Request to Move Murder Trial From County Rejected

A Camarillo resident facing murder charges lost a bid Thursday to move his trial to another county after his lawyer argued that publicity surrounding the case has tainted the Ventura County jury pool.

Defense attorney Steven Andrade told Superior Court Judge Donald Coleman that his client would not be able to get a fair trial here because prospective jurors have been exposed to tawdry details that will not be admitted in court.

“A lot of the information contained in the publicity is not only inflammatory,” Andrade argued, “but it is the type of information that would remain in jurors’ minds.”

Defendant Jose Alcantar Vazquez, 38, is scheduled to stand trial next week on murder, kidnapping and burglary charges. Prosecutors say he plotted to kidnap a man who owed his wife money.

Vazquez’s alleged abduction plan went awry, however, when two men he allegedly hired wound up killing restaurant owner Felipe Arambula instead, authorities said.

During Thursday’s hearing, Andrade told the judge that newspaper articles published after the June 1998 slaying had reported details on the alleged relationship between his client’s wife and Arambula--details the attorney said will not be heard in court.

Nevertheless, Andrade said, such statements may linger in the minds of jurors and hurt Vazquez’s chances of getting a fair trial.

But Deputy Dist. Atty. Bob Calvert argued the case has not come close to generating the level of publicity required to move a trial. He said there has been no newspaper or television coverage in four months.

Coleman agreed, ruling the case did not meet the criteria set in law for a venue change.

“This is not a capital case,” Coleman said before denying the motion. “Nor do I find that the press coverage in this case to be unusual in any way.”

Arambula was shot six times last summer, including once in the heart, at his upscale Ventura house. One of the men involved in the shooting, William Hampton Jr., was sentenced to life in prison in April after pleading guilty to murder.

A second suspect in the shooting, Manuel Vasquez, is believed to have fled the country.

Jury selection in Vazquez’s case is scheduled to begin Monday. His trial is expected to last two to three weeks.