Richard James Gunner, 24, of Santee, was given an April 4, 2018 trial date in the murder of Brandon DeGuzman, 21, who was shot to death outside his El Cajon home in 2016.
Gunner was held to answer for murder following a preliminary hearing conducted by El Cajon Superior Court Judge Robert Amador on Dec. 14.
DeGuzman was found deceased on Sept. 24, 2016 at 6:30 a.m. on a sidewalk in the 500 block of Danny Street in unincorporated El Cajon. He had been shot in the face.
Richard James Gunner, 24, of Santee, was given an April 4, 2018 trial date in the murder of Brandon DeGuzman, 21, who was shot to death outside his El Cajon home in 2016.
Gunner was held to answer for murder following a preliminary hearing conducted by El Cajon Superior Court Judge Robert Amador on Dec. 14.
DeGuzman was found deceased on Sept. 24, 2016 at 6:30 a.m. on a sidewalk in the 500 block of Danny Street in unincorporated El Cajon. He had been shot in the face.
Gunner had a dispute with DeGuzman over a debt and got another man Tristian Klingensmith, 21, of Lakeside, involved to collect the debt.
Klingensmith pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, possession of methamphetamine for sale, and felon in possession of an assault rifle. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison and ordered to pay $5,000 for the victim’s funeral.
Gunner has pleaded not guilty and remains in jail without bail.
Spring Valley man sentenced for child pornography
A 55-year-old Spring Valley man was sentenced Dec. 18 to six years in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to receiving computer images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
Robert Lee Talnadge was allowed to remain free on $30,000 bond until he surrenders on Jan. 19, 2018.
U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey Miller ordered Talnadge to pay $18,000 to 10 girls who were identified in images as being molested and videotaped by their abusers who placed it online.
Talnadge wrote the judge and said he deeply regretted his actions. He is the caregiver for his elderly father who suffered a stroke and is bedridden.
His attorney, Karen Stevens, told the judge Talnadge downloaded child pornography as an outlet for stress, and also as a distraction. She wrote that Talnadge purposely prevented any distribution of illicit images by immediately removing them from the shared folder on an adult website and transferred them to a DVD.
Stevens noted others who download porn do not take that step that Talnadge did. She wrote this activity was relatively recent. He has no prior record.
Miller said the “massive amount of material” possessed by Talnadge was an aggravating factor. Miller said child porn “preys upon the most vulnerable in our society and does so in a shockingly evil way.”
Homeland Security Investigations discovered someone at Talnadge’s home had files of child porn downloaded online and federal agents seized his computers and other digital devices in May, 2016. His computers, DVDs, and other equipment were forfeited to the government.
A prosecutor asked for a 97-month term. The maximum sentence was 20 years.
Preliminary hearing set for man accused of killing mother and attempting to kill brother
Erik Enrique Margain, 37, will have a Jan. 23 preliminary hearing on charges he killed his mother and tried to kill his brother in 2015 in El Cajon.
A San Diego Superior Court judge determined Margain was mentally competent to understand court proceedings after he received treatment at a state psychiatric hospital in 2016.
Margain has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Martha Margain-Velarde, 64, and to attempted murder of his brother who was hospitalized in the May 17, 2015 incident in the 1900 block of Hidden Crest Drive.
Margain remains in jail on $3 million bail.
Campo man sentenced for possession of submachine gun
A Campo man has been sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for possession of a submachine gun in his truck that crashed into a fence post in a brief chase with a sheriff’s deputy.
Eric Tyler Oxenham, 22, had been banned from possessing any firearms due to his 2016 conviction for transporting an undocumented person for financial gain in Pine Valley.
U.S. District Court Judge Cathy Bencivengo ordered the Mac-11 9 mm firearm and 15 rounds of ammunition be forfeited to the government.
The weapon was found inside the truck on July 20 when a deputy tried to stop him on Potrero Valley Road and state Highway 94 after the deputy saw the truck had a cracked windshield and no current registration tab on the license plate.
Oxenham sped off at a high rate of speed. His truck crashed into a fence post, causing the vehicle to turn onto its side. He climbed out the driver’s window and was uninjured. He was arrested.
The prosecutor argued for a 21-month term. His attorney wrote he was remorseful and recommended a 1-year term. Oxenham has used methamphetamine for several years, according to court records.
