Suspect Seeks to Reverse Guilty Plea
An accused accomplice in the slaying of 17-year-old Nicole Hendrix is seeking permission to reverse her guilty plea and go forward with a jury trial.
Kellie Rangel, who pleaded guilty earlier this year to accessory and conspiracy charges, was to be sentenced in a Ventura courtroom Tuesday. But Rangel instead ordered her attorney, Willard Wiksell, to ask for a hearing to withdraw her plea.
Deputy Dist. Atty. Ron Bamieh contended that it would be difficult for Rangel to back out now because of strict legal guidelines governing the reversal of pleas.
Rangel is the girlfriend of murder suspect David Ziesmer, who is accused of stabbing and beating Hendrix to death in a Ventura motel room on Oct. 15, 1998.
Authorities say Rangel helped cover up the killing and was involved in a plot to kill witnesses.
She returns to court Aug. 28.
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