Man Ordered to Trial on Gun Charges

A 26-year-old Fillmore man arrested six weeks ago after an armed scuffle at a wedding reception was ordered Monday to stand trial on a felony charge of drawing a firearm in the presence of a peace officer.

Chad Morales also was held to answer on one misdemeanor charge of brandishing a firearm after a two-day preliminary hearing in Ventura County Superior Court.

During the hearing, Ventura County Sheriff’s Department deputies testified that they repeatedly ordered Morales to drop a semiautomatic pistol he was carrying during a May 20 argument outside the Fillmore-Piru Veterans Memorial Building.

Morales had been attending an evening wedding reception in the building, according to court testimony. He was apparently asked to leave and returned some time later carrying a gun.

Authorities say they were called to the scene as the defendant and his 51-year-old father, Tony Morales, began arguing outside the reception. One deputy testified that authorities yelled, “Drop your weapon,” as many as 20 times to get the younger Morales to lay down his gun.

A deputy said she fired at him after he allegedly pointed the weapon at her--a point vigorously disputed by the defense. Her shot missed the defendant and hit Tony Morales in the upper torso.

During Monday’s hearing, Tony Morales testified for the defense and disputed the deputies’ version of what happened.

A former Fillmore police officer, the senior Morales testified that his son never pointed the pistol at him and wasn’t holding it in a threatening manner at anyone else.

Tony Morales said his son was “quite intoxicated” and appeared to be in a daze as he tried to calm him down to head off a violent incident.

When asked about the deputies who were yelling at his son to drop the pistol, the father testified that he hadn’t heard them. “My main concern at that time was my boy,” he said.

After the defense rested its case, Deputy Dist. Atty. Eric Dobroth called a rebuttal witness to the stand. Sgt. Michael Powers testified that the defendant admitted during an interview with investigators right after the incident that he pointed the gun at his father.

“Chad Morales told me he pointed the pistol at his father, Anthony Morales, and told him to back off,” Powers testified.

At the conclusion of Monday’s hearing, Dobroth argued that Chad Morales--intoxicated or not--knew or should have known that deputies were at the scene and were ordering him to drop his weapon.

But criminal defense lawyer Richard Hanawalt argued that his client, an Army veteran who served in Somalia, should not be ordered to stand trial on the felony charge because his mental state was diminished--possibly because of psychological trauma.

He noted that the evidence showed Chad Morales was wearing a military jacket when he returned to the wedding reception and was acting strangely. Hanawalt said his client may have been on some kind of “suicide mission.”

“The defendant was out of it,” Hanawalt argued. “We’re only opining alcohol because everyone drinks at weddings. What we really have is someone with a mental blockage who doesn’t know what is going on.”

He further argued that there was no way Chad Morales could have seen the deputy because she was squatting behind a truck at the time of the shooting.

But Superior Court Judge Glen Reiser ordered the defendant to stand trial on the felony count as well as the misdemeanor charge, which was not contested by the defense. Prosecutors dropped a third felony charge.

An arraignment is set for July 18. Morales remains free on bail.