By Mihajla Milovanovic
VENTURA, CA – After a little give and take here—and some old-fashioned “horse trading”—the accused agreed to plead guilty or no contest, and retained his appeal rights too, this week in Ventura County Superior Court.
Judge Bruce Young addressed the accused about his plea to felony assault with deadly weapon—the accused admitted he had various other misdemeanors, including theft and gang affiliation.
However, Assistant Public Defender Glenn Major then informed the judge the accused will not be waiving his appeal rights, and wouldn’t take the plea deal if he had to do so.
Deputy District Attorney David Russell explained that not waiving them brings up concerns, arguing, “By pleading guilty the defendant has to acknowledge both commission of the assault and the involvement with a criminal street gang including special allegations.”
DDA Russell added because of the guilty plea, the appeal rights need to be re-evaluated because it impacts the meaning of the guilty plea. 
PD Major argued it is a non-negotiable, that they will not be waiving all his appeal rights.
Judge Young responded to the PD, noting that they don’t get along very much but that they can agree on that, and said he still allows the accused to not waive rights with a guilty plea.
Judge Young then stated to the accused that he is pleading guilty which gives him probation and possible future jail time. He concluded that the sentencing date would be Aug. 10, 2023.
PD Major, on behalf of the accused, then informed Judge Young that the accused will have exceeded the jail time with his jail credits by the time of sentencing and would like to schedule the man’s release even if it is before sentencing.
Judge Major said, “I want this to go down the way it’s supposed to” and denied early release. Judge Young changed the sentencing date to August 9, 2023.
