Jury Will Decide Competency in $12 Caper
A jury will determine the mental competency of a career criminal from Santa Paula who faces life in prison for allegedly stealing $12 worth of wine, breath spray and lip balm, a judge ruled this week.
Santa Barbara Superior Court Judge Frank Ochoa has scheduled a May 21 trial for convicted rapist and robber Ronald Steven Herrera. The trial will determine if he is competent to cooperate with his attorney. Herrera, 56, spent 22 years in prison for raping a woman and her teenage daughter in Ventura and for robberies in Virginia. He is charged with shoplifting on Jan. 5.
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