by Satyen Bhatia
The preliminary hearing for Juan and Salvador Angel was held Wednesday, June 17, for a second time. The prosecution of the defendants is following a domestic dispute that police responded to in the early morning hours of April 4, 2016.
Juan Manuel Angel and his younger brother Salvador Angel are charged with assault with intent to produce great bodily injury and assault with a deadly weapon. In addition, Juan Angel is also facing charges for violation of probation and discharging a firearm in a negligent manner. Testimony was provided by the victim of the assault, and by Detective Roman Keister and Deputy Lech Garcia, both of the Yolo County Sheriff’s Department. Attorneys Alex Seiberth and Peter Borruso (a deputy public defender) represented Salvador and Juan Angel, respectively.
The defense cited Penal Code section 861, which states that preliminary hearings must be completed in one session, and, if not, the charges must be dismissed. Judge David Rosenberg overruled this, saying that the first prelim that occurred in May was a “misfire” that “never occurred from a legal standpoint,” because the visiting Judge Thomas Warriner struck the testimony of the sole witness, “JN,” for concerns about his 5th Amendment rights.
When interviewed later, the defense counsel stated that JN was apologetic about the events that took place that night and wanted to drop the matter; he had separated from “CG” after the incident and, now that they were back together, he was ashamed of the incident. In the defense counsel’s opinion, the prosecution refused to let the case go, hence the second preliminary examination.
The next day in court (Thursday June 18), the prosecution bought victim “Oscar” to the stand. Oscar testified, through a Spanish interpreter, that he was afraid of the two defendants who assaulted him on the night in question. The victim lives with his girlfriend “M,” who is the mother of JN and mother-in-law of CG.
Oscar testified that the Angel brothers arrived in a vehicle with CG and another woman, following JN back to M’s house (JN had just left a party at his mother’s house with CG and their child). He went outside in response to a loud argument between the Angels and JN. Oscar, not understanding English, asked them to calm down and was then punched in the chin by Salvador Angel. He then “defended himself” in an ensuing scuffle. Oscar then fell on Salvador, and, while the two were on the ground, Juan Angel struck Oscar with the butt of a gun.
Oscar stated under oath, with an interpreter, that he could neither speak, understand, read, nor write English. After this incident occurred and the police arrived, Oscar was approached by JN and CG, who asked him to sign a paper. He did so, because he “didn’t want any problems,” and because he “trusts JN and CG.” Oscar was unaware that it was a statement affirming that Juan and Salvador Angel were acting as good Samaritans, but he confirmed that neither of the Angels asked him to sign it. He ended his testimony by saying that he still suffers from head and jaw pain as a result of this incident, cannot sleep well, and worries for the safety of his family.
The next witness to take the stand was Deputy Garcia. Garcia’s native tongue is Spanish, and he responded to this incident to provide Spanish interpretation services. Garcia testified that, in his interview with M, she confirmed that two Hispanic males were arguing with JN outside. In his report, she said that one of them was holding a small shotgun, with which he struck Oscar five to six times and then fired in the air. At this point, M said she ended the dispute by putting herself between JN and Oscar and calling police.
The third and final witness to take the stand was Detective Keister, who also responded to the scene and took a report from M.
According to the report, JN and CG were in attendance at a party at M and Oscar’s house in Woodland, CA. Alcohol was served at the event. When JN and CG were driving home from the event with their young child, they had a disagreement in the car. CG scratched JN’s eye, and he responded by pulling over, removing her from the car, and driving off with her son.
CG and Juan Angel had been acquaintances since high school, and she was picked up, on Hwy 113, by Juan in a car that also contained Salvador Angel and another woman. They drove back to M’s house and pulled up next to JN, who was still in his car. At this point, Salvador pointed a shotgun at JN and said, “What’s good?” to which JN responded, “Don’t shoot that, fool!” and took the shotgun from Salvador before exiting the car. At this point, the altercation between Oscar and Salvador occurred, JN struck Oscar with the shotgun, and M allegedly tried to intervene but was struck in the arm with the shotgun as well. M then called police.
