PALMDALE MAN GETS 75 YEARS TO LIFE IN PRISON JUDGE SAYS DEFENDANT FAILED TO SHOW REMORSE IN SLAYING.

Byline: KAREN MAESHIRO Staff Writer

LANCASTER -- Citing a lack of ``genuine remorse,'' a judge Tuesday sentenced a 26-year-old Palmdale man to the maximum 75 years to life in prison for the fatal shooting of a companion among a crowd of young people gathered outside a Palmdale fast-food restaurant.

Vicente Guzman's attorney asked for leniency for his client, who has no prior criminal record, and said that such a lengthy prison term would, in effect, amount to a ``death sentence,'' but Antelope Valley Superior Court Judge Carlos Chung disagreed.

``I do not believe there is genuine remorse. I do not believe there's accountability on your part,'' Chung said. ``You need to learn to take accountability for what you have done. It's going to be multiple life sentences. You have life. That's not true for certain victims in this case.''

Guzman was convicted in August of murder and attempted murder in the Sept. 19, 2004, shooting on Avenue S at 25th Street East where a crowd of teenagers and young adults was hanging out.

Guzman fired in the direction of 19-year-old Cedric Lane and wounded him, but also hit and killed one of Guzman's own companions, Marcus Calzada, 18, of Palmdale. Guzman and Calzada had just met that night.

Security was high during the tense sentencing hearing as members from both Guzman's and Calzada's family gave statements.

Guzman himself asked for forgiveness from the victim's family.

``I would give my life to bring him back if I could,'' Guzman said in tears. ``I never meant to harm anyone that night. I was trying to protect him. Things just happened so quick. I don't know who had the gun in that truck. The gun was not mine. I ask you to find it in your hearts to forgive me.''

``Don't hate me. Ask that God be your strength the way he has been for me,'' Guzman added.

Guzman's statement brought an angry rebuke from Calzada's brother, Robert.

``You are still a liar. You still don't want to admit it was your gun. Don't use the Lord's name. Jesus Christ doesn't like liars,'' Calzada said.

The victim's mother, Margie Calzada, told Guzman that he hurt her family and his own.

``You took away our baby, an uncle for two little babies who will never get to see what a sweet person he really was. For 18 years we raised him. In three seconds, you took him from us. Maybe one day I will forgive you,'' she said.

Guzman's father, Edward, said he wanted to convey his family's deepest sorrow for the ``loss of your son at the hands of my son'' and apologized to the Calzada family.

``We as parents try to teach our kids right from wrong and as they grow up they start making their own decisions. A lot of them are wrong, a lot of them right. On this occasion, it was a deadly decision,'' Edward Guzman said.

``I don't know what it is to wake up in the morning and to go to your son's room and not find him there. I don't know that feeling,'' Edward Guzman said. ``I can only ask if you can find it in your heart whether it's verbal or silent to forgive my son for his actions.''

Deputy Alternate Public Defender Carlos Morales asked for a new trial and for a change in the verdict, arguing that the evidence did not show premeditation and deliberate action on the defendant's part.

Chung denied those motions, saying the verdict was not inconsistent with the facts. ``The jury considered the facts and the intricacies of various theories of liability,'' Chung said.

The shooting apparently stemmed from a dispute earlier at a party, officials said.

Prosecutors said a group of young African-American men and young Latino men had argued, and the African-Americans threatened the Latinos. After the party broke up, the Latino men went looking for the African-Americans who had threatened them, prosecutors said.

Guzman, Calzada and other companions drove up just after midnight outside a Del Taco restaurant on Avenue S at 25th Street East and spotted some African-American teens, officials said.

The car's occupants chased after the African-American teens, yelling racial epithets. Lane was part of the group that was being chased, but he had not been at the party.

The chase stopped because sheriff's deputies were already there dispersing the large crowd, officials said.

When the Latinos got back in their car, they saw Lane holding a stick. Calzada got out of the vehicle and went over to confront Lane to have a fistfight, officials said.

Guzman fired at least four rounds in the direction of Lane, hitting Calzada in the head and Lane in the abdomen.

karen.maeshiro(at)dailynews.com

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