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California

Slaying Suspect Arraigned

By RICHARD MAROSI
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TIMES STAFF WRITER

Maurice Gerald Steskal, the Lake Forest man accused of killing an Orange County sheriff’s deputy last month, entered a plea of not guilty at his arraignment on Monday, authorities said.

The Orange County Grand Jury has charged the 39-year-old unemployed laborer with gunning down deputy Brad Riches outside a Lake Forest convenience store. If convicted, Steskal could face the death penalty.

Steskal is being held at the Huntington Beach City Jail, where he was moved after officials expressed concern that his presence at the Orange County Jail was creating an uncomfortable situation for Sheriff’s Department personnel.

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A pretrial hearing has been scheduled for Friday at 9 a.m. in Santa Ana.

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Richard Marosi

Richard Marosi is a former Metro editor for the Los Angeles Times. He previously reported from the U.S.-Mexico border. Marosi was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2015 for his series on Mexican laborers and in 2013 for his stories on the fate of thousands of immigrants who were deported from the U.S. to Mexico in recent years. He has delved deeply into Mexico’s drug wars, producing a groundbreaking series on the Sinaloa cartel and sharing an Overseas Press Club Award in 2009. In the early 2000s, his corruption investigations in Southeast Los Angeles County contributed to the indictment or ouster of a dozen politicians and city officials. Marosi is a Southern California resident but remains loyal to the Giants, 49ers and Warriors of his native San Francisco Bay Area.

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