Judge Finds Cause to Try Beauregard

Municipal Judge Michael M. Dest ruled Friday at a preliminary hearing that there is enough evidence to try former Cal State Northridge football player Jonathan Beauregard on two counts each of attempted murder and using a hand gun to inflict great bodily injury.

After hearing testimony from two witnesses, Dest said there is sufficient cause to believe Beauregard is guilty of the charges.

The first witness, Von E. Thompson, testified that he was shot twice by Beauregard at about 1:30 a.m. on Aug. 29, 1994, outside a San Bernardino bar where he worked as a security guard.

Thompson said he had just finished work and was sitting in his truck with Dunyella D. Smith in the bar’s parking lot. Smith is Beauregard’s ex-girlfriend and the mother of his child. She was also shot that night but was not in court Friday.

“I could see through the corner of my eye that someone was walking to the front of the truck,” Thompson said. “Then he pulled a gun out of his pocket and shot through the middle of the wind shield, not more than five feet away.”

Thompson pointed out Beauregard as the man who pulled the trigger, striking him in the chest and right arm. He estimated that a total of five shots were fired.

After the hearing Thompson, in his first statement since the incident, said: “It was hard for me but that night comes back to me pretty clear. He’s going to go to jail.”

Thompson also testified that he had never seen or met Beauregard before Aug. 29.

San Bernardino police officer Clayton Zeigler, testified that Smith identified Beauregard as the assailant that night.

“She said her ex-boyfriend, who is also the father of her child, shot her as she was on the ground and she ran back into (the bar),” Zeigler testified. “She had a wound on her left side and a fairly severe abrasion on her knee.”

The San Bernardino County District Attorney’s office sent Smith a subpoena to appear Friday, but Deputy Dist. Atty. Cheryl Kersy didn’t know if Smith received it.

“We may not have her correct address,” Kersy said. “We have assigned a detective to that. She will be subpoenaed for the next court date because we will need her at trial.”

There may be concern about Smith’s role as a prosecution witness since she testified on Beauregard’s behalf at a bail hearing in October. If she doesn’t testify, Kersy said, one of the attempted murder charges could be dropped.

Beauregard walked out of the courtroom with his head down and his attorney, Grover L. Porter, at his side. Neither would comment.

Before the hearing, however, Beauregard said he is still enrolled at CSUN. He returns to court Jan. 20, when pretrial and trial dates will be set.

“My feeling today is that it will go to trial,” Kersy said. “There has been no indication at all that he’s interested in a plea bargain.”

If convicted of the attempted-murder charges, Kersy said, Beauregard could face a maximum sentence of life in prison.