Modesto pizza restaurateur convicted of lesser offense in fatal shooting outside bar
The owner of a Modesto pizza restaurant has been convicted by a jury of voluntary manslaughter for a fatal shooting at an Oakdale Road bar in 2019.
Pete Warda, 41, had been charged with the first degree premeditated murder of 22-year-old Modesto resident Thomas James Hinchman Jr.
Warda shot Hinchman during a confrontation in the parking lot of CR2 Bar and Billiards at Oakdale Road and Sylvan Avenue on Feb. 17, 2019. An argument started when Warda, the owner of Luigi’s pizza on Yosemite Boulevard, saw Hinchman and his friend leaning against his new Range Rover, smoking a cigarette.
According to a press release from the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office, Hinchman and his friend apologized and Warda got back into his vehicle. Warda began reversing out of the parking spot but then stopped and got out of his vehicle to confront the men again.
A physical fight ensued between the three men, during which Warda pulled out a gun and shot Hinchman once in the heart.
In a phone interview with The Bee hours before his arrest, Warda said he acted in self defense. He said he got back out of his vehicle because Hinchman and his friend threw something at it.
Warda said during the fight the men took him to the ground and had kicked and punched him at least 20 times when he fired. He said he was in fear for his life.
According to the press release, the shot was fired after the three had separated. “Neither Hinchman nor his friend displayed or used any weapons and Warda suffered no serious injuries from the fight,” it said.
Warda’s attorney Martin Baker called the prosecution’s characterization of the evidence “presumptuous,” saying there were multiple inconsistencies in witness statements during trial.
He said the conviction on the lesser charges of voluntary manslaughter means the jury found Warda acted without malice.
The verdict “could have been based on one or a combination of two theories,” Baker said. “Murder can be reduced to voluntary manslaughter if it is in the heat of passion or imperfect self defense.”
Baker said a defendant acts with imperfect self defense if he believes in good faith that lethal force is necessary to defend himself, but that belief is unreasonable when looked at objectively.
He said he didn’t talk to jurors after the verdict so he didn’t know how they reached it.
The jury also found true an enhancement that he used a firearm in the crime.
Warda has also been charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm, which he pleaded guilty to just before the trial.
Also before the jury trial, Judge Robert Westbrook in a separate court trial, found an enhancement true that Warda was out on bail at the time of the killing.
The gun enhancement has a sentence of 10 years while the charge of voluntary manslaughter has a range of three to 11 years.
“There is quite a range; the court can consider many factors when ... imposing a sentence,” Baker said. “I think there are several factors that mitigation or weigh in favor of a lesser sentence. This was serious — a life was lost — but I do believe that Mr. Warda is deserving of some amount of mercy in this case.”
Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 20 but Baker said that date will likely be continued. Before sentencing, Hinchman’s family will have the opportunity to give victim impact statements.
This story was originally published August 12, 2021 at 4:00 AM.
