Life without Parole will be sought in fatal 2005 robbery
Mike Cruz, SB Sun Staff Writer 092306
SAN BERNARDINO - Authorities will not seek the death penalty against four men charged in a Redlands home invasion robbery in 2005 that left one person dead and two others wounded.
Prosecutor Rod Cortez said Friday that special circumstances charges, which can be alleged when other felonies are committed in conjunction with murder, were filed against the defendants in San Bernardino Superior Court.
While special circumstances can make defendants eligible for capital punishment, top officials at the District Attorney's Office will not be seeking the death penalty against the four defendants, Donald Ray Shorts, Jamar Lavon Tucker, Michael Lamar Rose and Mark Elise Williams if they are convicted.
"The committee made the decision that the case warranted seeking life without parole," Cortez said following court proceedings.
Attorneys for the defendants, some of whom are suspected Los Angeles-area gang members, denied the additional charges during a brief arraignment Friday before Judge Arthur Harrison.
The men face charges of murder, attempted murder, carjacking, robbery and kidnapping. They are scheduled back in court Oct. 13 for a status hearing. Cortez was unsure when the trial might get under way in the case.
Authorities believe the victim, Michael Denmon, a rap musician who had produced several tapes, was carjacked in Los Angeles on April 22 and forced to go to a Redlands home where he lived with his mother, Peggy Faulkner and four children.
The assailants robbed the house and shot Faulkner, who was 51 at the time, and her 28-year-old nephew, Gerald Brooks Jr., officials said. Brooks died at the scene, but Faulkner survived, calling 9-1-1 after the assailants left the home with her son, Denmon.
Denmon was later dropped off in Fullerton, after being shot somewhere between there and Redlands, officials said. Denmon survived and made his way to a residence, where police were called.
Redlands police announced early on that the crimes were motivated by robbery and were not random.
Denmon's 2003 Land Rover and his mother's 1990s model Chrysler 300 were later found in Long Beach.
Tucker was arrested at his Los Angeles home in May 2005, while Shorts and Rose were taken into custody in Las Vegas. Not long after, Williams was arrested after he exited a bus in Long Beach.
BS Ranch Perspective:
It might be obvious that the D.A.'s Office must feel that the Case that they have against the suspects must be strong enough for a conviction for Manslaughter, and Robbery, but they will not see the inside workings of the Death Chamber! Which is to bad, because that is what these guy's deserve, to die just like the victim that died on the night that they held up their home, Kidnapped the occupants of said home, and lifted the car, and drove away, only to be caught later. They had shot him in his own car in some jurisdiction unknown, maybe that is the preliminary thoughts on how it is handled, they don't know exactly when the victim in this case was shot.
Still, I hope that they mean life and not the 6 to 8 months of life that they really spend inside the prison system before they feel that they have been "rehabilitated" enough to re enter society!! YEA RIGHT!!!!
BSRanch
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