By Kevin Barragan
VENTURA, CA – The accused this week was in Ventura County Superior Court for a settlement conference on his third strike case for evading police—the plea offer from the prosecution was 24 years in prison, which the defense opposed.
The defense informed the court there was never a preliminary hearing for the matters involving the accused for the alleged crimes, but that the prosecution said the plea offer would be somewhere in the low 20’s at the time of sentencing.
Because this was the accused’s third strike, Judge Bruce Young said the accused was eligible to serve life imprisonment. In the range of this position, the judge sentenced the accused to 24 years in state prison.
The defense motioned for a reduced sentence.
Judge Young acknowledged the court remained open-minded on the mitigating factors of the case, despite there being prior strikes involved.
The prosecution opposed a lower sentence. However, the judge advised both parties they may exchange emails or discuss appropriate sentencing.
Judge Young said he will also accept any additional counts the prosecution decides to add in arguing for the 24-year plea deal.
The defense was granted more time to pursue the sentence disagreement, but the judge noted the case has been open more than 11 months.
Both parties are to return Dec, 19.
