Tempers flared in the Vista courthouse on May 17 when 59-year-old Michael Theodore Pines, acting as his own attorney, was brought before a superior-court judge. Prosecutor James Romo said that Pines has filed suits against …
May 18, 2011
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Stories by Eva Knott
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Michael Pines Defends Himself at Arraignment in Vista
Arraignment of Motorist Accused of Killing Bicyclist James Swarzman
On April 27 at the Vista Courthouse, Nicole Honda said she witnessed the collision that fatally injured her fiancé, James Swarzman. He and Honda were riding bicycles together in Encinitas at about 1 a.m. on …
April 28, 2011
Dr. Naimark: Rage or Insanity, a Change of Mind
In a surprising turn of events, a psychiatrist revealed to a jury in the Vista courthouse that he had changed his mind about the sanity of the defendant. The reversal came when Dr. David Naimark …
April 13, 2011
Alleged Carlsbad Killer Arrested in Indianapolis
According to court documents, on March 25, when 27-year-old Devin Allen was asked where he was from, he reportedly answered, “Oceanside.” The gangster told him, “You’re in the wrong town!” before knifing Allen in the …
April 6, 2011
Revenge — Served Cold in Carlsbad
"We had to do something about it ’cause he’s our little cousin,” said Victor Lopez. “We got to go shoot somebody.” Victor’s 18-year-old cousin Alex had been shot in the face on his way to …
March 23, 2011
Shelley Malil Sent to Donovan State Prison to Begin Life Sentence
Shelley Malil, a former Hollywood actor who tried to stab to death his ex-girlfriend in her San Marcos home in 2008, was sentenced to life in prison in December. He was sent from local jail …
March 17, 2011
Former Marine Raphael Ramey Sentenced to Life
On March 14 at the Vista Courthouse, Charles Evan Williams Sr., the father of a murder victim, told the man who killed his son, “After the verdict was read, I slept well.” The murderer, Raphael …
March 15, 2011
Who Is the Dreamer in Vista?
On a Tuesday morning in late September, two 16-year-old girls snuck away from their North County high school. Chica wanted to go home, Nina later said. “I understood that she was going to go home …
March 9, 2011
Construction Worker Describes Apprehension of Carlsbad School Shooter
“Well, I kicked him right in the head,” said witness Steven Kane, recounting the day he chased down a man seen shooting a gun at schoolchildren last October. The construction worker testified for about 30 …
March 8, 2011
Debbie Sumi Faces DUI Manslaughter Charges in Vista
A woman 4 feet 9 inches tall and weighing 104 pounds was said to be driving with a lethal blood alcohol content when she crashed a car into people on the side of the road …
February 25, 2011
Florencio Hernandez Fights Escondido Cops
Two Escondido police officers said they ended up rolling in wet iceplant by the side of the road with a combative man who managed to get ahold of one officer’s taser and engage it. Officer …
February 22, 2011
San Marcos Man Charged with Possession of Kid Porn
A 37-year-old man videotaped a 12-year-old girl taking off her clothes and then showering in his San Marcos home in 2007, according to prosecutor Keith Watanabe at the Vista Courthouse on Friday, February 18. Marc …
February 19, 2011
Nancy Lee Ellis Charged with Encinitas Arson
On February 15, a judge ordered 64-year-old Nancy Lee Ellis held for trial on five different arson charges, four of which are felonies. Ellis is pleading not guilty. Testimony at the preliminary hearing suggested that …
February 17, 2011
Merrick James Boyer Faces Felony Pot Charges
When 18-year-old Merrick James Boyer got pulled over on the 15 freeway last month, Escondido officers found a black duffle bag stuffed with jars and bags of marijuana on the backseat. Officers also confiscated a …
February 15, 2011
Ex-Marine Raphael Ramey Found Guilty of Murder
Raphael Ramey was declared guilty of murder by a jury on February 10. He had been accused of knifing, beating, and stomping to death a used-car salesman who failed to deliver a car to Ramey …
February 10, 2011
Escondido Police Nab Assault Suspects
Escondido police officers brought three suspects to headquarters for alleged violations of probation and gang injunctions after midnight in the early morning hours of November 1, 2010, Halloween night. One officer, Raymond Solorio, then noticed …
