On June 27, 2024, via a virtual hearing, TCDA prosecutors successfully argued against parole suitability for Annette Batten, age 61, after reoffending as a parolee. Batten is currently incarcerated at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla. In 2017, over the objection of TCDA prosecutors, Batten was paroled after serving two decades in prison for…
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Yesterday at a virtual hearing, California parole commissioners found Henry Borbon, age 87, suitable for parole over the objection of prosecutors. Borbon has served over 45 years of a life sentence for murder and is currently incarcerated at the California Substance Abuse Facility in Corcoran. In the afternoon of February 28, 1975, Borbon and co-defendant…
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At a virtual hearing on June 12, 2024, TCDA prosecutors secured a 5-year denial of parole for Eddie Brown, age 62, in the 2001 murder of a Visalia woman. Brown is currently serving his life sentence at California State Prison, Corcoran. Brown and the victim, 33-year-old Bridget Colmore, had been in a relationship for two…
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Yesterday in Department 6 of the Tulare County Superior Court, Visalia Division, the court sentenced Lorenzo Pineda, age 28, to a total of 86 years-to-life in prison for attempted murder. On August 2, 2017, around 6 pm, the victim was eating dinner with his parents at a restaurant inside the Circle 7 gas station in…
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In Department 6 of the Tulare County Superior Court, TCDA prosecutors secured convictions against Marco Gutierrez, age 34, in two separate criminal cases involving firearms. Around midday on October 27, 2023, near Visalia, Gutierrez burst inside his neighbor’s apartment armed with a rifle. Gutierrez pointed the rifle at the two female occupants and demanded to…
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Yesterday afternoon in Department 11 of the Tulare County Superior Court, Visalia Division, Bruce Greene, age 72, was arraigned on multiple felonies determined by a Tulare County criminal grand jury. The jury handed down its indictment on April 30, 2024. Greene, who appeared via Zoom, pleaded not guilty. In the now unsealed criminal indictment, Greene…
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Today in Department 6 of the Tulare County Superior Court, the court sentenced Andrew Hernandez, age 29, to life in prison for the 2020 shooting death of a man at a Visalia apartment complex. On November 28, 2020, the victim, age 33, and co-defendant Curtis Williams, age 31, were engaged in an argument in the…
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Today in Department 10 of the Tulare County Superior Court, the court sentenced Francisco Rodriguez, age 27, to life in prison for murder On August 7, 2022, at about 1:30 am, Rodriguez and others got into a confrontation with another group inside of a gas station on Lovers Lane in Visalia. A fight ensued, which…
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On May 8, 2024, in Department 6 of the Tulare County Superior Court, Visalia Division, the court sentenced Tony Debem, age 30, to life in prison for child molestation. Debem was convicted of two felony counts of sexual intercourse or sodomy of a child aged 10 or under and two felony counts of lewd act…
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On May 7, 2024, in Department 4 of the Tulare County Superior Court, Visalia Division, the court sentenced Elijah Harris, age 28, to life in prison for child molestation. Harris pleaded no contest to one count of oral copulation of a child ten years of age or younger, and one count of sexual penetration with…
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Yesterday in Department 6 of the Tulare County Superior Court, Visalia Division, TCDA prosecutors secured a guilty verdict against Lorenzo Pineda, age 28, for attempted murder. On August 2, 2017, around 6 pm, the victim was eating dinner with his parents at a restaurant inside the Circle 7 gas station in Visalia. As the group…
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On May 3, 2024, in Department 10 of the Tulare County Superior Court, the court sentenced Jermon Jackson, age 26, to life in prison without the possibility of parole for violent crimes spanning from 2017 and 2019, including murder. On April 19, 2017, Jackson and other gang members conducted a drive-by shooting of rival gang…
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On May 1, 2024, in Department 3 of the Tulare County Superior Court, Visalia Division, the court sentenced Rosario Valenzuela, age 62, to life in state prison for child molestation. On March 13, 2024, Valenzuela pleaded no contest to two counts of lewd act upon a child under the age of fourteen. Valenzuela admitted the…
