The last of five defendants in a fatal December 2016 carjacking is scheduled for trial in June.
This morning Judge Kelly Neel set a June 1 trial date for Cesar Octavio Valenzuela, the one defendant who has not pleaded guilty to charges related to the carjacking and killing of 20-year-old Tyson Eduardo Claros.
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Valenzuela.
Valenzuela, 26, allegedly went to the driver’s side of the car Claros was riding in and pointed a gun at the female driver, screaming at her to “Get the fuck out of the car.” Then Claros was shot multiple times by 25-year-old Brandon James Mitchell, who recently pleaded guilty and is scheduled to be sentenced this week to 27 years in state prison.
Valenzuela’s former girlfriend Tamara Nicole Thomson, 21, will receive a 14-year term, with 24-year-old Hector Godoy-Standley sentenced to four years for being an accessory.
Godoy-Standley’s former girlfriend Catherine Suzanne Lynn Fode, 21, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter some time ago and agreed to testify against the others at trial. She will most likely not be sentenced until all the other cases have resolved.
Fode is looking at a maximum sentence of 12 years.
All five remain in Humboldt County Correctional Facility, where they have been for more than three years.
PREVIOUSLY:
- Suspects in ‘Manila Five’ Killing Agree to Plea Deals; Shooter to Receive 27-Year-Sentence; One Man Will Still Face Trial
- 20-Year-Old Shot Dead in Manila Early This Morning; Victim Found Lying in the Middle of Highway 255
- This Morning’s Manila Homicide Victim ID’d by Sheriff’s Office
- More Details Emerge in Manila Murder Conspiracy as Three Suspects Appear in Court
- INVESTIGATORS: Manila Murder Conspiracy Driven By Belief That Victim Had Sexually Abused Suspects’ Daughter
- One of ‘Manila Five’ Murder Plot Suspects Deemed Mentally Incompetent, Will Not Stand Trial
- Once Suspected in Manila Murder Plot, Hector Godoy-Standley Instead Referred to Facility Serving the Developmentally Disabled
- Alleged Murder Plot Participant Stuck in Legal Limbo, as Regional Center for Developmentally Disabled Adults Declines to Serve Him
- Defendant in Manila Murder Case Has Criminal Proceedings Against Him Suspended, Will Be Committed to a State Hospital
- Defendants in 2016 Manila Murder Plot to be Tried Separately, Judge Rules
- ‘Manila Five’ Suspect Flips: Fode Pleads Guilty to Manslaughter, Agrees to Testify Against Former Codefendants in Roadside Murder
- Psychiatrists Deem Manila Murder Plot Suspect Competent to Stand Trial, After All; Defense Will Challenge the Finding
- California Mental Hospital Inefficiencies Leave Two Humboldt Murder Suspects in Limbo
- Judge Frustrated by Delays for Manila Murder Suspect’s Competency Hearing
- Reams of ‘Jail Mail’ to Sort Through in 2016 Manila Murder Plot Case; Two of the Five Suspects Will Be Tried Together
- March Trial Set For Manila Murder Suspects
- ‘MANILA FIVE’ CASE: New Legislation Means That Most of the Alleged Participants Likely Won’t Stand Trial for Murder
- Remaining Four Suspects in 2016 Manila Roadside Murder Case Scheduled for January Trial
- Attorneys Ready for Trial in 2016 Manila Roadside Murder Case
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In other court news, Willow Creek resident Carmen Marie England, accused of embezzling from the North Coast Journal while working there as a bookkeeper, will not go to trial this month as planned.
This morning Deputy Public Defender Wade Orbelian, representing England, told Judge Kelly Neel he recently received more evidence that needs to be reviewed by the defense expert.
“We have new discovery I want our expert to look at,” Orbelian said. “The expert is in the middle of tax season right now.”
England’s trial had been set to begin Feb. 24. Today her next hearing was scheduled for May 4, when a new trial date may be set.
England, 59, is suspected of stealing about $60,000 from the weekly publication and is charged with grand theft by embezzlement. During her preliminary hearing, she acknowledged she changed numbers to balance the Journal’s books, but said she did so after being explicitly instructed by publisher Judy Hodgson.
Deputy District Attorney Steven Steward, prosecuting the case, did not object this morning to the defense request for a continuance.
PREVIOUSLY:
- Former North Coast Journal Office Manager Pleads Not Guilty to Embezzlement Charges
- Who Stole Money From the North Coast Journal? Judge Delays Hearing So Prosecutor Can Examine Accountant’s Analysis
- NCJ EMBEZZLEMENT CASE: Defense Attorney Claims a Dozen or More People Could Have Stolen the Newspaper’s Money, But the Accused Former Bookkeeper Did Not
- Accused Bookkeeper Takes the Stand in North Coast Journal Embezzlement Hearing
- Bookkeeper Held to Answer in North Coast Journal Embezzlement Case, But the Case May Not Make it to Trial
- Settlement Talks Fail, and Accused North Coast Journal Bookkeeper Will Stand Trial for Embezzlement
- TODAY in COURT: Delay, Delay, Delay — Alleged Cop-Shooter, Alleged Roommate-Murderer, and Newspaper Embezzlement Suspect Will All Go to Trial Later Than Planned
- NCJ EMBEZZLEMENT CASE: No Evidence That Money Stopped Disappearing After the Accused Quit, Defense Attorney Claims
- TODAY in COURT: Former HSU Basketball Coach Pleads Guilty to Burglary; NCJ Embezzlement Case Delayed Again; Hearing Scheduled for Fatal DUI Hit-and-Run