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After a six-month investigation, sheriff's detectives have arrested a man and woman from Apple Valley in the shooting death of 19-year-old Raquel Rayas at Deep Creek. Sheriff's detectives say the two suspects, Joseph Villa and Angela Lucia Sanchez, knew the victim. But detectives did not release any motive that the pair may have had in Rayas' death, said Cindy Bachman, a sheriff's spokeswoman. Villa, 23, and Sanchez, 38, pleaded not guilty to murder charges at their arraignments Wednesday... Read Full Story

A man who raped and killed a Redlands High student in 1977 was denied parole during a hearing at a state prison in Blythe. A parole board determined that John Wilton Zenc was "unsuitable" for release on parole during proceedings Wednesday at Ironwood State Prison, confirmed Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Dawson. Zenc, now 54, was convicted of raping and killing 15-year-old Paula Hernandez, as she walked home from school in March 1977. Family members of Hernandez have been going to... Read Full Story

The California Supreme Court announced that it will issue a written opinion tomorrow morning in the standing case over Proposition 8, which sought to define marriage in this state as being between a man and a woman. The court is scheduled to release the opinion at 10 a.m. in the case Perry v. Brown, according to a statement today from the Judicial Council of California. It will be available on the California Courts website at: www.courtinfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/opinions.cgi At issue is whether... Read Full Story

A man who raped and killed a female Redlands High student in 1977 is seeking parole at a hearing Wednesday in Blythe. Family members of 15-year-old Paula Hernandez are doing whatever they can to keep the teen's killer, John Wilton Zenc, behind bars. They will be attending the hearing at Ironwood State Prison, where Zenc is currently housed. "I don't want this to happen to another family," said Ruth Lopez, Paula's sister. Zenc, now 54, has hired an attorney in his bid to get paroled, Lopez... Read Full Story

A proposed settlement has been reached in a 2006 federal class-action lawsuit filed against San Bernardino County and its courts over accessibility for disabled persons at more than a dozen courthouses. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Riverside, claimed that parking, paths of travel, courtrooms, bathrooms and other areas were inaccessible to people with mobility or manual dexterity disabilities. Lawyers for the Disability Rights Legal Center in Los Angeles, which represented... Read Full Story

By Melissa Pinion-Whitt, The (San Bernardino County) Sun Posted: 11/14/2011 12:44:44 PM PST San Bernardino Superior Court has agreed to settle an $831,000 class-action lawsuit claiming the county's courthouses are inaccessible to the disabled, court officials said today. Four plaintiffs named in the federal lawsuit will split $80,000 in damages. San Bernardino County is expected to pay $690,000 in attorneys' fees and costs, and another $61,000 to monitor the county's progress in making... Read Full Story

SAN BERNARDINO - A judge dismissed criminal charges this morning against Andrew Eloy Lozano, a local member of the Vagos motorcycle club who was arrested last month in a law enforcement sweep across Southern California. At a scheduled preliminary hearing for Lozano in San Bernardino Superior Court, Judge James Dorr ruled that prosecutors presented insufficient evidence to hold Lozano for trial on charges of possessing body armor and participating in a criminal street gang. "The court... Read Full Story

Joe Nelson and Mike Cruz, The (San Bernardino County) Sun Posted: 11/10/2011 05:01:31 PM PST RIVERSIDE -- A federal judge seemed poised to rule that federal agents did not violate the civil rights of Rancho Cucamonga developer Jeff Burum when they served search warrants at his home and office in September. During a two-hour hearing Thursday in U.S. District Court, Judge S. James Otero heard arguments from Burum's attorney, Stephen G. Larson, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jerry A. Behnke... Read Full Story

RIVERSIDE -- District Attorney Michael A. Ramos announced plans Wednesday to strengthen his office's partnership with federal prosecutors. Ramos told members of the Inland Empire Chapter of the Federal Bar Association that he plans to cross-designate one of his local prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney's Office. Ramos revealed the plan while discussing a host of top issues affecting public safety, such as street gangs, medical marijuana and mortgage fraud, alongside Riverside County... Read Full Story

SAN BERNARDINO -- Prosecutors delivered their opening remarks Monday in the trial for two young men who repeatedly struck an elderly San Bernardino woman with hammers while ransacking her home for money and other valuables. "Storma Del'Andrae, who is 87 years old, was murdered for a handful of cash, a suitcase and some costume jewelry," said Deputy District Attorney Tristan Svare. "That's what this case is all about." The prosecution's opening remarks came just prior to witness testimony... Read Full Story