While everyone struggled without cell phones last Thursday, a
Santa Clara County superior court judge continued three cases
concerning violent felonies that occurred here, and the next day
the court agreed to postpone the plea hearing of Peter Klein, the
man accused of robbing Chase Bank March 27 and many other banks
before that.
While everyone struggled without cell phones last Thursday, a Santa Clara County superior court judge continued three cases concerning violent felonies that occurred here, and the next day the court agreed to postpone the plea hearing of Peter Klein, the man accused of robbing Chase Bank March 27 and many other banks before that.
Superior Court Judge Hector Ramon scheduled Klein’s plea hearing for 1:30 p.m. April 21, at the Santa Clara Superior Courthouse. Police believe the Prunedale man – nicknamed the “No Face Bandit” for wearing a baseball cap, dark glasses and a face-concealing stocking during robberies – robbed 11 banks in three counties, including three in Gilroy, and made off with about $400,000 during a two-year spree, according to police and the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office. Klein, in custody on $5 million bail, faces multiple charges of robbery and false imprisonment, and the deputy district attorney prosecuting the case said she expects more charges soon.
Gilroy police officers and members of the California Highway Patrol captured Klein, 49, minutes after he robbed the First Street’s Chase Bank at gunpoint. He ordered at least 10 employees and customers to the ground, according to police, who were alerted when a customer walked up to the bank, saw tellers with their hands up and called 911. Based on detailed witness accounts, police tracked down Klein, who fled in an SUV.
Pete Joseph Valdez III faces the much more serious charge of attempting to kill a Gilroy police officer to allegedly provoke a so-called “suicide-by-cop.” After more than a year of hearings, Ramon held Valdez, 29, accountable for the attempted murder charge and three other felony counts in December, paving the way for a jury trial that Superior Court Judge Edward Lee will oversee. After conferring with both sides in his chambers Thursday, Lee continued pre-trial talks to 9 a.m. Thursday. The trial is scheduled to begin May 4. If convicted, Valdez, who was denied bail, would spend the rest of his life in prison because he has 10 prior convictions, including three felony convictions for a strong-arm robbery.
Also continued last week was the matter of Osiris Quintero Munoz, 27, accused of stabbing two brothers – causing one to die – after a March 2008 fight outside the downtown Rio Nilo nightclub. He faces trial for murder even though the surviving victim did not identify Munoz as the stabber during the preliminary hearing.
Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Teresa Guerrero-Daley – who handed the case off to Lee – relied on testimony from the defendant’s colleague, who told said Munoz admitted to stabbing Adan Arvizu Cabrera, 23, of Salinas, and fatally wounding his older brother, Juan DeDios Arvizu Cabrera of Castroville. Munoz will appear in court 9 a.m. May 7.
At 9 a.m. April 30, Lee will also consider potential plea bargains for Israel Juarez and Joshua Williams, two 18-year-olds accused of carrying out a November gang-related drive-by shooting near Monterey Street and IOOF Avenue. Williams could face up to 12 years if convicted, and though his mother, Ida Williams, maintained her son’s innocence, she said her son will have to consider a plea bargain.
Juarez’s private attorney, James Leininger, indicated the same, and both defendants’ lawyers argued that while the bullet casing police found on the windshield of the Honda – which officers claimed Williams drove and Juarez shot from – was the same caliber as those found at the scene of the shooting, forensics experts have yet to conclusively link the shells. The defense attorneys also argued that nobody – including police and witnesses – reported seeing either defendant in the car, which neither owns. However, officers saw them outside of it a couple of times before and after the non-fatal shooting.
Families and friends of both defendants have shown up at every appearance, and Williams’ mother claimed police racially profiled her son and roughed her up during a search of her home last November.
