Attorneys involved in the Albert Solorio case settled on a plea
bargain, agreeing on a four-year prison sentence Wednesday.
Solorio admitted to one count of felony resisting arrest, along
with a sentence enhancement, in exchange for the San Benito County
District Attorney’s Office dropping three other charges, said
Deputy District Attorney Denny Wei.
Solorio was arrested July 1, 2002, after a struggle with
Hollister Police Sgt. Greg Thul sent both men to the hospital with
extensive injuries after crashing through a plate glass window.
Attorneys involved in the Albert Solorio case settled on a plea bargain, agreeing on a four-year prison sentence Wednesday.
Solorio admitted to one count of felony resisting arrest, along with a sentence enhancement, in exchange for the San Benito County District Attorney’s Office dropping three other charges, said Deputy District Attorney Denny Wei.
Solorio was arrested July 1, 2002, after a struggle with Hollister Police Sgt. Greg Thul sent both men to the hospital with extensive injuries after crashing through a plate glass window.
A controversial recording of part of the struggle was caught on videotape, which was sent to the FBI in Quantico, Va., to be examined.
One of the charges that was dropped, battery inflicting serious bodily injury, carried a strike allegation that was dismissed, Wei said.
Because Solorio had served time in prison for a prior conviction for narcotics possession, with the current felony occurring within five years of his release from prison, his sentence was enhanced by one year, said his attorney Arthur Cantu.
“We wanted a resolution,” Wei said. “Our office wanted a four-year prison term and Cantu came up with the (solution) to satisfy our desire.”
If the case had gone to trial and Solorio had been convicted on all of the charges, he could have faced up to seven years in prison, Wei said.
If he had been convicted on the charge of inflicting serious injury, which carries a strike, it would have increased his sentence along with the total time he would spend in prison.
“There was some evidence that Thul may have lost consciousness and that alone may have been sufficient for finding of serious bodily injury,” Cantu said.
If a person is convicted of a crime that carries a strike they must do at least 85 percent of their sentence, but if their sentence doesn’t carry a strike they are mandated to serve at least 50 percent, Cantu said.
“No person ever wants to be convicted of a crime, so there’s no good ending in this case,” Cantu said. “But Mr. Solorio was encouraged that the district attorney was willing to remove the strike.”
The defense had previously alleged that the videotape that recorded the struggle had been tampered with, which was why the FBI was brought in to investigate it.
A physical review of the tape revealed there were no physical alterations, according to Wei.
Thul’s wife, Debbie, was disappointed that the case didn’t go to trial like she had hoped.
“I was shocked when my husband told me that’s what had happened,” she said. “Although I’m glad he was sentenced, I think a plea bargain is wrong.
“I don’t think four years is enough for what he’s done to my husband and my family. Life wouldn’t be enough for what he did.”
