Murder trial begins in killing of aspiring South Bay defense lawyer

SAN JOSE -- Aspiring lawyer Albert Cobarrubias had long championed criminal defendants falsely accused because of racial profiling.

But in an ironic twist of fate, it was Cobarrubias who would become the victim of racial profiling -- an innocent bystander gunned down by an angry gang member searching for someone on his enemy's turf to shoot, prosecutor David Pandori said Monday.

Cobarrubias, 31, was not a gang member, Pandori said in his opening statement on the first day of alleged killer Michael Frausto's trial in Santa Clara County Superior Court. But the attorney was wearing a black sweatshirt bearing a drawing of a shark in red, the color claimed by Norteno gangs.

"Michael Frausto had a belief he had been stabbed by the VMF (a faction of the Nortenos) and five months later, he sought revenge" by shooting at a group of Latino men who were hanging out playing pool in the East Side neighborhood of Meadow Fair, said Pandori, a veteran gang prosecutor. One of the men at the house was a former gang member.

READ MORE

***

JAY LEIDERMAN LAW

VENTURA COUNTY LAWYER WHO DEFENDS MURDER AND MANSLAUGTHTER CASES

 5740 RALSTON ST 300

VENTURA, CALIFORNIA 93003

805-654-0200

***

JAY LEIDERMAN IS A FREQUENT GUEST ON TV AND RADIO AND IS OFTEN INTERVIEWED FOR MAGAZINES, NEWSPAPERS AND BLOGS ABOUT HIS WORK DEFENDING PEOPLE CHARGED WITH CRIMES

Not guilty verdict in cold case murder trial

COLUMBUS, Ga. -Kareem Lane has been found not guilty in the 1992 stabbing death of schools superintendent Jim Burns. 

Lane was accused of stabbing Burns to death in his 620 Broadway home on October 19, 1992. At the time, Lane was a 17-year-old Shaw High School junior and Burns was the superintendent of the Muscogee County School District.

In 2012, Lane's case was heard before a Superior Court jury. The jury deliberated for 3 days before Judge Peters declared a mistrial, citing a hung jury. The jurors voted 10-2 in favor of finding Lane innocent.

The jury deliberated for 2 days for a combined 14 hours before making a decision this time around.

READ MORE

***

JAY LEIDERMAN LAW

VENTURA COUNTY MURDER AND MANSLAUGHTER DEFENSE ATTORNEY

 5740 RALSTON ST 300

VENTURA, CALIFORNIA 93003

805-654-0200

JAY LEIDERMAN LAW, EXPERIENCED AND SKILLED TRIAL ATTORNEY IN VENTURA CALIFORNIA

1975 cold case murder trial starts Monday

The trial for Thomas Levering, 63, starts Monday. He is facing one count of first-degree murder in connection with the strangulation death of 38-year-old Jerry Ann Watson. Her body was found Dec. 30, 1975, in a wooded area in far northwest Oklahoma County

READ MORE

***

JAY LEIDERMAN LAW

VENTURA COUNTY HOMICIDE DEFENSE ATTORNEY

 5740 RALSTON ST 300

VENTURA, CALIFORNIA 93003

805-654-0200

JAY ON HIS WAY TO COURT

Furious Oscar Pistorious throws tantrum days ahead of murder trial judgment

Oscar Pistorius threw a furious and emotional tantrum outside his uncle's Waterkloof home this week, losing his cool with a Sunday Times team just days ahead of judgment in his sensational murder trial.

READ MORE

***

JAY LEIDERMAN LAW

VENTURA COUNTY HOMICIDE DEFENSE LAWYER

 5740 RALSTON ST 300

VENTURA, CALIFORNIA 93003

805-654-0200

JAY LEIDERMAN DEFENDS MURDER AND MANSLAUGHTER CASES IN VENTURA COUNTY CALIFORNIA

Police say man shot himself while handcuffed and in police custody

Father Seeks Answers in Death of Son, Who Police Say Shot Himself While Cuffed ("State police detectives have spent the last several months conducting a more comprehensive review of the matter, at the request of Sheriff Louis Ackal of Iberia Parish. The review is not complete, though a state police spokesman said it should be finished this week.")

***

JAY LEIDERMAN LAW

VENTURA COUNTY HOMICIDE LAWYER

5740 RALSTON ST 300

VENTURA, CALIFORNIA 93003

805-654-0200

JAY LEIDERMAN HARD AT WORK IN HIS VENTURA, CA OFFICE