CAMARILLO TEEN GUILTY OF ROBBERY : EVENT OCCURRED DURING DECEMBER CRIME SPREE.

Byline: Michael Coit Daily News Staff Writer

A Camarillo teen-ager was convicted Monday of robbing another during a December crime spree involving three other defendants that ended with the killing of a Moorpark man.

Facing trial as an adult in Ventura Superior Court, Jose Duarte, 18, was found guilty of robbing the male 17-year-old at gunpoint in front of the Somis Market. The jury, which deliberated for nearly two days, also found Duarte guilty of false imprisonment.

Deputy District Attorney Matt Hardy said Duarte faces a maximum prison term of 15 years when he appears for sentencing before Judge Steven Perren on July 9. Hardy would not comment on the case because the fourth and final defendant charged in the crime spree is awaiting trial.

Prosecutors initially charged Duarte as the first juvenile ``three strikes, you're out'' offender in Ventura County based on two previous convictions in juvenile court, for robbery and attempted robbery. The law sets a mandatory sentence of 25 years to life in prison for third-time felons with two prior violent or serious offenses.

Perren, however, dealt a blow to prosecutors in March, denying the ``three strikes'' allegation. Perren ruled that Duarte could not be charged as a ``three strikes'' offender because the two prior convictions occurred in Juvenile Court rather than Superior Court and prosecutors did not seek to have Duarte tried as an adult in those cases.

The judge did not allow prosecutors to tell the jury about Duarte's criminal record. Prosecutors also could not present evidence about the other crimes and defendants charged in the crime spree.

The robbery Duarte was convicted of committing was part of a Dec. 3 crime spree that culminated in the death of Jesus Zamudo Manjarrez of Moorpark, who was fatally shot at a traffic signal.

Mike Castro of Camarillo pleaded guilty to shooting Manjarrez with a .38-caliber handgun he had stolen and firing the same handgun at a Camarillo home earlier during the crime spree. He was sentenced to a 30-year prison term.

The crime spree began with a disturbance at a Taco Bell in Camarillo about 12:30 a.m. Shots then were fired at the Camarillo home from a four-door sedan matching the description of the vehicle involved in the Taco Bell incident. The Sheriff's Department then received the report of the robbery.

Prosecutors charged that Duarte threatened the 17-year-old with a semiautomatic handgun in front of the Somis Market before taking a day planner containing $30.

The fatal shooting at Spring Road and High Street in Moorpark, which witnesses said was unprovoked, was reported to the Sheriff's Department at 1:07 a.m. Sheriff's officials tracked down the suspects after a brief pursuit about 1:30 a.m.

A juvenile male was sentenced to five months in Juvenile Hall after admitting to being an accessory to the shooting at the home, the robbery and the murder.

The final defendant is Art Contreras, who faces trial July 15. Contreras has pleaded not guilty to charges of shooting at the home, armed robbery and second-degree murder.