Judge rejects challenge to indictment in Modesto triple slaying
A judge on Wednesday said charges and enhancements are sufficiently specific in an indictment against seven men charged with murder in the shootings of three people inside an east Modesto home.
Prosecutors say the slayings were the result of a criminal conspiracy carried out by members of a Modesto regiment of the Norteño street gang.
A criminal grand jury in December 2012 indicted Ricky Javier Madrigal, Jose Osegueda Jr., Richard Tyrone Garcia, Armando Osegueda, Joseph Luis Jauriqui, Robert Palomino and Juan Jose Nila.
Defense attorneys argued that the indictment did not clearly indicate whom authorities believe shot and killed 16-year-old David Siebels, 19-year-old Alyxandria Tellez and 31-year-old Edward Joseph Reinig. Stephen Foley, Garcia’s defense attorney, also contended that the indictment didn’t point out whether his client was charged with murder as a principal suspect or as an aider or abettor.
Stanislaus County Superior Court Judge Scott Steffen disagreed, saying the language in the indictment and the grand jury transcript together clearly show that Armando Osegueda and Jauriqui are suspected of being the shooters. The judge also said the information indicates that Garcia is not believed to have been in the home when the shooting occurred, so he obviously is being charged as an aider or abettor.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Garcia, Armando Osegueda and Jauriqui. If convicted, the four other defendants face a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole.
Criminal grand jury proceedings are held behind closed doors, and witnesses testify without the defendants or their attorneys present. The 1,300-page grand jury transcript remains sealed from the public.
The shooting occurred March 3, 2012, inside a home on McClure Road, across from Creekside Golf Course. Deputy District Attorney Marlisa Ferreira has said in court that the victims were targeted while sleeping, and that one of them was shot “execution style.”
Authorities have said the slayings are connected to the torture of a 19-year-old woman about a month earlier. That woman later was the only survivor in the attack in the McClure Road home.
Steffen on Wednesday also ruled that the indictment has enough information on gang enhancements, which claim the defendants committed the crimes for the benefit of the Norteño gang.
The judge already had sustained defense challenges to other portions of the indictment, including a burglary special-circumstance allegation. The prosecutor has agreed to file an amended version of the indictment by the end of this month.
Ferreira agreed to remove from the indictment the special-circumstance allegation that the killings were committed during a burglary of the home; however, the charge of first-degree burglary will remain.
The judge scheduled the defendants, who remain in custody at the Stanislaus County Jail, to return to court Feb. 21 for their arraignment.
This story was originally published January 8, 2014 at 4:19 PM with the headline "Judge rejects challenge to indictment in Modesto triple slaying."