Couple facing hate-crime charges in court on Nov. 6
San Martin – The trial of a Morgan Hill couple accused of beating a pregnant woman and yelling racial slurs at her scheduled for Sept. 5 was postponed; the new trial date is Nov. 6 for Charles Peralta and Nicole Agriesti.
Peralta, 29, and Agriesti, 21, are accused of assaulting 32-year-old Morgan Hill resident Xochitl Calderon after she allegedly kicked their car when they ran over her groceries in 2005.
They also face a hate crime enhancement for allegedly yelling racial epithets while they attacked Calderon, according to witnesses.
Deputy District Attorney Mark Hood said the case was postponed due to scheduling difficulties.
“(Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Kenneth Shapero) is in a case this week that’s going to last into next week, and beyond that we run into trouble scheduling witnesses,” he said.
The alleged assault occurred on July 21, 2005, in the parking lot of the Cochrane Village Apartments, where Calderon lives. According to Calderon and witnesses at the scene, she had left a bag of groceries on the pavement in the parking lot as she took other groceries inside.
She said Peralta and Agriesti ran over the bag of groceries in a vehicle Peralta was driving, and when Calderon began yelling at them, asking for money to pay for the food they had destroyed, Peralta threw a penny at her and used racial slurs.
Peralta told police Calderon kicked the car on the passenger side, and then he and Agriesti got out of the vehicle.
Calderon and witnesses told police the couple, who have been described by Agriesti’s attorney Mark Arnold as being in a “dating relationship,” began beating Calderon, even though she told them she was pregnant. Doctors gave Calderon a grim diagnosis after the attack, but she did not lose her baby.
