Drive-By Slaying Hearing Sparks Hallway Confrontation

Three purported gang members accused of orchestrating one of Orange County’s worst drive-by shootings appeared in court Friday, sparking a tense hallway confrontation between one of the defendant’s relatives and a young man believed to belong to a rival gang.

The angry exchange took place just before a scheduled arraignment for alleged 5th Street gang members Louis Palomino Valadez, Roman Gabriel Menchaca and Robert Phillip Figueroa in Municipal Court in Westminster.

The three are charged with conspiracy, first-degree murder, attempted murder and street terrorism in connection with a Sept. 16 drive-by shooting that killed two people and wounded at least six in Garden Grove. The prosecutor has said he will seek the death penalty against Menchaca, 19, Valadez, 28, and Figueroa, 20, all of Santa Ana. A 14-year-old Santa Ana youth, who is also charged in the attack, is too young to be tried as an adult.

Before court convened Friday, two deputy marshals posted outside the courtroom noticed a young man making hostile gestures toward Figueroa’s mother and sister in the hallway.

Garden Grove Police Investigator Mike Handfield, who was called to the scene, said the man leveled an icy stare at the older woman, then, glancing at several children nearby, turned to Figueroa’s sister and snarled, “Watch your kids.” The younger woman swore at him, warning him to leave her alone, then deputies hustled him out of the building, Handfield said.

Deputy Marshal Howard Harrell said he had refused to let the young man into the courtroom earlier because he had identified himself as a member of the 17th Street gang, but Handfield said that had not been confirmed.

Security was doubled for Friday’s hearing. Deputy marshals questioned each person entering the courtroom. If they said they were attending the arraignment of Figueroa, Valadez and Menchaca, the marshals searched them and took their names and dates of birth.

Deputy Marshal John Tracy said the young man involved in the incident outside the courtroom had presented his driver’s license, saying he was there to see one of the defendants. But when asked his affiliation, he said, “Not with any of them,” apparently referring to the defendants’ friends and family members in the courtroom, Tracy said.

Although arraignment for the three men was postponed until Oct. 13, Figueroa and Menchaca appeared in court in a glass-and-wire security cage. The two men, wearing jail jumpsuits with their hands cuffed and chained to their waists, consented to the postponement.

Through his attorney, Valadez also consented to the delay but gave up his right to appear in court, choosing to remain in a nearby holding cell.

His lawyer, David A. Zimmerman, said after Friday’s proceedings that even though Valadez was one of the triggermen in a previous gang drive-by shooting when he was 16, he’s “too old for that kind of thing” now. “This isn’t his game,” Zimmerman added.

Police believe that Figueroa was a passenger in the truck driven by Valadez, while the 14-year-old and Menchaca allegedly fired guns from the bed of the moving truck. Figueroa’s lawyer, Julian W. Bailey, said that murder charges against his client will not stick unless prosecutors can prove he helped plan the killings.

“Merely being present at a crime scene doesn’t constitute a crime,” Bailey said.

Defense attorneys sought to exclude news photographers and film crews from the courtroom, contending that public dissemination of the defendants’ pictures could prejudice photo identifications of them by witnesses.

But Municipal Judge Sarah Sheffield Jones rejected the request, noting that pictures of the men already had appeared in the news media.

Another purported gang member arrested Wednesday, Randall A. Martinez, who was held on suspicion of weapons violations and child endangerment, had not been formally charged with a crime by late Friday because Garden Grove police had not yet filed the necessary paper work, Deputy Dist. Atty. Thomas Avdeef said.

He said Martinez likely will be released from jail because a suspect cannot be held for more than 48 hours after his arrest without the filing of a complaint. If authorities file a complaint, Martinez could be rearrested, Avdeef said.