OXNARD : 2 Men Accused in Slaying Face Trial

Two Oxnard men accused of killing another man after a bar fight last month were ordered to Superior Court on Monday by a judge who determined there is enough evidence against them to proceed to trial.

Ventura County Municipal Court Judge Bruce A. Clark ruled that Steven Rodriguez, 46, and Alfred Aguirre, 21, will be arraigned Aug. 2 in the June 18 stabbing death of 45-year-old Raymond Caballero outside the Casbah lounge in Oxnard.

Rodriguez, who has worked as a Ventura County custodian for more than 15 years, is accused of stabbing Caballero in a fight outside the night spot, prosecutors said. Aguirre also will stand trial on a murder charge, though he is not suspected of inflicting the fatal wound.

Two security men who were working at the bar testified at a preliminary hearing Monday that both Caballero and Rodriguez had knives. The two men “appeared to make up” after being kicked out of the nightclub a first time, bouncer Renee Ayala said.

They were allowed to re-enter the bar and began arguing inside until they were kicked out a second time, Casbah security guard Lee Jackson testified.

Jackson said Aguirre also got involved in the fight. “For a while (Aguirre) was just standing there, but then he got into it,” he said.

But Jackson, under questioning from a defense attorney, later acknowledged that he never saw Aguirre throw a punch and that Aguirre “possibly” was trying to break up the fight.

Jackson testified that he saw a “silvery” object in Rodriguez’s hand moments before the defendant thrust the weapon at Caballero.

Caballero later died at St. John’s Regional Medical Center.