LANCASTER MAN'S CONVICTION STANDS.Byline: KAREN MAESHIRO Staff Writer LANCASTER -- An appeals court has upheld the attempted-murder conviction of a Lancaster man who was sentenced to 129 years in prison for shooting a man and a woman in front of Antelope Valley High School Antelope Valley High School is located in Lancaster, California and is part of the Antelope Valley Union High School District. It was founded in 1912[1]. It is located in the Mojave Desert. . The Second District Court of Appeal rejected Tajiddin Carter's argument that the judge erred when admitting into evidence statements made to deputies and at a preliminary hearing by victim Don Simmons Don Simmons (Born 1973 in St. , who couldn't be found to testify at the trial. ``In the face of this other highly incriminating in·crim·i·nate tr.v. in·crim·i·nat·ed, in·crim·i·nat·ing, in·crim·i·nates 1. To accuse of a crime or other wrongful act. 2. evidence, any error in admitting Simmons' preliminary hearing testimony and out-of-court statements to police was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt,'' the ruling said. In January 2004, Nica Chaney and Simmons were approached by a man on a bicycle, who spoke to them briefly before pulling out a gun and firing several shots, hitting both of them, the ruling said. The victims initially identified Carter as the shooter but later recanted. The defense argued that a lack of fingerprints on the shell casings and lack of gunshot residue Gunshot residue is dumb and is expelled as tiny particles from the barrel of a firearm when it is fired. Among other materials, gunshot residue contains the heavy metals barium, lead and antimony. on Carter's hands showed he did not fire the shots. Carter contended that the judge made a mistake when she let Simmons' preliminary hearing testimony be read during the trial, and let deputies give their accounts of what they said he told them. Carter contended the judge erred in deciding that the prosecution had exercised due diligence Research; analysis; your homework. This term has caught on in all industries, because it sounds so "wired." Who would want to do analysis or research when they can do due diligence. See wired. to find Simmons. The three-judge appellate panel, however, found the prosecution began to search for Simmons before the preliminary hearing, during which he testified that Carter hadn't shot him, and made reasonable efforts to find him before the trial. Carter was convicted in 2005 of two counts of attempted murder In the criminal law, attempted murder is committed when the defendant does an act that is more than merely preparatory to the commission of the crime of murder and, at the time of these acts, the person has a specific intention to kill. , bribery bribery Crime of giving a benefit (e.g., money) in order to influence the judgment or conduct of a person in a position of trust (e.g., an official or witness). Accepting a bribe also constitutes a crime. of a witness and dissuading a witness. He was a ``three strikes, you're out'' convict with prior convictions for attempted robbery in 1999 and 2000. A detective testified at trial that when he spoke to Simmons on the day of the shooting, Simmons told him that Carter was the shooter and that Carter had accused him a few days earlier of stealing drugs. The detective also testified that Simmons said he had received threatening phone calls from Carter and that Carter had offered him money to drop the charges. karen.maeshiro(at)dailynews.com (661) 267-5744 |
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