Hollister
– A judge on Tuesday denied defense attorney Greg LaForge’s
request for sanctions against District Attorney Candice Hooper for
delays in turning over evidence against his client.
Hollister – A judge on Tuesday denied defense attorney Greg LaForge’s request for sanctions against District Attorney Candice Hooper for delays in turning over evidence against his client.
LaForge represents 17-year-old Emilio Roman, who is accused of second-degree murder in the killing of a Hollister teenager last summer. He had sought the sanctions after Hooper missed a court deadline for presenting the prosecution’s evidence against Roman. Hooper said the problem was that her office did not receive the evidence from the understaffed Hollister Police Department in time to meet the deadline.
After hearing arguments from LaForge and Hooper, San Benito County Superior Court Judge Alan Hedegard declined to impose the sanctions.
After ruling, Hedegard set a hearing for March 22 to consider Hooper’s request that Roman’s case be combined with that of 18-year-old Gonzalo Munguia, also accused in the July killing of Hollister teenager Daniel Gallegos.
Munguia is charged with first-degree murder for the benefit of a criminal street gang in the murder of Gallegos, which makes him eligible for the death penalty.
Roman is accused of second-degree murder and torture while participating in a criminal street gang. If convicted of second-degree murder, Roman could face life in prison.
LaForge had filed a request to compel discovery in September 2006, asking that the district attorney’s office be required to turn over all evidence against his client. A judge ordered the prosecution to turn over evidence within 28 days, according to court documents.
However, LaForge did not receive the bulk of the evidence until Jan. 9, he said. The next day, he filed a motion for sanctions against the district attorney. The request for sanctions asked that Hooper be held in contempt of court, that none of the prosecution’s witnesses be allowed to testify at trial, that the prosecution be prohibited from presenting evidence at trial and that the jury be advised that the district attorney had failed to disclose evidence, according to court documents.
“I didn’t want to file a motion for sanctions,” LaForge said. “I just wanted to get my discovery.”
On Friday, Hooper gave LaForge a five-page document that she said contained the rest of the evidence her office has against Ramon.
As part of his motion, LaForge was also seeking additional evidence concerning Roman’s alleged gang affiliation and gang activities in Hollister. Hooper said she does not have such evidence and that it could take the police department another 80 to 100 hours to compile such evidence.
“I respect the judge’s decision,” LaForge said. “However, they’ve had over 5,000 hours up to today to give me evidence that they say might take 80 to 100 hours to compile.”
Additional items requested by LaForge include computer files and photographs related to his client’s alleged gang in the possession of the Hollister Police Department and San Benito County Sheriff’s Office, according to San Benito County Superior Court documents. Authorities believe Munguia and Roman are members of the Sureño street gang.
The resolution of the dispute over evidence handling allows for the case to move one step closer to a preliminary examination, in which a judge will determine whether there is enough evidence to try Roman and Munguia.
But before the preliminary examination, the prosecution will look to combine the Roman and Munguia cases. A consolidation would save the court the money required to try two separate cases, Hooper said. She said the majority of the evidence is the same in both cases.
“It saves witnesses from having to testify twice,” Hooper said. “Let’s just get it over with in one shot.”
LaForge said he will oppose the motion to consolidate.
“I don’t think my client can get a fair trial being tried with the codefendant in this case,” LaForge said. “The district attorney will attempt to bootstrap and attribute any action taken by the codefendant to my client.”
Michael Van Cassell covers public safety for the Free Lance. He can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or [email protected].
