The State - News from March 13, 1986

A San Jose judge refused to drop allegations that could lead to the death penalty in the retrial of a Hanford youth accused of having his parents killed. Defense attorney Gary Paden argued that Kevin Yocum, 20, should not face special circumstances a second time, claiming his mistrial on first-degree murder charges amounted to an implied acquittal and retrial would be double jeopardy. However, Superior Court Judge William Fernandez rejected both arguments and also refused to allow Yocum to act as a co-counsel. Jury selection continued in the second trial. Yocum already has been sentenced to a 25-years-to-life term in state prison for a conspiracy conviction handed down in the first trial for the shooting deaths of Ray and Gayle Yocum in the den of their ranch home Dec. 20, 1983.