February 8, 2011
Former Border Patrol Agent Gamalier Rivera Found Guilty
On Wednesday, February 2, for his hatchet attack on two sleeping persons more than a year ago, former Border Patrol agent Gamalier Rivera was found guilty of assault, causing great bodily injury, and aggravated mayhem. …
February 3, 2011
Carlsbad Police Track Gladys Conrad's Murderer Back to Mexico
Officer Derek Harvey was waiting at Lindbergh Field last March when the plane carrying the Mexican fugitive landed. The Carlsbad police officer couldn’t help grinning when he saw the prisoner brought toward him. Harvey had …
February 2, 2011
Oceanside Murderer Joaquin Martinez Sentenced
Superior court judge Joan Weber commented that Joaquin “Jaws” Martinez’s description of chopping apart the body of his victim was “some of the most chilling testimony I have ever heard” in more than 20 years …
February 1, 2011
Hatchet Victim Chris Anguiano Testifies Against Attacker
“When I got to the hospital, I coded, I died,” Chris Anguiano testified at the Vista Courthouse on Wednesday, January 26. Before he lost his vision and motor skills, he had worked at Palomar Hospital …
January 28, 2011
Marine Michael Wells Returns to Camp Pendleton
There was a tense moment in the Vista Courthouse on January 21 when a superior court judge ordered two Marines to release their 20-year-old prisoner into the custody of San Diego sheriff’s deputies. Michael Wells …
January 25, 2011
Accused Gunman Brendan O’Rourke at Vista Courthouse
The man accused of shooting two children at a Carlsbad elementary school three months ago was at the Vista Courthouse today, January 18. Lysette Cox testified that she “was working on the blacktop at Kelly …
January 18, 2011
Oceanside Fugitive Dontaye Henderson Faces Extradition in St. Louis
Oceanside resident Dontaye Henderson, 28, is expected to arrive back in San Diego County next week to face charges of murder, kidnapping, and felony child abuse. Police in St. Louis, Missouri, arrested him at a …
January 16, 2011
Imposter Geezer Bandit Strikes Carlsbad
"He seemed very intoxicated,” said Adrienne Goldston, the receptionist at Access Medical Center on Camino Real in Carlsbad. A man had stumbled in the front door of the center shortly after 3:00 p.m. on November …
January 12, 2011
Did Jaws (Joaquin Martinez) Find a New Victim?
Joaquin Martinez was arraigned in the Vista courthouse on Friday, January 6, charged with attempted murder using a home-made weapon to attack another prisoner in the Vista jail. Prosecutor Geoff Allard alleged that Martinez inflicted …
January 9, 2011
Three Oceanside Assailants Sentenced in Beating of Elderly Woman
Three young men pleaded guilty to beating an elderly woman at the front gate of her Oceanside condo more than a year ago, and the last two were sentenced in the Vista courthouse yesterday afternoon. …
December 21, 2010
If That's Her Wish, You Can Dance With Her
Partiers began to arrive at Hector Cortes’s San Marcos home about 5:00 p.m. His common-law wife had decorated the garage with a “Happy Birthday” banner and set up chairs and a big table for food …
December 8, 2010
Carlsbad Whistleblower Quizzed Shooter at Kelly Elementary
Stephanie Durkee was tending to children in the school cafeteria when she heard someone swearing. “Fuck AIG!” somebody yelled. It sounded like a man out on the schoolyard. She walked a few steps to the …
December 1, 2010
Raphael Ramey's Road Rage, Without the Car, in Oceanside
Raphael Ramey cursed, yelled, and swore some more. This mechanic Eddie had demanded money to fix his car, a job that was supposed to be done two months ago. Ramey had bought the 1970 Chevy, …
November 3, 2010
Blood on the loveseat at Pegaso Street
Robert Duane Mason was 60 years old when his body was discovered in his home, a modest house in a quiet Encinitas neighborhood where he had lived for 20 years. The homes on Pegaso Street …
September 29, 2010
Not Funny
Hollywood actor Shelley Malil is accused of attempted murder for allegedly stabbing an ex-girlfriend more than 20 times at her home in San Marcos. The attack happened more than two years ago, on August 10 …
August 19, 2010
Crystal meth came into the house on Oceanside's East Parker Street
Janina Hardoy was 24 years old when last seen around the Oceanside Pier, quoting the Bible to homeless people; a couple of months later, in early 2005, she was reported missing from her rented Oceanside …
August 11, 2010