Monday, July 7, 2008

Judge denies defender's request, Juarez to stand trial

BY COLBY FRAZIER
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

A Superior Court judge yesterday denied a public defender’s request to have a murder case against a 15-year-old Santa Barbara boy dismissed. The case stems from a March 14, 2007, gang melee on State Street that left Luis Angel Linares, also 15, dead.
The judge’s decision came on the heels of a Fourth of July gang brawl near Stearns Wharf that left another 15-year-old dead and 10 people arrested in connection with the fight. It also makes way for pretrial motions to commence today. Jury selection could begin as early as this week, according to the prosecutor, Senior Deputy District Attorney Hilary Dozer, who said he was pleased with the court’s ruling.

“The court made what I feel to be the correct finding,” Dozer said. “[Now] we’re able to go forward with the case. We’re ready to proceed [today].”
The defendant, Ricardo “Ricky” Juarez, now 15, was charged with murder and gang enhancements and will be tried as an adult. He has pleaded not guilty.
The past 16 months have been filled with court proceedings for Juarez, who has remained in custody throughout.
Juarez’s attorney, Deputy Public Defender Karen Atkins, said the main thrust of her motion to dismiss the case was based on her belief that the evidence shows Juarez is not responsible for inflicting the wound that killed Linares.
Atkins said Judge Frank Ochoa, who issued yesterday’s ruling, also agreed that the evidence seems to suggest another boy could have inflicted the fatal stab wound.
Atkins doesn’t deny her client had a hand in the assault, during which Linares was stabbed eight times, but she has insisted the brunt of the attack occurred while her client was fleeing the scene.
She said there are instances when a defendant can be held liable for a murder they didn’t commit, but certain standards need to be met which she doesn’t believe have been fulfilled.
“Our position is that they’ve failed to link up all of the necessary elements to satisfy the requirements that they would have to meet to prosecute our client for a murder that he didn’t personally commit,” Atkins said.
While witnesses testified during a preliminary hearing that they saw Juarez wield a knife in the intersection and swing it at Linares, Atkins believes the boy received the fatal blow in the parking lot behind nearby Saks Fifth Avenue.
A knife recovered in a garbage can on State Street contained Linares’ blood on the blade and Juarez’s DNA on the handle. In police interview tapes, Juarez could be heard admitting to stabbing Linares.
However, Atkins said another boy, referred to in court as Ricardo R., also admitted to stabbing Linares, and gloves worn by the boy during the fight were found to contain Linares’ blood. This boy was charged with crimes connected to the gang brawl, but was tried in juvenile court. Atkins said he was not charged with murder.
Ochoa’s decision yesterday marked a milestone in the case, which was dismissed in February by the judge as a result of a technical error made by the District Attorney’s Office.
After the case’s dismissal, Dozer promptly refilled charges against Juarez, who was rearrested before being released from jail, and the case began a second time from square one.
Since the case re-started in February, nearly every step has been marked by a case of déjà vu, including Superior Court Judge Brian Hill’s finding at an April preliminary hearing that enough evidence existed for Juarez to stand trial.
But that doesn’t change Atkins’ belief that the prosecution has failed to meet the legal threshold to hold her client accountable for a murder she believes he didn’t commit.
“If they’re pursuing that they cannot leave any element unfulfilled,” she said. “They have to prove every bit of it to show they were acting together or showed a common intent, which wasn’t shown at the prelim.”

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

when are the people of SB going to realize this is how the Mexican culture is? close our borders, repeal the anchor baby law, spay and neuter existing gang members. this is the only way to end this cycle. all these mexican gang members are all about killing anyone who gets in the way of their drug dealing and other illegal activity.
STOP BEING SO FRIGGIN PC, AND DEAL WITH THE ISSUE AT HAND!!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

WOW SUCH A GENIUS! YEAH LET'S CLOSE THE BORDER AND THAT WILL JUST SOLVE ALL OF THE UNITED STATES PROBLEMS! YOU SHOULD BE ELECTED THE NEXT PRESIDENT SINCE YOU SEEM TO THINK YOU HAVE ALL THE SOLUTIONS!! GANGS HAVE BEEN A PROBLEM IN THE U.S. DATING AS FAR BACK AS THE 1800'S. GANGS HAVE BEEN IN SB SINCE THE 50'S...THE ONLY DIFFERENCE IS THAT GANG VIOLENCE HAS SPILLED INTO THE SB TOURIST ZONES. OTHERWISE NO BODY WOULD KNOW THAT SANTA BARBARA ACTUALLY HAD GANGS AND NOBODY WOULD CARE.

Anonymous said...

And where have you been the last two years anonymous number two and where do you live, Hope Ranch?? We out here in the middle class zone do care since we have lived here 30 years and only in the past two have we found gang members stabbing each other and scrawling graffiti outside our humble house in Goleta. Hardly a tourist zone and we certainly do care. I am not talking about Old Town Goleta. I understand the Mesa has gang activity, I understand nobody used to think twice about walking along Milpas or neighborhoods in the East and Westside as little as ten years ago. There is a slight difference since the fifties, like three murders in the past two years preceded by none. I have gang members scrawling graffiti outside my house. No biggie huh? I am quite sure it started happening when the PC people started objecting to Federal enforcement of immigration laws locally because the libs were screaming foul. They said ok fine and left town and here is the result.

Anonymous said...

anonymous number 2 is clearly a tree hugging liberal. get a clue. wake up to what is happening around you. thanks to your tree hugging liberal lawyers and judges, these losers will be back on the street in no time, and will be doing the same exact thing.
when it is your family who is the victim, will that wake you up?

Anonymous said...

What is wrong with you racist people? Thank you to the one that knows this town and how far gangs go. Some of these racist idiots on here really love talking about every other race in this world. Sure hit the money that it’s only Mexicans that are gang members. How about the white culture claiming North Side in the upper state street area? How about the white culture on the Mesa? How about all of them hillbillies who have kids with their cousins or brothers and sister, majority is white, correct? What about the KKK?
You need to open your eyes and see what is around you. I totally understand and agree that the recent gang issues are a huge concern. I agree with that but do you have to use our race as the problem?

People get like that because of their parents and not having the right influence in their lives. The community cares but we can’t parent a child that is not ours. Yes we try to reach out to people to help but they are not home with us to see our way of living life. I am Hispanic and that is down right disrespectful to use one specific race. A little factoid of the day, did you know that this used to be part of Mexico? Whites came from over seas, but you’re right it’s just Mexicans who are the problem. You’re a joke!! Tell a Mexican that they are the problem, see if they are happy about your assumptions.

Anonymous said...

They began JURY SEATING today

Anonymous said...

They began JURY SEATING today