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Today in Department 17 of the Tulare County Superior Court, South County Justice Center, the court sentenced Elizabeth Nungaray, age 47, to life in prison for the DUI deaths of two people and significant injuries to multiple others. At approximately 3:20 in the afternoon on June 19, 2021, Porterville Police Department officers responded to Main…
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On Wednesday, April 24, 2024, after thorough investigation, criminal investigators from the Tulare County District Attorney’s Bureau of Investigations arrested a male juvenile, age 16, for the November 2023 murder of Dinuba man Sergio Martin. The juvenile defendant is charged with murder and the special allegations of burglary, personal and intentional discharge of a firearm,…
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Today in Department 6 of the Tulare County Superior Court, TCDA prosecutors secured a murder conviction against Andrew Hernandez, age 29, and Curtis Williams, age 31, for the 2020 shooting death of a man at a Visalia apartment complex. On November 28, 2020, the victim, age 33, and Williams were engaged in an argument in…
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Today in Department 10 of the Tulare County Superior Court, TCDA prosecutors secured a guilty verdict against Francisco Rodriguez, 27, for murder. On August 7, 2022, at about 1:30 am, Rodriguez and others got into a confrontation with another group inside of a gas station on Lovers Lane in Visalia. A fight ensued, which eventually…
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On April 4, 2024, in Department 10 of the Tulare County Superior Court, the court reduced the sentence of Jesus Gaytan, age 40, from life without the possibility of parole to seven years under provisions set forth in Senate Bil 1437 (2018) addressing accomplice liability for felony murder. Early morning on Christmas Day 2003, Gaytan…
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On April 12, 2024, in Department 17 of the Tulare County Superior Court, the court sentenced Jeffrey Spears, age 45, to life in prison for domestic violence and other violent crimes. Around 9:30 in the morning on September 26, 2023, Tulare County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to a residence in east Porterville for a report…
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The Tulare County District Attorney’s Office will be holding a public meeting on April 30, 2024, to discuss the AB 481 2023 Annual Military Equipment Report and its funding, acquisition, and/or use of military equipment as defined by the bill. The meeting will be held from 2 pm to 3 pm. Location: Tulare County District…
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The public is invited to observe National Crime Victims’ Rights Week 2024 at the District Attorney’s annual memorial quilt unveiling at 6 pm on Thursday, April 25 at the Visalia Convention Center Charter Oak Ballroom. Since 1981, National Crime Victims’ Rights Week has brought attention to the millions of Americans impacted by crime and the…
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Yesterday in Department 10 of the Tulare County Superior Court, Visalia Division, the court sentenced Luis Fernando Bernal, age 25, to life in state prison for child molestation. On March 6, 2024, Bernal pleaded no contest to one count of oral copulation with a child ten years of age or younger and one count of…
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Today in Department 6 of the Tulare County Superior Court, the court sentenced convicted child molester James Mills, age 59, to 575 years-to-life in prison for crimes against a child. On January 29, 2024, a Tulare County jury found Mills guilty of eleven counts of lewd act upon a child under the age of fourteen…
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On March 19, 2024, TCDA prosecutors successfully argued against the early release of Luis Gonzalez, age 76, despite his 2010 violent felony criminal conviction and a 195 years-to-life sentence for the aggravated sexual assault of two children between 2002 and 2006. Gonzalez petitioned the court for compassionate release. TCDA victim advocates assisted 20 family members…
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On March 18, 2024, in Department 6 of the Tulare County Superior Court, Visalia Division, a Tulare County jury found Tony Debem, age 30, guilty of child molestation. Debem was convicted of two felony counts of sexual intercourse or sodomy of a child aged 10 or under and two felony counts of lewd act upon…
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