LANCASTER MAN GETS 19 YEARS TO LIFE FOR MURDER; 2 PREVIOUS CONVICTIONS WERE THROWN OUT.Byline: Karen Maeshiro Daily News Staff Writer After his motion for a fourth trial was denied, a Lancaster man was sentenced Friday to 19 years to life in prison for the 1994 murder of a clothing store executive who was fatally shot while in bed. Speaking at the sentencing hearing for Raymond Beltran Jr., the mother of victim Steven Lee This article is about the alpine skier. For other people named Steven or Stephen Lee, see Stephen Lee (disambiguation). Steven Lee (born August 6, 1962 in Falls Creek) is an Australian alpine skier. Stewart of Palmdale said she was left inconsolable by her son's death. ``She said she was devastated dev·as·tate tr.v. dev·as·tat·ed, dev·as·tat·ing, dev·as·tates 1. To lay waste; destroy. 2. To overwhelm; confound; stun: was devastated by the rude remark. and angry at the same time because of the loss of her son, and said the defendant's family was fortunate that they still had a son to go visit, while she only had the cemetery,'' said Deputy District Attorney Greg Denton. Stewart's brother and sister also made statements to the court, the sister saying she named her newborn son after the victim. Beltran, 27, an unemployed construction worker, was convicted in June of second-degree murder in his third trial in Stewart's death. Stewart, a Miller's Outpost district manager, was killed in January 1994. Defense attorney Mark Geragos Mark John Geragos (born October 5 1957) is an American criminal defense attorney best known for defending pop-star Michael Jackson, actress Winona Ryder, Gary Condit, and Susan McDougal, who was involved in the Whitewater scandal. said he will appeal Beltran's conviction. ``I'm confident we will be able to prevail on appeal for manslaughter,'' Geragos said. Before imposing sentence, Van Nuys Superior Court Judge John Fisher denied Geragos' motion for a new trial motion for a new trial n. a request made by the loser for the case to be tried again on the basis that there were significant legal errors in the way the trial was conducted and/or the jury or the judge sitting without a jury obviously came to an incorrect result. . Geragos had obtained medical records from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department This article is about the Los Angeles County Sherriff's Department, not to be confused with the smaller Los Angeles County Police The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD) is a local law enforcement agency that serves Los Angeles County, California. , which he said showed Beltran was given blood tests, contrary to prosecution assertions. The prosecution contends that the defendant didn't make any requests to be tested for HIV HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), either of two closely related retroviruses that invade T-helper lymphocytes and are responsible for AIDS. There are two types of HIV: HIV-1 and HIV-2. HIV-1 is responsible for the vast majority of AIDS in the United States. , the virus that causes AIDS, even though he claimed he was raped by the victim. Denton said he argued in court that the medical records didn't indicate Beltran was given blood tests. Beltran was convicted in July 1996 of first-degree murder, but in March 1997, Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Michael Farrell threw out the conviction and granted Beltran a new trial, saying prosecutors withheld evidence. In February, Fisher declared a mistrial A courtroom trial that has been terminated prior to its normal conclusion. A mistrial has no legal effect and is considered an invalid or nugatory trial. It differs from a "new trial," which recognizes that a trial was completed but was set aside so that the issues could be in the second trial, ruling that prosecutors again withheld evidence. In the first case, the evidence implicated im·pli·cate tr.v. im·pli·cat·ed, im·pli·cat·ing, im·pli·cates 1. To involve or connect intimately or incriminatingly: evidence that implicates others in the plot. 2. Stewart's former roommate in his slaying. In the second case, the withheld evidence pointed to the ex-roommate's innocence, officials said. Beltran was arrested four days after the victim's body was found Jan. 31, 1994. Acquaintances told investigators Beltran had shown them credit cards bearing the victim's name and had asked for help moving a big-screen television and other electronic gear out of a house, court records show. Investigators said Beltran initially denied involvement in Stewart's death and claimed he had found the credit cards in a telephone booth. Under questioning, they said, Beltran began sobbing and said he shot Stewart after being sexually assaulted, court records show. They had met while playing pool at a Lancaster bar, and Stewart invited him home and assaulted him, according to investigators' accounts of Beltran's interview. Beltran said he had gone home, become angry and gone back to Stewart's house intending to hurt him but not kill him, court records show. Stewart's body was discovered by co-workers in his two-story home in the 3200 block of Lantana lantana (lăntā`nə): see verbena. lantana Any of more than 150 shrubs that make up the genus Lantana in the verbena family, native to the New World and African tropics. Court. They went there to check up on him after he did not show up for work. |
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