Chain
06-29-2004, 10:20 AM
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http://www.tulareadvanceregister.com/news/stories/20040628/localnews/737570.html
When will justice arrive?
Resolution in '95 bar massacre still at least months away
By Luis Hernandez
Steve R. Fujimoto/Advance-Register
Timothy James Young, left, and Donald Ray Young appear in court in a May 2002 file photo. They are charged with the July 1995 murder of five people at Tulare's Pato's Place bar. A jury trial for Timothy and Donald Ray Young is scheduled for Aug. 30.
What's next
A jury trial for Timothy and Donald Ray Young is scheduled for Aug. 30.
Delays are expected in high-profile criminal cases.
But it has been five years and two months since brothers Timothy and Donald Ray Young were arrested on suspicion of robbing and killing five patrons at Pato's Place in Tulare. The bar's owner, Guadalupe C·ntu, was injured in the 1995 crime.
"Yes, it's a very old case," prosecutor Kathy Montejano said.
The trial, at one point scheduled to begin today, now is set for Aug. 30.
The Hanford brothers were charged in connection with the killings of Roberta Nunez, 39, Celia "Linda" Martinez, 51, Margaret Moreno, 44, Armando Lugo, 22, and Jorge MuŅoz, 23. Also arrested was Anthony Wolfe, also of Hanford, but Wolfe is expected to testify on behalf of the prosecution and has not appeared in court with the Young brothers since early in the proceedings.
Prosecutors say they'll seek the death penalty if the defendants are convicted.
The killings at the Prosperity Avenue business took place on July 18, 1995. Authorities said three men in hoods entered the bar, fired shots into the ceiling and ordered C·ntu to open the cash register.
As the owner carried out the order, he was shot twice in the upper torso. The gunmen then ordered the patrons to lie face-down on the floor before killing them, execution-style, with shotgun blasts to the back of the head.
The gunmen escaped with $270 before Cantu, who survived the attack by pretending to be dead, called police.
The delay in the court case is partly the result of a string of legal maneuvers by the defendants, who initially were allowed to represent themselves.
Timothy Young represented himself for 18 months and his bother did so for 30 months, during which time they filed several motions -- including some to have the case dropped.
In other twists along the way:
In January 2002, Timothy Young asked for an attorney. Fresno-based Richard Beshwate was hired to represent him.
Four months later, while the two sides wrangled over legal documents, the prosecution took the case to a special-crime grand jury -- a panel formed to hear evidence about a single crime -- and obtained murder and attempted-murder indictments against the defendants.
A grand jury hearing is the legal equivalent of a preliminary hearing, which is held to determine whether there is enough evidence to send a case to jury trial. Prosecutors said they went that route because the defendants were deliberately trying to delay the proceedings.
Beshwate, however, said prosecutors were responsible for the delay. The Tulare County District Attorney's Office was slow to turn over evidence, he said.
Montejano denies the claim.
"They have received the evidence," she said.
After the grand-jury indictment, the trial was scheduled for early 2003. At that point, however, Donald Ray Young requested an attorney and Michael Idiart was hired to represent him.
In one of his first court appearances, Idiart asked for a delay to review the evidence. A judge gave him nine months, scheduling the trial for January of this year.
In December 2003, one month before trial, Beshwate asked for more time to have evidence tested. Tulare County Superior Court Judge Ronn Couillard set a new trial date -- today. He later rescheduled it for the end of August.
The defendants have proclaimed their innocence throughout the proceedings. In February 2000, Timothy Young told the court that he and his brother will be vindicated.
"I want a chance to prove to the public and to the victims' families that it wasn't me and it wasn't my brother," he said. "Somebody did it, but it wasn't us."
Montejano, the third prosecutor assigned to handle the case, said the evidence against the defendants is substantial. The prosecution has been ready to try the case all along, she said.
"We have always been and we will be Aug. 30," Montejano said.
http://www.tulareadvanceregister.com/news/stories/20040628/localnews/737570.html
When will justice arrive?
Resolution in '95 bar massacre still at least months away
By Luis Hernandez
Steve R. Fujimoto/Advance-Register
Timothy James Young, left, and Donald Ray Young appear in court in a May 2002 file photo. They are charged with the July 1995 murder of five people at Tulare's Pato's Place bar. A jury trial for Timothy and Donald Ray Young is scheduled for Aug. 30.
What's next
A jury trial for Timothy and Donald Ray Young is scheduled for Aug. 30.
Delays are expected in high-profile criminal cases.
But it has been five years and two months since brothers Timothy and Donald Ray Young were arrested on suspicion of robbing and killing five patrons at Pato's Place in Tulare. The bar's owner, Guadalupe C·ntu, was injured in the 1995 crime.
"Yes, it's a very old case," prosecutor Kathy Montejano said.
The trial, at one point scheduled to begin today, now is set for Aug. 30.
The Hanford brothers were charged in connection with the killings of Roberta Nunez, 39, Celia "Linda" Martinez, 51, Margaret Moreno, 44, Armando Lugo, 22, and Jorge MuŅoz, 23. Also arrested was Anthony Wolfe, also of Hanford, but Wolfe is expected to testify on behalf of the prosecution and has not appeared in court with the Young brothers since early in the proceedings.
Prosecutors say they'll seek the death penalty if the defendants are convicted.
The killings at the Prosperity Avenue business took place on July 18, 1995. Authorities said three men in hoods entered the bar, fired shots into the ceiling and ordered C·ntu to open the cash register.
As the owner carried out the order, he was shot twice in the upper torso. The gunmen then ordered the patrons to lie face-down on the floor before killing them, execution-style, with shotgun blasts to the back of the head.
The gunmen escaped with $270 before Cantu, who survived the attack by pretending to be dead, called police.
The delay in the court case is partly the result of a string of legal maneuvers by the defendants, who initially were allowed to represent themselves.
Timothy Young represented himself for 18 months and his bother did so for 30 months, during which time they filed several motions -- including some to have the case dropped.
In other twists along the way:
In January 2002, Timothy Young asked for an attorney. Fresno-based Richard Beshwate was hired to represent him.
Four months later, while the two sides wrangled over legal documents, the prosecution took the case to a special-crime grand jury -- a panel formed to hear evidence about a single crime -- and obtained murder and attempted-murder indictments against the defendants.
A grand jury hearing is the legal equivalent of a preliminary hearing, which is held to determine whether there is enough evidence to send a case to jury trial. Prosecutors said they went that route because the defendants were deliberately trying to delay the proceedings.
Beshwate, however, said prosecutors were responsible for the delay. The Tulare County District Attorney's Office was slow to turn over evidence, he said.
Montejano denies the claim.
"They have received the evidence," she said.
After the grand-jury indictment, the trial was scheduled for early 2003. At that point, however, Donald Ray Young requested an attorney and Michael Idiart was hired to represent him.
In one of his first court appearances, Idiart asked for a delay to review the evidence. A judge gave him nine months, scheduling the trial for January of this year.
In December 2003, one month before trial, Beshwate asked for more time to have evidence tested. Tulare County Superior Court Judge Ronn Couillard set a new trial date -- today. He later rescheduled it for the end of August.
The defendants have proclaimed their innocence throughout the proceedings. In February 2000, Timothy Young told the court that he and his brother will be vindicated.
"I want a chance to prove to the public and to the victims' families that it wasn't me and it wasn't my brother," he said. "Somebody did it, but it wasn't us."
Montejano, the third prosecutor assigned to handle the case, said the evidence against the defendants is substantial. The prosecution has been ready to try the case all along, she said.
"We have always been and we will be Aug. 30," Montejano said.