SUSPECT SEEKS TO WITHDRAW PLEA IN RAPES; MAN ADMITTED GUILT IN 3 ATTACKS.Byline: Jesse Hiestand Daily News Staff Writer An illegal immigrant illegal immigrant n. an alien (non-citizen) who has entered the United States without government permission or stayed beyond the termination date of a visa. (See: alien) who pleaded guilty to raping two Thousand Oaks Thousand Oaks, residential city (1990 pop. 104,352), Ventura co., S Calif., in a farm area; inc. 1964. Avocados, citrus, vegetables, strawberries, and nursery products are grown. women apparently has soured on the possibility of spending life in prison and wants to withdraw his plea, attorneys said Monday. Jose Zavala, 22, knew he was facing a 50-year to life term when he waived his right to a trial last month and pleaded guilty to five felony counts of rape, burglary and attempted burglary, said defense attorney Joel Steinfeld. With the plea, prosecutors agreed to drop three other charges, including one in the attempted rape of a third Thousand Oaks woman during a series of attacks earlier this year. But in the past few weeks, as Zavala awaited Monday's sentencing hearing in Ventura Superior Court, he told a probation officer probation officer n. 1. An official usually attached to a juvenile court and charged with the care of juvenile delinquents. 2. An official charged with supervising convicts at large on suspended sentence or probation. he had second thoughts about pleading guilty, Steinfeld said. ``He doesn't like the amount of (prison) time he's looking at,'' said Steinfeld, who was appointed Monday to help determine whether Zavala can legally pursue a motion to withdraw his plea. Zavala's court-appointed attorney, Deputy Public Defender public defender, governmental official who represents indigent persons accused of crime. U.S. Supreme Court decisions expanding the right to counsel to pretrial proceedings and holding that a person cannot be sentenced to even one day in jail unless a lawyer was Joe Villasana, remains on the case but will not be involved in the challenge to the plea. Judge Herbert Curtis III set a Dec. 3 hearing. Steinfeld said it may be extremely difficult to get the plea withdrawn because courts accept pleas only after defendants freely and voluntarily waive their rights and admit guilt. Zavala pleaded guilty to a series of attacks that terrorized women in a neighborhood north of the Ventura Freeway The Ventura Freeway is a freeway in southern California running from Ventura to Pasadena. It is the principal east-west route through Ventura County and in the southern San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County. and east of the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza The Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza is a performing arts and administrative center located in Thousand Oaks, California. It was built in 1994 on the former site of "Jungleland" at a cost of $63.8 million. . Zavala admitted raping a 64-year-old woman after burglarizing her mobile home Jan. 25. The victim sustained permanent throat damage in the attack. He also pleaded guilty to raping a 57-year-old woman Feb. 20 at her home in a condominium condominium In modern property law, individual ownership of one dwelling unit within a multidwelling building. Unit owners have undivided ownership interest in the land and those portions of the building shared in common. complex. Ventura County Sheriff's Department The Ventura County Sheriff's Department (VCSD) provides law enforcement for the unincorporated areas of Ventura County, California, USA, as well as several cities within the county. The cities that VCSD serves are Camarillo, Fillmore, Moorpark, Ojai, and Thousand Oaks. officials arrested Zavala two days after the Feb. 20 incident on suspicion of breaking into the home of a 44-year-old woman and attempting to rape her. All three women identified Zavala as the attacker during a preliminary hearing in May. Attorneys considered having Zavala serve his sentence in Mexico under terms of a treaty between the two countries. But Mexican authorities refuse to take prisoners facing possible life terms, Steinfeld said. Zavala has twice been deported in the past following criminal convictions in Ventura County. He remains in the county jail on $1 million bail. |
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