- People v. Melendez (FWV20002153): Marco Melendez was acquitted of rape. Tonya Cole prosecuted, Public Defender Samantha Mead defended and San Bernardino Superior Judge Daniel Detienne presided.
- People v. Metzger (FWV21004705): Justin Metzger was convicted of rape by force. Tonya Cole prosecuted, Public Defender Yvonne Hui defended and San Bernardino Superior Judge Daniel Detienne presided.
- People v. Ancira (FWV21002440): Angel Ancira was convicted of murder. Debbie Ploghaus prosecuted, Attorney Louis Pilato defended and San Bernardino Superior Judge John Nguyen presided.
- People v. Morales (16CR-004762): Alfredo Morales was acquitted on one count of assaulting a peace officer with a firearm, and declared a mistrial as to two other counts of the same crime. Leonard Chang prosecuted, Attorney Gary Smith defended and San Bernardino Superior Judge Elia Pirozzi presided.
- People v. Ross (FVI22002731): Devin Ross was convicted of second degree murder and acquitted of a conspiracy to commit a crime. Jason Wilkinson prosecuted, Conflict Panel Brandon Wood defended and San Bernardino Superior Judge Cheryl Kersey presided.
- People v. Espinoza (FVI22002730): Rae Espinoza was convicted of involuntary manslaughter, and acquitted of conspiracy to commit a crime. Jason Wilkinson prosecuted, Steven Weaver and James McGee defended and San Bernardino Superior Judge Cheryl Kersey presided.
- People v. Sanchez (BAF1500185): Rodney Sanchez was convicted on four counts of assault, six counts of aggressive sexual assault with a minor and lewd act with a child under 14. Sam Taloa prosecuted, John Dolan and Kelly McDow defended and Riverside Superior Judge Mark Johnson presided. The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department said Sanchez, an inmate at the Cois Byrd Detention Center, killed a fellow inmate on Sept. 6, 2022.
- People v. Pacheco (INF1700565): Christian Pacheco was convicted on one count of murder, one count of arson of an inhabited structure, one count of assault with a deadly weapon and one count of cruelty to an animal. Anne-Marie Lofthouse prosecuted, Christopher DeSalva defended and Riverside Superior Judge Walter Kubelun presided.
- Pacheco fatally stabbed his girlfriend, Elilia Valdez-Garcia, and left her body on a dirt road by the Body of Christ Church in Thermal in March 2018, prosecutors said in their trial brief. He also started a fire in his trailer, and decapitated his grandmother’s dog. He led investigators to Valdez-Garcia’s body.
- People v. Gurley (RIF2102502): David Gurley was convicted on one count of murder. Kim Degonia prosecuted, Mark Cantrell defended and Riverside Superior Judge Valerie Navarro presided.
- People v. Rodriguez (RIF2200825): Juan Rodriguez was convicted on one count of sex with a minor. Sara Beller prosecuted, Kevin Oakes defended and Riverside Superior Judge Matthew Perantoni presided.
- People v. Burchette (SWF2201823): Jack Burchette was convicted of injury to a spouse, criminal threats of death and assault. Acquitted of attempted murder, kidnapping and vandalism. Michael Boyd prosecuted, Jessica Jerving defended and Riverside Superior Judge Bernard Schwartz presided.
- People v. Bonavilla (RIF1880191): Dennis Bonavilla was convicted on one count of conspiracy, three counts of fraudulent claim for health care benefit, nine counts of money laundering and one count of soliciting a business with the intent to violate the insurance code, and was acquitted on 11 counts of using another’s identity to obtain credit. Co-defendant Babar Iqbal was convicted on one count of conspiracy, one count of fraudulent health care claim and one count of using another’s identity to obtain credit. Blaine Hopp and Jonathan Magno prosecuted, Michael Clark defended and Riverside Superior Judge Samuel Diaz presided.
- Bonavilla committed fraud through a non-profit he created in 2013 called the Free Choice Healthcare Foundation, which claimed to help indigent individuals gain health insurance, prosecutors said in their trial brief. Instead, he falsified healthcare clients and employees for the non-profit. Iqbal, of the Riverside Regional Surgery Center, collected patient’s information and gave them to Bonavilla, prosecutors said.
- People v. Padilla (INF2001852): Lino Padilla was convicted of contacting a minor with the intent to commit crimes, and was acquitted of an attempt to commit a lewd act with a minor. Shea Strand prosecuted, Daniel Yu defended and Riverside Superior Judge Jason Stone presided.
- People v. Inzunza (INF2100895): Juan Inzunza was convicted of murder. Brijida Rodarte prosecuted, Samuel Long defended and Riverside Superior Judge Dean Benjamini presided.
- Inzunza killed his cellmate on February 13, 2021, while serving time at Ironwood State Prison in Blythe, prosecutors said in their trial brief.
- People v. Garcia Yax (SWF2101631): Selvin Garcia Yax was convicted in Riverside Superior Court on seven counts of aggravated sexual assault of a minor, four counts of oral copulation or penetration of a minor, one count of kidnapping to commit rape, three counts of a lewd act with a child under 14, one count of oral copulation by force, eight counts of sexual intercourse with a minor and six counts of rape of a minor. Sarah Crowley prosecuted, Public Defender Colleen Lawler defended and an assigned judge presided.
- People v. Garcia (RIF1801882): Humberto Garcia was convicted on two counts of lewd acts with a child under 14. Michael Maloney prosecuted, Public Defender Kathleen Pedro defended and Riverside Superior Judge F. Paul Dickerson presided.
- People v. Ruvalcaba (SWF1907258): Vanessa Ruvalcaba was convicted of murder. Marcus Garrett prosecuted, Linda Moore defended and Riverside Superior Judge Timothy Freer presided.
- Ruvalcaba stabbed her boyfriend, Hosbaldo Davila, 88 times while he was driving a truck on the I-15 freeway in Lake Elsinore on April 20, 2019, prosecutors said in their trial brief. She claimed that Davila tried to kill her first, that he was possessed by the devil, and told sheriff’s deputies that she knew she did the right thing.
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