Superior Court Judge Tam Nomoto Schumann, who has been on the Orange County bench for nearly 30 years, lost her Yorba Linda home in the Triangle Fire.

A fellow judge reported that Nomoto had no time to save anything when she and her husband were forced to evacuate. Not only did she lose everything, but one of her Labrador retrievers died from injuries suffered during the dash to flee from the flames.

Paul Thaete, a district attorney’s investigator, his wife and their five children were at a soccer game when a fire threatened their home. They rushed home and managed to get a few personal items out before the winds changed and they were forced to flee. The home was a total loss.

Orange County Deputy Sheriff Russell Sison, who works at the Theo Lacy branch jail, and his wife were picking up their 9-year-old son from school when their apartment building in Yorba Linda burned to the ground.

Deputy James Russell, who also works at Theo Lacy, lost his home in Yorba Linda to the fire.

Retired OC Sheriff’s sergeant Chuck Bensinger, who still works as an extra help deputy in community Programs,  lost his  Yorba Linda home in the fire.

The trial judge in the yacht murder trial told his jury this morning that they should not do any independent research, conduct experiments or visit the scenes of the alleged crimes during deliberations.

They are part of standard instructions given in every murder case.

But in this case, Superior Court Judge Frank F. Fasel likely was not too worried that the seven women and five men sitting in judgment of defendant Skylar Deleon would or could visit the crime scenes.

That’s because Deleon allegedly masterminded the murders-at-sea of Thomas and Jackie Hawks on Nov. 15, 2004 somewhere off Catalina Island. In a third count, he is charged with the slashing the throat of Jon Peter Jarvi on a remote highway in Mexico.

So it’s a safe bet that Deleon’s jury will consider his fate only in the deliberating room of Fasel’s ninth floor courtroom. They got in about a minute of deliberations so far before they adjourned for lunch.

The deliberations were delayed a bit this morning by a calender of other cases in Fasel’s court.

And then the judge gave his instructions for one hour.

He reinforced the standard rule that jurors cannot convict Deleon, 29, of Long Beach, of the three murders unless they are convinced beyond “a reasonable doubt.”

This is one of the rare cases where that will probably not be a problem: defense attorney Gary Pohlson has conceded Deleon’s guilt to all three murders as part of a gambit to save Deleon’s life during the penalty phase, which is expected to start on Wednesday.

The jury will resume deliberations in the guilt-innocense phase this afternoon.

Recent Deleon news

• Verdicts reached in yacht trial
• Jury is deliberating in yacht murder case
• Deliberations to begin in yacht murder trial
• Hawkses were “yanked into the ocean,” witness testifies
• Deleon told police he believed Hawkses were in Mexico
• Deleon trial could wrap up by Thursday, prosecutor says
• Deleon shopped for house, car, before murders, witnesses say
• Yacht case notary said she lied because she was scared
• Skylar had no luck renaming the stolen yacht
• Mom cringes at photo of slain son in Deleon trial
• Skylar’s cousin testifies his life was threatened
• Skylar’s cousin takes witness stand in yacht murder trial
• Witnesses testify about Deleon’s spending spree
• “He’s guilty,” defense attorney admits in yacht murder trial
• Prosecutor: Victim begged for her life before she was thrown overboard
• Did Skylar think “no bodies, no murder?”
• Was that Vlad Guerrero on jury duty?
• Was this the shortest lasting jury on record?
• Jury selected for yacht murder trial in less than a day
• Opening jabs in yacht case jury selection
• Skylar Deleon meets his jurors

About the case

• Newport couple killed at sea
• Timelines: Yacht case, Jarvi case
• Victims: Thomas Hawks, Jackie Hawks, Jon Peter “JP” Jarvi
• Defendants: Skylar Deleon, Jennifer Deleon, Myron Gardner, John F. Kennedy, Alonso Machain
• Complete coverage: Missing at sea
• Frank Mickadeit’s columns on the case.

As the guy who has the final say on the questionnaire to be submitted to the 350 prospective jurors in the public corruption trial of ex-sheriff Mike Carona, U.S. District Judge Andrew J. Guilford wanted to ask about the reading habits of those who might be selected.

So in the draft questionnaire he submitted to prosecuting and defense attorneys on Monday, Guilford posed this question.

“How often do you read any of these publications, it at all?”
 

