Judge Refuses to Grant Bail for Teen-Ager in Murder Case

A San Fernando Superior Court judge Thursday denied bail for a teen-ager accused of murdering a deaf Palmdale man and wounding his brother during a confrontation on a Granada Hills street last year.

Judge Howard J. Schwab declared that there was too great a risk that Joey Paul Bellinger, 17, of Long Beach would flee if granted bail. Bellinger escaped to Upstate New York with his parents’ help after the shooting.

Bellinger, who is being tried as an adult, faces charges of murder and attempted murder in the slaying of Cesar Vieira, 30, and the wounding of Edward Vieira, 25.

Bellinger allegedly shot the two on Jan. 28, 1990, after he and a group of friends in a car stopped for a traffic light and exchanged glares and insults with the brothers, who were on a motorcycle.

He was arrested more than a month later in Upstate New York after an intensive search by Los Angeles police and the FBI. Bellinger’s parents later pleaded no contest to charges that they orchestrated the escape.

In arguing for bail, Bellinger’s attorney, J. Anthony Bryan, noted the teen-ager’s home life and his lifestyle before the incident. “We have a person who was . . . very accomplished in a number of areas, with no demonstrable negatives,” Bryan said of Bellinger. “I’ve never seen a more appropriate case for release.”

The attorney argued that because of Bellinger’s age and his lack of financial means he is “least able to effect flight.” Bryan also noted that the boy had been affected by the rape and murder of his sister three years before the Vieira shooting.

But Deputy Dist. Atty. Jeffrey B. Semow argued that Bellinger was an extreme flight risk because of his earlier escape attempt.

The youth’s father, Joseph Paul Bellinger Sr., pleaded no contest in June to a felony count of aiding and abetting a suspected felon and was placed on probation for three years and ordered to perform 200 hours of community service. He was also ordered to undergo counseling and pay a $1,000 fine.

The youth’s mother, Phyllis Mary Goodman, pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor count of the same charge and was sentenced to two years probation and ordered to complete 100 hours of community service. She was fined $100 and ordered to undergo counseling.

Joseph Bellinger said in an interview that he and his wife had completed the community service portions of their sentences.

The elder Bellinger expressed regret at the judge’s decision. “If the judge was solely concerned with the issue of flight, then why didn’t he just order an ankle bracelet for the boy?” the father asked, referring to a device that allows authorities to monitor electronically whether a suspect is complying with orders to remain at home.