Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā The blinds behind five defendants and their attorneys opened with a whoosh. Sitting on the other side of the glass were four more defendants with attorneys standing next to them. Another defendant huddled in the hallway leading into the courtroom. Yet another sat on the opposite side of the courtroom.
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā All 11 are charged with direct or indirect involvement in the suspected gang-motivated torture and murder of 28-year-old Anthony Ibarra of Santa Maria. Attorneys made requests or followed up on motions via a microphone passed from person to person, and a common refraināāI canāt hearāāpeppered the proceedings.
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Santa Barbara County Senior Deputy District Attorney Ann Bramsen previously told the Sun that she anticipated many of the defendants would enter a plea in the July 18 hearing.
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Come that day, however, no pleas were entered, and the arraignment was continued until Sept. 12 at 10:30 a.m.
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā During the hearing, Bramsen offered to speak to the county jail regarding access to defendants in the case. Attorneys requested that private investigators and paralegals be allowed contact with their clients, and that attorneys be allowed to bring personal laptops into the jail.
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā In May, a criminal grand jury indicted Ramon Maldonado; Reyes Gonzales, Jr.; Santos Sauceda; David Maldonado; Robert Sosa; Anthony Solis; Verenisa Aviles; Ramon Maldonado, Jr.; and Jason Castillo on murder and conspiracy to commit murder charges. Ramon and David Maldonado, Gonzales, Sauceda, Sosa, Solis, and Castillo were also indicted for the special allegations of lying in wait, torture, kidnapping, and committing a crime to further street gang activity. Carmen Cardenas and Pedro Torres were indicted for accessory to the murder after the fact with a gang enhancement charge.
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ibarraās body was found in the back of a U-haul truck in Orcutt on March 19. Noozhawk and KEYT recently produced news reports about the gory details of the murder based on court transcripts from the grand jury trial.
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Superior Court Judge Rick Brown said he plans to move the next hearing to a more accommodating location because the Dept. 9 courtroom, although itās the biggest of the criminal courtrooms in Santa Maria, isnāt big enough.
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Look for more about the case in next edition of the Sun, which comes out on Thursday, July 25. ā
This article appears in Jul 18-25, 2013.