Los Angeles Violent Crime Has Man Facing Death Penalty
The cbs2.com website reported in an article that a judge will be deciding the fate of Ruben Becerrada, 45 on whether to send him to death row or life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder of his girlfriend. According to court reports Superior Court Judge William R. Pounders will first decide whether Becerrada should receive a new trial as his defense attorney motioned.
Becerrada was tried last September for manslaughter of his girlfriend Maria Arevalo, 22 back in the year 2000. She had accused him of raping her in the year 1999 and was also found guilty by the jury for this crime. After she went to the authorities Becerrada threatened her and told her not to go to the authorities. Arevalo’s body was found in the trunk of her car. Becerrada was also found guilty of special circumstances relating to him killing a witness to a crime and murder during a kidnapping.
Beth Silverman, Deputy District Attorney, said Becerrada had knifed and choked his ex-girlfriend to “get rid of her because she was the sole witness against him and here is nothing, nothing that is more abhorrent … than the murder of a witness … it goes to the heart of our system of justice.”
Robert, one of Becerrada’s defense lawyers claimed he was the victim of “indiscriminate beatings” and “grew up in a culture of criminality”, spending much of his youth visiting his father behind bars.
All violent crimes in Los Angeles are severely punished. In fact, recent U.S. laws have been passed that will increase the mandatory minimum sentences that will apply to people who are convicted of committing certain violent crimes. If you have been arrested for carrying out a violent crime in Los Angeles you may be looking at a prison term of 25 years to life. Do not fight these charges on your own. Please call 1-866-390-7373 for a free consultation with one of the skilled Los Angeles criminal defense lawyers at the Law Offices of Lawrence Wolf.