And he listed the following newspapers:

OC Weekly. LA Times. San Jose Mercury News. San Clemente Times.

The Mercury News?

And no Orange County Register?

 We assumed it was because The Register’s coverage has been so unbiased and fair that reading it would not be an issue for jurors.

But it turns out it was just an oversight. When Assistant U.S. Attorney Ken Julian pointed out that the Register was not on the list, Guilford quickly agreed to replace the Merc with the Reg.

So, what’s with the San Clemente Times?

Veteran Superior Court Judge William R. Froeberg, who is second on the seniority list among Orange County judges, issued his third death sentence in a week on Friday.

Last week he gave Noel Jesse Plata (pictured, upper right) and Ronald Tri Tran (pictured right) the death penalty for the 1995 robbery and torture slaying of Linda Park, 18, of Irvine. And Friday, he gave a similar sentence to white supremacist Michael Lamb for murdering a former gang colleague.

It’s not that Froeberg is necessarily tougher on sentencing matters than other judges. It’s more because Froeberg presides over a “long cause” calender, which means he gets assigned a lot of serious cases, some of which could lead to death sentences.

So far, none of the Orange County killers sentenced by Froebeg have been executed. And that’s in part because it sometimes takes two or three decades for death penalty cases to wind  their way through state and federal appellate courts.

On Friday, when he validated the jury’s recommendation that Lamb (pictured at left) should die for sneaking up on victim Scott Miller and executing him with a bullet to brain, Froeberg had this to say:

“The cowardly sneak attack on Mr. Miller was committed for the purpose of enhancing Mr. Lamb’s status in a criminal street gang. It is ironic to note that this gang, based in anarchy, was able to carry out this execution in a little more than a year whereas the State of California routinely takes in excess of 25 years to accomplish the same thing.”

Nick Thompson has quite a background.

He’s been a public defender and he’s been a deputy district attorney.

He was in the U.S. Army Reserves and he was called up for tours of duty in Iraq and Bosnia. The Army also used him for six training missions in Sri Lanka and assignments in Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Honduras, South Korea, Thailand and Japan.

One of  his ancestors commanded a unit during the Revolutionary War. Another died in battle in the Civil War. His father fought with the Navy during World War II.

He’s going to make a good judge.

Nick was sworn in Friday to the Orange County Superior Court bench. He was elected in June, beating civil attorney Michael Bartlett in a race to succeed retiring judge Richard Behn.

More than 100 friends and family members attended Nick’s enrobing ceremony in Department 1 of the Central Justice Center. The Hon Dodie A. Harman gave the oath of office, and Tisha L. Harman, Nick’s wife, helped the new judge with the robe.

Guest speakers were attorney Marion Wheeler, Fullerton Police Capt. Greg Mayes and retired Lt. Col. Ned Ferraro, Special Forces, U.S. Army Reserves.

By law, Superior Court Judge William Froeberg was required to articulate this morning why he felt a jury’s death verdict against two gang members for the torture and strangulation death of an Irvine teenager during a home invason robbery was justified.

Here is what he had to say:

“What manner of person, for the sum of $800, would hog-tie a beautiful, innocent 18-year-old woman, cut her throat, strike her in the face, strangle her with an electrical cord, and leave her face down in a pool of blood on the floor of the family room of her house, knowing that either her sister, mother, or father would inevitably discover such a horrific scene?

“Whatever such person is decribed to be, he deserves the ultimate penalty.”

With that said, Froeberg sentenced Noel Jesse Plata and Ronald Tri Tran, both 33, to death for the Nov. 9, 1995 slaying of Linda Park, 18, of Irvine.

There was one surprising person in the courtroom who did not dispute what Froeberg had to say.

It was Tran.

“I totally agree with the court’s decision,” the killer said. “I’m sorry to everyone involved. I was just so stupid.”

Pre-trial motions in the case of People v. Mike Carona, the ex-sheriff accused of public corruption, continue to pile up.

In fact, there are so many motions pending that U.S. District Court Judge Andrew S. Guilford has scheduled a rare Saturday hearing to hear arguments on two motions about evidence that may or may not be introduced at Carona’s trial, now set for late October.

Guilford ordered prosecuting and defense attorneys into his courtroom on Saturday, Oct. 18 for a hearing to consider a defense motion to exclude portions of secretly-taped conversations Carona had last year with former friend and ally Don Haidl.

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