who beat to death a counselor at a Yucaipa group home in 2009 with a closet dowel were sentenced today to state prison.

A jury recently found Carlos Dubose and Davion Whitmore guilty of murder charges in the 2009 death of counselor George Onyango at Aiming High Treatment Center on Fifth Place in Yucaipa. They were charged as adults.

Friday in San Bernardino Superior Court, Judge Duke Rouse sentenced Dubose, who was 17 at the time of the attack, to life in state prison with the possibility of parole plus another life sentence, said Deputy District Attorney Beth Houser.

SAN BERNARDINO - Eleven search warrants served over a two-year period in a sweeping corruption probe tied to a legal settlement between the county and a Rancho Cucamonga developer were ordered released Friday by a Superior Court judge.

Judge Michael A. Smith ordered the search warrants released Friday after defense attorneys did not appear in court to object to their release or request redactions be made to the documents.

Six of the 11 warrants, which span from Dec. 2, 2008, to Oct. 22, 2010, were released. The remaining five are expected to be released early next week.

The documents provide a glimpse into the private life of former county assessor and former Board of Supervisors Chairman Bill Postmus.

A San Bernardino Superior Court judge is expected to decide today whether to unseal hundreds of pages of search warrants and affidavits from the investigation into a Rancho Cucamonga developer's landmark lawsuit settlement with San Bernardino County.

Judge Michael A. Smith granted a defense request on Oct. 24 to tentatively unseal the warrants and affidavits at a hearing in San Bernardino Superior Court. The judge allowed the documents to go to the defense lawyers first so they can review them for any objections or redactions.

The judge then scheduled a hearing for today. If no objections or redactions are presented, or the lawyers don't appear in court, Smith said the documents would be unsealed to the public.

SAN BERNARDINO - A former Rialto schoolteacher, who pleaded guilty in July to giving drugs to a teenager, is back in county jail after he allegedly violated the terms of his probation.

Michael Jacob Edmondson of Rancho Cucamonga is scheduled for a probation violation hearing Nov. 17 before Judge Kyle Brodie in San Bernardino Superior Court, according to court records.

Deputy District Attorney Melissa Rodriguez, who prosecuted Edmondson's case, confirmed Wednesday that he is scheduled for the hearing. However, Rodriguez had not yet received a report from law enforcement, so she did not have details about Edmondson's arrest, she said.

SAN BERNARDINO - Prosecutors amended the charges against a local member of the Vagos motorcycle club, who was arrested during a sweep in October, to include a 1980 conviction in Idaho in the strangulation of a 19-year-old woman.

Thomas Henry Gibson of San Bernardino appeared Tuesday before Judge Michael Dest in San Bernardino Superior Court, where prosecutors announced the newly amended charges, according to court records. Gibson pleaded not guilty to the charges.

With the addition of the prior conviction, the 60-year-old Gibson is now being held at West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga, in lieu of $350,000 bail - an increase of $100,000.

Gibson is one of several San Bernardino County members of the Vagos arrested last month in a sweep conducted by state and local authorities. Drugs, weapons and body armor were seized during the raid, agents from the California Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement said.

In a rare move, federal prosecutors have agreed to return materials to a Rancho Cucamonga developer that were seized in September as part of an investigation into alleged corruption surrounding the $102 million lawsuit settlement between Colonies Partners LP and San Bernardino County.

The materials were seized by FBI agents serving search warrants at the offices and home of developer Jeff Burum, Colonies co-managing partner, and looking into alleged bribery and conspiracy related to the landmark 2006 settlement.

Stephen Larson, Burum's attorney and a former federal judge, argued in the days after the Sept. 15 search that agents erred by taking documents and other materials not covered under the warrant.

A jury has found a Montclair man guilty of lesser charges after a meeting with his estranged wife last year erupted into violence and he ran down the woman with a GMC Yukon outside a Chino auto parts store.

Jurors in the trial for Carlos Briseno returned verdicts late Friday in Chino Superior Court, finding him guilty of attempted voluntary manslaughter for the horror he inflicted on 41-year-old Martha Briseno.

Carlos Briseno was also found guilty of assault with a deadly weapon -- the SUV -- and inflicting corporal injury on a spouse or cohabitant, court records state. He returns to court Nov. 30 for sentencing.

Prosecutors had sought an attempted murder conviction.

SAN BERNARDINO -- A series of motions filed by the lawyers representing Old Fire suspect Rickie Lee Fowler were continued for another several weeks.

Fowler, 30, appeared today in San Bernardino Superior Court for a scheduled hearing for two motions, one which seeks to dismiss the indictment against Fowler and another which aims to recuse the San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office from prosecuting the case in favor of state prosecutors.

The 170-page dismissal motion alleges prosecutors failed to present exculpatory evidence - which tends to show a person should not be indicted - to a criminal Grand Jury assembled in August 2009 to hear witness testimony about the wildfire.