TEEN GETS 15 YEARS FOR ROBBERY : APPEAL FILED TO REVERSE JUDGE'S RULING AGAINST `THREE STRIKES' CHARGE.

Byline: Michael Coit Daily News Staff Writer

An admitted Camarillo gang member was sentenced Tuesday to the maximum 15-year prison term for robbing another youth at gunpoint during a December crime spree that ended with the killing of a Moorpark man.

Ventura County Superior Court Judge Steven Perren said the sentence for Jose Duarte was warranted given the 18-year-old's juvenile criminal record and his role in the 40-minute string of crimes that was ``the community nightmare incarnate.''

``I think he is a young man utterly without remorse,'' Perren told the prosecutor and defense attorney before looking directly at Duarte. ``You are in every sense an outlaw.''

Facing trial as an adult, Duarte was found guilty in June of robbing a male juvenile and threatening him with a semiautomatic handgun in front of the Somis Market. The jury also found Duarte guilty of false imprisonment.

Prosecutors had charged Duarte as the first juvenile ``three strikes, you're out'' offender in Ventura County based on two previous convictions, for robbery and attempted robbery. Perren, however, ruled Duarte could not be charged as a ``three strikes'' offender because the two prior convictions occurred in Juvenile Court and prosecutors did not seek to have Duarte tried as an adult in those cases.

Dressed in a white T-shirt and baggy blue pants Tuesday, Duarte did not make a statement during the sentencing hearing.

Defense Attorney Bill Maxwell urged the judge to sentence Duarte to less than the maximum term, contending that Duarte was 17 when the crime occurred. Maxwell also asked to have Duarte initially housed with the California Youth Authority.

``I would strongly urge the court to consider the rehabilitative aspects of the system,'' Maxwell said. ``He has an opportunity to turn his life around.''

Perren ruled that Duarte could remain with the CYA until age 25, when he must be transferred to the state prison system.

Deputy District Attorney Matt Hardy said, ``There is no reason to believe (Duarte) is going to turn his life around,'' and prosecutors will attempt to bring him back to trial as a ``three strikes'' offender.

``The fact is, this is a young man who has chosen a lifestyle of street terrorism and violence,'' Hardy told the court. ``He is never going to be a safe bet for society.''

The county District Attorney's Office has filed a notice to appeal Perren's ruling preventing Duarte from being charged as a ``three strikes'' offender. Hardy said the appeal is expected to be heard with Duarte's appeal of his conviction.

The ``three strikes'' law sets a mandatory sentence of 25 years to life in prison for third-time felons with two prior violent or serious offenses.

The robbery Duarte was convicted of committing was part of a Dec. 3 crime spree that culminated in the shooting death of Jesus Zamudo Manjarrez of Moorpark during a traffic-signal stop.

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 incident at the fast-food restaurant.

The Sheriff's Department then received the report of the robbery. Prosecutors charged that Duarte threatened a 17-year-old with a semiautomatic handgun in front of the Somis Market before taking a day planner containing $30.

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 in Ventura Superior Court on Monday. Contreras has pleaded not guilty to charges of shooting at the home, armed robbery and second-degree murder.