SANTA CLARA, Calif. — In a preliminary hearing Monday in Santa Clara County Superior Court, Judge David A. Cena ruled to proceed with an auto theft case despite the lack of eyewitness testimony placing the accused in possession of the stolen vehicle.
The accused was charged with possession of methamphetamine and auto theft. The vehicle was reported stolen on Sept. 18, 2024, testified Saul Zepeda, a detective with the San Jose Police Department.
The day after the vehicle was reported stolen, it was spotted by a police helicopter, and San Jose Police Officer Brooke McCaughin was dispatched to find it, she testified. She followed directions given by those in the helicopter and, upon arriving at the scene, saw the accused walking and ordered him to get on the ground, she said.
At the time, officers in the helicopter had described the suspect to her, and she believed it matched the accused, she said. On the stand, McCaughin could not recall the description that led her to detain him.
When McCaughin encountered the accused, he was approximately 97 feet away from the stolen vehicle, she said. She searched him and found a key fob and a small bag containing a substance he identified as methamphetamine, she testified.
McCaughin tried using the key fob to open the car, but it did not work, she said. She did not recall the accused having any other keys on him.
On cross-examination, McCaughin admitted she did not see the accused driving the car—he was walking when she encountered him. She also acknowledged that there were other people in the distance at a nearby bus terminal.
Deputy Public Defender David Oyer submitted to the methamphetamine charge but contested the auto theft charge. The stolen vehicle had already been parked before any witness saw it, he said. The accused was not seen driving it, was far from the car when arrested, and did not have a working key, he argued.
The only evidence identifying the accused as the suspect was the “unknown description” given to McCaughin by the helicopter officers, Oyer added. He argued there was insufficient evidence to hold the accused.
Should the judge disagree, Oyer asked that the auto theft offense be reduced to a misdemeanor under California Penal Code section 17(b), citing the weak evidence and the relatively unharmed condition of the car.
A law clerk under the supervision of Deputy District Attorney Oscar Torres stated that the accused committed another offense eight months after the auto theft. He also had a prior misdemeanor and a 2022 strike on his record, she said.
Judge Cena ruled there was sufficient evidence for the accused to be held on both charges. McCaughin said the description she received matched the defendant and that there were “no other persons in the immediate area,” only some in the distance, Cena said.
The judge denied the defense’s motion to reduce the auto theft charge to a misdemeanor. The accused will remain in custody pending trial.
He is scheduled to return to court July 11 for his next hearing.
