UPDATE: May 4, 3 pm

MURRIETA - A 20-year-old Hemet man brutally kicked and stomped another man, causing his death, a prosecutor said today, but the defense contends the victim was fatally injured when he fell during a fight.

Joseph Wayne Williams is charged with second-degree murder in the death of Anthony Scott, 21, of Hemet, in front of a video store on Stanford Street about 7:30 p.m. Nov. 30, 2006.

Scott went home and to bed after the fight but with a very bad headache and slipped into unconscious, court documents state. He died two days later, after doctors determined he was brain dead from his swelling and bleeding on the brain and his family removed him from life support.

Williams' brother, Anthony Edwards Williams, 26, told investigators they fought with Scott but it was mutual combat. He pleaded guilty to assault and is facing a maximum of seven years in prison.

In his opening statement today, Deputy District Attorney Sam Kaloustian told the six-woman, six-man jury that witnesses will testify the victim was knocked down in a fight, then stomped and kicked.

"Anthony Scott was not defending himself" when he was on the ground, Kaloustian said.

"Anthony Scott did not provoke the fight," he added.

Kaloustian said that witnesses will testify the Williams was holding

onto a metal bar or railing as he kicked and stomped on Scott's head.

Defense attorney Ron Coffee said that Scott's death was "tragedy," but not his client's fault.

"It was not murder, it was not manslaughter, it was not a crime,"

Coffee said.

Coffee told the jury that his client's brother was fighting with Scott's friend, Quadrus Wilson, and that Scott became involved by starting a fight with the defendant.

"At some point Anthony Scott pushed Joseph Williams," Coffee said.

During a struggle, Scott allegedly fell and struck his head, he said, but then got up and leaned against a pole.

All the parties then get into their vehicles and leave the scene, he said.

Prosecution testimony, slated to begin after opening statements, was postponed because the first witness, Wilson, left town suddenly when a death in the family occurred.

The prosecution will put its first witness on at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Following a preliminary hearing last year, a judge dismissed gang allegations against the brothers, citing lack of evidence.

Sheriff's investigator Michael Elmore said outside court that authorities never found out what prompted the fight.

ORIGINAL STORY

SOUTHWEST JUSTICE CENTER - Opening statements are set to get under way today in the murder trial of a man accused of fatally beating another man in Hemet.

Joseph Wayne Williams, 20, of Hemet is charged with murdering Anthony Scott, 21, also a Hemet resident, in front of a video store on Stanford Streetabout 7:30 p.m. Nov. 30, 2006.

Scott went home after the fight but went to bed with a very bad headache and slipped into a coma, court documents state. He died two days later, after doctors determined he was brain dead and his family removed him from life support.

Williams' brother, Anthony Edwards Williams, 26, told investigators they fought with Scott but it was mutual combat. He pleaded guilty to assault and is facing a maximum of seven years in prison.

A friend of Scott's, Quadrus Wilson, told investigators he was fighting one of the brothers but that someone pulled his shirt up over his head so he could not see what was going on.

Wilson told investigators the brothers had approached him in a gangster-like manner and he responded by engaging in a fist fight with one of them.

Following a preliminary hearing last year, a judge dismissed gang allegations against the brothers, citing lack of evidence. Authorities have not said what may have prompted the fight.

SOUTHWEST JUSTICE CENTER - A hearing is set to consider a psychiatric evaluation of Robert Wayne Gardner, who is charged with kidnapping and beating an acquaintance's girlfriend, then dumping her in Mexico, where she hitched a ride with federal police to the border, then took a $300 cab ride home to Lake Elsinore. The boyfriend is also charged Advertisement
in the case. His trial is also set for today

SOUTHWEST JUSTICE CENTER - A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Dannie Joe Farnum, who is accused in the death of his girlfriend's 7-month-old son.

SOUTHWEST JUSTICE CENTER - A hearing on pretrial motions is scheduled for Joseph Resvaloso, who allegedly killed a man in a drive-by shooting in 2003.

SOUTHWEST JUSTICE CENTER - A preliminary hearing is set for Mark Davis Julian, who is accused in the death of a woman whose sport utility vehicle he allegedly struck in Romoland. The woman's two children were critically injured.

SOUTHWEST JUSTICE CENTER - Trial is set for Eric Aguilera, the alleged getaway driver in the $1.5 million Soboba Indian Casino heist of August 2007

RIVERSIDE - Trial is set for Gregory Lee Latham and his wife, Yvonne Dee, who are charged with murder and child endangerment in the death of their 17-year-old diabetic daughter. The Lathams allegedly refused to act in April 2006 when the girl fell ill. The teen was eventually hospitalized but slipped into a coma and was declared brain dead a few days later.

RIVERSIDE - Trial is set for Christopher Butler, a reputed gang member accused in the February 2007 shooting death of a Moreno Valley boy. Butler allegedly gunned down 15-year-old Allen Anthony White in front of Vista del Lago High School during a confrontation.

RIVERSIDE - Trial is set for Richard Angulo, a Corona high school math teacher and baseball coach accused of molesting three pre-teen boys, one for years.

SOUTHWEST JUSTICE CENTER - A felony settlement conference is set for Jack Mark Ziniuk, who is suspected of bludgeoning and decapitating a horse in Anza, then feeding its head to his dogs.

SOUTHWEST JUSTICE CENTER - Arraignment is set for Wilbert Dale Garcia, an Orange County sheriff's deputy accused of sexually assaulting a teenage girl.

UPDATE: May 4, 12 noon

The 18-year-old Juan Pablo Ramos, who is already being prosecuted on suspicion of sexually assaulting a woman earlier this year has pleaded not guilty to the 2007 rape of a Cathedral City woman.

Juan Pablo Ramos is being prosecuted as an adult on charges of burglary with the intent to commit rape, rape by force and other charges stemming from the alleged October 2007 sexual assault, though he was 16 at the time. See story below

INDIO - An 18-year-old man who is already being prosecuted on suspicion of sexually assaulting a woman earlier this year will be arraigned today for the 2007 rape of a Cathedral City woman.

Juan Pablo Ramos was charged in adult court on Thursday for the 2007 rape, even though he was 16 when that crime was committed. Ramos was linked to the rape after he was arrested Jan. 25 on suspicion of breaking into a woman's home on Avenue La Paz near Tortuga Road in Cathedral City.

"We found out about the other sexual assault incident after he was arrested and a sample of his DNA was taken," said Michael Jeandron of the Riverside County District Attorney's Office. "That sample matched an unsolved cold case from October 2007."

Cathedral City police had stopped Ramos for speeding the day of the 2007 rape without realizing the teen was a suspect, said police Detective Edward Colon.

"We went in pursuit of this guy for speeding in a vehicle, not knowing he had just left the crime scene," he said.

The latest rape was reported just after 3:30 a.m. Jan. 24. Officers had been called to the home several times the previous day on reports of a man loitering in an alley behind the home, but no one was found, police said.

Police again went to the area Jan. 24 in response to a report of a home invasion robbery and discovered an injured woman who said a man had broken into her home and sexually assaulted her.

Ramos was arrested the next day when officers responding to a burglary in progress in the 68000 block of Pasada Road found evidence that linked him to the assault.

Evidence from other cases involving similar circumstances were also sent to the U.S. Justice Department for analysis, and police were seeking other possible victims, Colon said.

Ramos is in jail in lieu of $1 million bail.

Be the first to share your opinion on this article!