First Vincent Ortiz's arraignment was off the calendar. Then it is back on. Then his attorney Mr. Greg Elvine-Kreis said that he enters a demurrer to all charges except Count 2 claiming People are filing charges in the arraignment on information against his client when he was not held to answer to those charges in the preliminary hearing.
Then there was the issue that he has two files that need to be consolidated and half the information was in one file and the other half in another file. DDA Jackie Pizzo said she would file the paperwork and had discussed this with the court computer staff. That was the easiest part of the case.
Then Mr. Elvine-Kreiss said he wanted the oral demurrer heard right there in court. Judge Miles declined. She was the judge in the preliminary hearing and so it should be another judge or judicial officer would have to hear the demurrer. If the demurrer was denied, Mr. Elvine-Kreiss could file a 995 motion to dismsss charges. Vincent Ortiz would not waive time so the date set for his father Rodney Ortiz had to be switched to fit within a no time waived basis. This went back and forth.
The date for the demurrer to be heard was set, this Thursday in Courtroom 2. The jury trial date was set for July 20 and a trial confirmation for June 25.
If this was not complicated enough, DDA Pizzo pointed out that while the charges that the DA filed were correct, Count 7 was incorrectly entered in the computer and needed to be fixed. It should have been PC 32. This led to Judge Miles checking and reading all the charges against Vincent Ortiz. Then DDA Pizzo asked if Mr. Elvine-Kreiss wanted to amend his demurrer. He then entered a not guilty plea to Count 3, not Count 2 and a demurrer to the rest.
When the court computer errors are fixed, I will list the charges in my next post.
I Broke that news last week.
Both Rodney and Vincent Ortiz were to be arraigned on August 26. Rodney Ortiz is still set to be arraigned in Courtroom 2 but Vincent Ortiz's arraignment is off calendar.
The court computer lists that Vincent Ortiz's medical records have been subpoenaed from Mercy Medical Center by attorney. Does not state whether it is his attorney Conflict Counsel.
Demurrers are pretty uncommon in criminal cases, but still...A demurrer has to be in writing, so the defense cannot bring an oral demurrer (PC 1005). A demurrer must be based on one of the grounds in PC 1004; that the defendant was not held to answer at the PH on a particular charge is NOT grounds for a demurrer (that's what PC 995 is for). So it sounds like this defense attorney has no idea what he's doing.
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