A Fresno County Superior Court jury on Friday rejected a victim’s account about who shot him on Christmas Day 2009.
Instead, the panel believed the shooter was likely the victim’s brother, said defense attorney Michael Aed, who represented the acquitted defendant, Marqueal Dmitrius Grider, 20, of Fresno.
Grider was accused of shooting Aron Eugene Jenkins, 27, in the chest on the afternoon of Dec. 25, 2009, outside an apartment complex in the 1200 block of North Sylmar Avenue near Olive Avenue in east-central Fresno.
Several people were drinking at a Christmas barbecue when Grider and Jenkins got into a fight, police said.
According to Aed, Jenkins testified that a man that he knew only as Tarzan pulled out a gun. He then told jurors that Grider took the gun from Tarzan and shot him.
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Cities and redevelopment agencies filed suit Monday in California Supreme Court to prevent the state from squeezing $1.7 billion out of nearly 400 local entities as part of a state budget solution.
The agencies, which subsidize construction in downtrodden areas, had vowed to challenge the state ever since Gov. Jerry Brown proposed eliminating them altogether in January.
Cities are fiercely opposed to the move, saying it would threaten jobs generated by redevelopment projects. Brown and Democratic lawmakers said scarce tax dollars should go toward basic needs rather than private development.
The governor and legislative Democrats ultimately agreed on a plan that allows agencies to survive so long as they contribute an estimated $1.7 billion to schools and local governments this fiscal year, followed by $400 million annually thereafter.
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WASHINGTON – Five employees for A&O Resource Management Ltd. and various related entities – including two executives – were sentenced today for their roles in a $100 million fraud scheme with more than 800 victims across the United States and Canada.
The sentences were announced by U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Neil H. MacBride and Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division.
The five individuals were sentenced by U.S. District Judge Robert E. Payne. Russell E. Mackert,
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A suspected Oxnard pimp was arrested on suspicion of crimes including human trafficking this week following a four-month investigation by local and federal authorities, Oxnard police announced today.
Carlos Hernandez, 30, was arrested Thursday afternoon after authorities served a search warrant at a home in the 100 block of South Hayes Street in Oxnard, police said in a prepared statement. The FBI, Los Angeles Police Department, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement worked with the Oxnard Police Department on the investigation.
Police also arrested a 22-year-old Los Angeles woman on suspicion of misdemeanor prostitution and found a loaded handgun and paraphernalia related to prostitution, officials said.
Hernandez was booked into Ventura County jail on suspicion of charges that include false imprisonment by violence, human trafficking, pimping, use of false documents and an immigration hold, jail records show.
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Local pastor Donald Lockhart, arrested by Fresno police Wednesday on suspicion of rape and other sex crimes against a 30-year-old woman, says the arrest charges were faked by police in retaliation for a lawsuit he filed against the city of Fresno.
“I deny those charges. They’re totally false. They’re fake or built up,” said Lockhart, pastor of Central Community Development Center of Fresno. “I’m considered an enemy of the state because I sued the city of Fresno.”
Lockhart, 59, said he filed the suit in mid-May, claiming police failed to enforce a restraining order against “disgruntled clients” living at one of the houses Lockhart operates for homeless people.
City officials could not be reached to comment about the lawsuit.
The suit “triggered a lot of anger” by police, who “solicited complaints” against him, Lockhart said.
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