Today in Department 17 of the Tulare County Superior Court, South County Justice Center, TCDA sex crimes prosecutors secured a guilty verdict against James Van Norton, age 45, for child molestation. Van Norton was convicted by a jury of 3 felony counts of unlawful sexual intercourse and 13 felony counts of lewd act upon a…
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Acting on a tip to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, law enforcement members of the Tulare County Human Trafficking Task Force discovered and criminally charged a prostitution operation in the south county. “A good Samaritan, armed with the knowledge of how human trafficking can work and the resources available to him to report it, made…
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Yesterday at a virtual hearing, TCDA prosecutors secured a three-year denial of parole for Theresa Ann Dorchester, age 39, in the 2003 murder of a family member. Dorchester is currently serving a life sentence at the Central California Women’s Facility. In the late evening of June 4, 2003, in Porterville, Dorchester went to the residence…
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On August 28, 2024, via a virtual hearing, TCDA prosecutors secured a three-year denial of parole for Gary Parsons, age 50, for the murder of a man on a bus that was passing through Tulare County. Parsons is currently serving his sentence at California State Prison, Los Angeles County in Lancaster. On June 23, 1996,…
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On September 3, 2024, in Department 6 of the Tulare County Superior Court, Visalia Division, TCDA prosecutors secured a conviction against Jerome Avilez, age 60, for child molestation. Avilez was found guilty on 9 felony counts of lewd act upon a child under the age of 14. The jury also found true that Avilez committed…
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On August 30, 2024, TCDA prosecutors secured a conviction for Antonio Mendoza Chavez, Jr., age 36, in the August 2020 murder of a man in Dinuba. In early August 2020, Chavez broke up with his girlfriend and forcibly removed her from his trailer. Having no money, food, or shelter, she went to a friend of…
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District Attorney Tim Ward has announced criminal charges against Ulises Lupian, age 20, for the alleged sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl on August 28, 2024, in Visalia. Additionally, he is charged with crimes for two separate prior incidents. Lupian is charged with three felony counts of lewd act upon a child under age 14…
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On August 28, 2024, via a virtual hearing, TCDA prosecutors secured a three-year denial of parole for Gerald Daniel Walker, age 93, for murder. Walker is currently serving a life sentence at the California Health Care Facility in Stockton. On February 27, 1973, deputies at the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office received a call from Beverly…
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Today in Department 10 of the Tulare County Superior Court, the court sentenced Marvin Joseph Chang, age 36, to 208 years-to-life in prison for the 2021 attempted murder of police officers during a series of incidents that started Three Rivers and ended in an orange grove. TCDA prosecutors secured a jury conviction in late-July. On…
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District Attorney Tim Ward has announced murder charges against Blake Benham, age 43, of Dinuba, in a December 3, 2023, DUI collision that took the lives of two adults and injured others. The incident occurred at Road 56 and Avenue 430, just south of Reedley. Benham is charged with two counts of murder, two counts…
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At a virtual hearing on July 30, 2024, over the objection of TCDA prosecutors, California parole board commissioners found Darrin Little, age 60, suitable for parole after serving 38 years of a life sentence for murder and sexual assault. Little is currently incarcerated at Valley State Prison in Chowchilla. The following contains graphic information. On…
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TCDA prosecutors have secured a guilty verdict against Marvin Joseph Chang, age 36, for numerous felony crimes including attempted murder of a police officer for a 2021 incident that started in Three Rivers and ended in an orange grove. On February 19, 2021, while at a Three Rivers gas station, Chang knocked on the window…
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Criminal investigators and prosecutors from the Tulare County District Attorney’s Office have announced more victims have come forward in the sexual assault case against Tomas Jimenez, age 60. Originally charged on June 25, 2024, for the alleged sexual assaults of four women, Jimenez is now charged with the assaults of 21 people in a 48-count…
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District Attorney Tim Ward has announced the filing of criminal charges against Visalia man Donald Franklin, age 37, for residential burglary. It is alleged that on July 6 and July 8, 2024, Franklin burglarized a Visalia home on two separate occasions. Franklin is charged with two felony counts of residential burglary along with numerous special…
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District Attorney Tim Ward has announced the filing of criminal charges against Tomas Jimenez, age 60, for sex crimes against four female victims. Jimenez is charged with six felony counts and three misdemeanor counts related to sexual assault and battery. It is alleged that the crimes were committed in his Dinuba home starting in 2021…
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At a virtual hearing on July 3, 2024, over the objection of prosecutors, California parole commissioners found June Gravlee, age 70, suitable parole after serving over three decades in prison for the 1987 murder of her husband. Gravlee is currently incarcerated at the California Institution for Women in Corona. In 1990, Gravlee was convicted of…
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Today in Department 6 of the Tulare County Superior Court, the court sentenced Visalia man David Edma, age 30, to life in prison for DUI murder. On June 15, 2018, around 9:30 pm, California Highway Patrol officers were dispatched to a collision on SR 63 south of Ave 392 near Cutler. When they arrived, they…
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Today in Department 6 of the Tulare County Superior Court, the court sentenced Curtis Williams, age 31, 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 Williams were engaged in an argument in the victim’s apartment. Surveillance video…
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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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