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On October 4, 2021, Governor Gavin Newsom announced the signing of Senate Bill 23. Authored by Senator Susan Rubio and co-sponsored by the Tulare County District Attorney’s Office and the California District Attorneys Association (CDAA), the bill strengthens protections for victims of revenge porn by extending the statute of limitations to one year from discovery,…
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Over the fervent objection of prosecutors, Department 5 of the Tulare County Superior Court sentenced Eustajia Dominguez Mojica, 29, to one year in jail with time served, four years felony probation, and 8 years, 8 months suspended state prison for the heat exposure death of her three-year-old daughter. A ‘suspended’ term means that it is…
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Late in the afternoon of October 4, 2021, at the South County Justice Center in Porterville, a jury found Carlos Santos Moreno, age 41, guilty of premeditated attempted murder with the special allegation of using a firearm causing great bodily injury, shooting at an occupied vehicle, assault with a firearm, and being a felon in…
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In the late afternoon of October 1, 2021, a Tulare County jury returned a guilty verdict for Marlon Darnell Edwards, age 47, in the 1994 shooting murder of a man during a drug deal. After a night of drinking on January 4, 1994, the victim, Mario Castaneda, and his friends decided to get drugs and…
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On Friday, October 1, 2021, the Tulare County Superior Court sentenced Visalia man Armando Kassaz, age 64, to 960 years-to-life for child molestation. On August 20, 2021, Kassaz was convicted by a jury of 64 counts of lewd act upon a child under the age of 14. Each count is a felony. The jury also…
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Today at the South County Justice Center in Porterville, the court concluded sentencing for Johnny Garcia, age 39, and his wife Kristy Flores, age 41, for gang crimes committed in the city of Tulare in late 2020. On November 19, 2020, Garcia and Flores, both Fresno gang members, were staying at the Hampton Inn in…
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On September 24, 2021, the Tulare County Superior Court sentenced Angel Valencia, age 53, and Carlos Rivera, age 21, for the violent abuse of two dogs that resulted in their deaths. On August 12, 2021, both men pleaded to all charges filed against them: four felony counts of cruelty to an animal with the special…
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Today in Department 5 of the Tulare County Superior Court, the court sentenced four defendants for their involvement in the 2017 Pier Fire near Springville. On August 19, 2021, the defendants pleaded to the following felonies: Isiac Renteria, 23 – arson of a structure or forest, 4 counts of taking a vehicle without consent. Richard…
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District Attorney Tim Ward has announced murder charges stemming from an alleged DUI crash in the early morning hours of September 22, 2021, on Orange Belt Drive in Porterville. The crash took the life of an adult male motorcyclist. On September 23, 2021, Dominic Casarez, age 23, was charged with second-degree murder, gross vehicular manslaughter,…
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Yesterday in Department 6 of the Tulare County Superior Court, Visalia Division, the court sentenced Dennis Saenz Moreno, age 69, to 25 years-to-life in prison for child molestation. Moreno will also be required to register as a sex offender for the remainder of his life. On July 21, 2021, Moreno pleaded no contest to two…
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Today in Department 17 of the South County Justice Center in Porterville, the court sentenced Fresno man Ignacio Lopez, age 37, to life in prison. On August 18, 2020, Tulare Police Department officers were on the lookout for a Chevy Impala thought to be involved in a shooting earlier that morning. An undercover unit located…
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Socrates said, “He is a man of courage who does not run away but remains at his post and fights against the enemy.” A fitting description for the finest of police officers, the requirement to be brave and to demonstrate courage. Courageous and brave was one such police officer, from the beginning of her career…
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Today at the South County Justice Center in Porterville, the Court sentenced Fabian Nilo, age 27, to 36 years-to-life in prison for murder. Nilo’s sentencing was the final sentence handed down against five defendants involved in the case.   Around 1:45 am on May 21, 2019, Tulare Police Department officers were dispatched to Howard and…
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On September 1, 2021, Criminal Investigators from the District Attorney’s Bureau of Investigations Child Abduction Unit traveled to Crescent City, California to recover a child that was taken by the mother’s former boyfriend, Billy Aldama, against a court order. The Investigators traveled with the child back to Tulare County and reunited the child with her…
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Today at the South County Justice Center in Porterville, the court sentenced Dale Watson, age 55, to 43 years-to-life in prison for the murder of 18-year-old Dynasty Alexander. In the morning of March 3, 2019, Watson picked up the victim outside a Tulare apartment complex “to go to the store.” Security footage from the apartment…
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On Friday, August 20, 2021, in Department 10 of the Tulare County Superior Court, Visalia Division, a jury found Armando Kassaz, age 64, of Visalia, guilty of child molestation. Kassaz was convicted of 64 counts of lewd act upon a child under the age of 14. Each count is a felony. The jury also found…
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Yesterday in Department 17 of the South County Justice Center in Porterville, the Court sentenced Reyes Garcia, age 47, to life in prison without the possibility of parole for a vicious 2013 double murder in Visalia. In the morning of July 12, 2013, a caretaker arrived at the Visalia home of 58 year-old Jerry Murillo…
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On August 4, 2021, in Department 5 of the Tulare County Superior Court, Visalia Division, a jury found Jose Flores, age 41, guilty of one count of assault with a deadly weapon for a 2017 road rage incident directed at an off duty police officer. On October 9, 2017, while driving an unmarked vehicle eastbound…
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Yesterday in Department 17 of the South County Justice Center in Porterville, a jury found Fresno man Ignacio Lopez, age 37, guilty of multiple crimes related to shooting at a police officer in Tulare. On August 18, 2020, Tulare Police Department officers were on the lookout for a Chevy Impala thought to be involved in…
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On Friday July 30, 2021, in Department 19 of the South County Justice Center in Porterville, a jury convicted Johnny Garcia, age 39, and his wife Kristy Flores, age 41, of gang crimes committed in the city of Tulare in late 2020. On November 19, 2020, Garcia and Flores, both Fresno gang members, were staying…
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On July 21, 2021, at the California Institution for Women in Corona, a California parole board issued a three-year denial for June Gravlee, age 67, for the 1987 murder of her husband. In her 1990 trial prosecuted by former Tulare County District Attorney Phil Cline, Gravlee was convicted of first-degree murder with the special circumstance…
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Today in Department 14 of the Tulare County Superior Court, Visalia Division, the Court sentenced Richard Ramirez, age 47, to 5 years, 8 months in prison for crimes against three victims. On May 7, 2021, a jury convicted Ramirez of the following: Adult Victim 1 –The defendant was convicted of two misdemeanor counts of battery.…
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On Friday July 16, 2021, in Department 17 of the South County Justice Center, the Court sentenced Anthony Ray Rojas, age 24, to 32 years-to-life in prison for attempted murder. In December of 2020, Rojas was at a friend’s house in Richgrove when his friend’s ex-boyfriend, the victim, stopped by while riding his bicycle. The…
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Today at the South County Justice Center in Porterville, the Court sentenced convicted sex offender Ronald Thomas, age 63, to 50 years-to-life in prison for harassing teens at a local park. On May 21, 2021, a jury convicted Thomas of one count of annoying or molesting a child with a prior sex crime conviction, and…
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