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WESTLAKE : Court Is Finally Assigned in Shooting

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After being assigned to three different courtrooms in the past two weeks, a high-profile Westlake shooting case has finally found a home--at least for the time being.

William Huang, John Yi and Oubansack (Andy) Sonethanouphet have each been ordered tried as adults on criminal charges stemming from a Feb. 4 melee at North Ranch Park in Thousand Oaks that left two Westlake High School football players wounded.

But their preliminary hearing was stalled June 16 when defense complaints led to the case being bounced to three different courtrooms.

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Defense attorney John E. Meyers first complained when the case was assigned to Acting Superior Court Judge Bruce A. Clark, an elected judge on Ventura County’s Municipal Court.

Meyers, who represents Huang, said he did not want Clark or another acting Superior Court judge, Herbert Curtis III, hearing his client’s trial.

But court officials transferred the case from Clark to Curtis anyway.

Meyers then accused Curtis of bias, sending the case to the courtroom of Charles W. Campbell, the supervising felony judge.

On Monday, Campbell put Clark back on the case, ruling that Meyers’ original motion to disqualify Clark had not been filed in a timely manner. Now, the preliminary hearing is set for July 12 before Clark.

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