On March 20, 2025, in Department 6 of the Tulare County Superior Court, TCDA prosecutors secured a guilty verdict against Visalia man Elijah Silva, age 24, for the 2020 rape of an unconscious female. While on patrol just after midnight on December 24, 2020, Visalia California Highway Patrol officers saw a vehicle approaching at a…
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Today in Department 6 of the Tulare County Superior Court, the court sentenced Orosi man Raul Alberto Vasquez, age 21, to 59 years-to-life in prison for a series of shootings in the Cutler Orosi area during the summer of 2023. TCDA prosecutors secured the conviction in February. Around 10 pm on June 27, 2023, a…
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Today in Department 17 of the Tulare County Superior Court, South County Justice Center, the court sentenced James Van Norton, age 46, to 13 years, 8 months in prison for child molestation. “I am certain that the public views this sentence as wildly inadequate based on the defendant’s actions and position of trust. As a…
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District Attorney Tim Ward is pleased to introduce Tor, TCDA’s first electronic detection K9. Tor was welcomed at today’s Board of Supervisors meeting in Visalia. Tor, a two-year-old black labrador retriever, is an inaugural graduate of the United States Secret Service (USSS) National Computer Forensic Institute (NCFI) program for electronic detection K9’s. The TCDA Bureau…
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On Friday, February 7, 2025, in Department 6 of the Tulare County Superior Court, TCDA prosecutors secured a guilty verdict against Orosi man Raul Alberto Vasquez, age 20, for a series of shootings in the Cutler Orosi area in the summer of 2023. Around 10 pm on June 27, 2023, a group of neighbors and…
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Today in Department 22 of the Tulare County Superior Court, South County Justice Center, the court sentenced Lacey Gonzalez, age 38, of Visalia, to 5 years in prison for a 2022 high-speed chase in Tulare that injured a police officer. On March 5, 2022, Tulare Police Department officers observed a stolen Ford Flex vehicle being…
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Today in Department 10 of the Tulare County Superior Court, Visalia Division, the court sentenced Joshua Hernandez, age 35, to 145 years-to-life in prison for child molestation. At the conclusion of the multi-day trial on October 22, 2024, a jury found Hernandez guilty of one count of sodomy with a child ten years of age…
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On Tuesday, January 21, 2025, in Department 10 of the Tulare County Superior Court, Visalia Division, the court sentenced Frederick Guerrero, age 79, to 26 years in state prison. Guerrero pleaded no contest on December 30, 2024, to ten counts of lewd act upon a child under the age of fourteen. Guerrero also admitted the…
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On January 16, 2025, in Department 6 of the Tulare County Superior Court, Visalia Division, TCDA prosecutors secured a guilty verdict against James Edward Jackson, age 70, for unleashing pepper spray on employees and customers at a Visalia Starbucks. Around 11 am on July 12, 2024, an agitated Jackson entered a Starbucks store on Mooney…
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On January 16, 2025, in Department 6 of the Tulare County Superior Court, the court sentenced Sean Michael Pelton, age 53, of Sacramento, to 15 years in custody and restitution for a series of high-volume thefts of catalytic converters in Visalia. Pelton was convicted of the thefts in November 2024. “Let this sentence serve as…
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Tulare County prosecutors have filed the first felony cases related to Proposition 36, a 2024 ballot measure resoundingly passed by California voters to address theft and drug crimes. “The message is clear: Californians demand accountability for repeat offenders. The crimes addressed by Proposition 36 greatly affect the quality of life for those who live and…
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