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Thread: Dewayne Carter Sentenced to LWOP in 2009 CA Torture Killing

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    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Dewayne Carter Sentenced to LWOP in 2009 CA Torture Killing

    Death penalty sought in Sutter Co torture killing

    CHICO, Calif. (AP) — Sutter County prosecutors say they'll seek the death penalty against a man charged with torturing a man until he bled to death.

    Assistant District Attorney Jana McClung said Tuesday that prosecutors made the decision in the case of Dewayne Carter based on the brutal nature of the killing.

    Authorities say 54-year-old Gabriel Melendez-Huerta was found in his Yuba City home in April 2009 with about 90 puncture wounds, none of which caused his death. They say he also appeared to have been shocked with electricity by a homemade device.

    Carter was arrested after a California Highway Patrol officer encountered him on the side of the road and Carter fled, jumping into the Feather River. His initial arrest on outstanding warrants led detectives to the victim's body.

    Authorities believe the killing was drug-related.

    http://www.cbs47.tv/news/state/story/Death-penalty-sought-in-Sutter-Co-torture-killing/THVxrdmpvUSaZRdZXRBBcw.cspx?rss=154

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    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    20 years for co-defendant in Yuba City's man death

    An Oroville man was sentenced today in Sutter County Superior Court to 20 years in prison for his role in the torture and murder of a Yuba City X-ray technician.

    Michael Ray Collier, 51, originally was charged with the first-degree murder of Gabriel Melendez-Huerta but pleaded no contest to charges of voluntary manslaughter, robbery and burglary.

    According to prosecutors, Collier dropped co-defendant Dewayne Norman Carter off at Melendez-Huerta's home in the 1800 block of Turn Drive in April 2009, knowing that Carter planned to commit a robbery.

    Carter bound Melendez-Huerta to a chair, tortured him with electricity and cut him numerous times, said prosecutors, who are seeking the death penalty. Carter, 28, is awaiting trial.

    Collier did not participate in the torture and murder, prosecutors said, and no evidence indicated he even entered the house.

    "Twenty years is not enough time for what you've done. It will never be enough time," Melendez-Huerta's daughter, Crystal Kirth, told Collier at the sentencing.

    From now on, every holiday will be unhappy because "we will be thinking about the person who should have been there," Kirth said.

    "Mr. Collier had a choice. My dad didn't," she said.

    Melendez-Huerta's nephew, Phillip Huerta, said he hopes Collier uses every day of his sentence to pray for forgiveness.

    "I hope he knows he took a beloved family member, father, uncle and son," Huerta said.

    Judge Chris Chandler gave Carter credit for 729 days served in jail and said he will have to serve at least 85 percent of the 20-year sentence.

    http://www.appeal-democrat.com/news/...-melendez.html

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    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    September 8, 2013

    Evaluation could determine whether Oroville man can face death penalty

    Appeal-Democrat

    A second forensic psychological evaluation could determine whether an Oroville man can legally face the death penalty if convicted of torturing and killing a Yuba City X-ray technician in 2009. Murder defendant Dewayne Norman Carter, 31, appeared briefly on Friday in Sutter County Superior Court. «The defense has raised issues of a possibly intellectual disability, which would mean he (Carter) could not face the death penalty,» Assistant Sutter County District Attorney Jana McClung said. A previous forensic psychological evaluation requested by Sutter County Public Defender Mark Van den Heuvel determined Carter may suffer from a «low level of intellectual disability,» McClung said. The Sutter County District Attorney’s Office is seeking a second opinion. A phone call to the public defender’s office was not returned on Friday. Sutter County Superior Court Judge Brian R. Aronson ordered Carter to return to court on Nov. Prosecutors said Carter tied 54-year-old Gabriel Melendez-Huerta to a chair in April 2009. Carter then reportedly tortured the victim with electricity and cut him repeatedly. Melendez-Huerta bled to death, authorities said. Investigators said Carter was arrested in April 2009 in Butte County driving the victim’s car. Carter reportedly tried to escape arrest by jumping in the Feather River, but he was captured a short time later. Officers then went to the victim’s home in the 1800 block of Turin Drive in Yuba City and discovered the dead body. During a preliminary hearing in November 2009, Yuba City police Detective Jason Parker called the crime scene the «most involved» he’d ever seen. Investigators have previously indicated Carter’s alleged motive may have been robbery. The victim’s family has acknowledged Melendez-Huerta had «a little drug problem,» which may have been a factor in his death. Court records confirm Melendez-Huerta pleaded guilty to a drug possession charge just weeks before he was killed. Carter’s co-defendant, Michael Ray Collier, pleaded no contest in 2011 to voluntary manslaughter, robbery, burglary and a drug charge. He was sentenced to 20 years in state prison, according to court records. Prosecutors said Collier drove Carter to the victim’s home knowing Carter intended to commit a robbery. «But he (Collier) was not present during the murder,» McClung said Friday. Carter’s then-girlfriend, Tamara P. Simmons, was charged with being an accessory to murder, but she later pleaded no contest to harboring a felon and was sentenced to more than six months in jail, according to Appeal-Democrat archives. Carter remains in custody without bail at the Sutter County Jail.

    http://www.sustem.ru/evaluation-coul...death-penalty/

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    Administrator Helen's Avatar
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    May 24, 2014

    Life Sentence in Yuba City torture killing

    By Monica Vaughan
    appealdemocrat.com

    An Oroville man convicted of torture and murder will serve life in prison without parole.

    Sutter County Superior Court Judge Chris Chandler on Friday sentenced DeWayne Norman "Cowboy" Carter, 32, for first-degree murder with a special circumstance of burglary for killing Gabriel Melendez-Huerta of Yuba City in April 2009.

    As part of a plea agreement, Carter avoided the death penalty.

    Authorities accused Carter of tying Melendez-Huerta to a chair, torturing him with electricity and cutting him a number of times. Melendez-Huerta bled to death in his home in the 1800 block of Turin Drive.

    The victim was an X-ray technician at Enloe Medical Center in Chico, according to Appeal-Democrat archives.

    "I think it's a fair and just result," said public defender Mark R. Van Den Heuvel, who represents Carter.

    For the last two years, the case has focused on evaluations of Carter's mental ability.

    "We were pursuing an intellectual disability claim, which would be a bar to the death penalty," Van Den Heuvel said.

    Then Assistant District Attorney Jana McClung announced in 2010 that her office would seek the death penalty due to the brutal nature of the killing. McClung did not return requests for comment Friday.

    Under California law, a defendant with an intellectual disability cannot be executed.

    A forensic neuropsychological expert hired by the defense team — Van Den Heuvel and Jan David Karawsky — found Carter suffers from an intellectual disability.

    "We didn't get to an actual hearing, but that was our position," Van Den Heuvel said.

    During a court hearing in 2009, Yuba City Police Detective Jason Parker described broken furniture and electric cords connected to wet neck ties that apparently bound Melendez-Huerta to a chair. Blood was smeared on floors, walls — even a ceiling, he said.

    "Everything was covered with blood," he said. "It was definitely the most involved scene I've ever been present on."

    An investigation began when a California Highway Patrol officer found Melendez-Huerta's 2005 blue Mustang GT parked near a Highway 70 bridge over the Feather River in Oroville, the engine running.

    Carter was arrested after jumping into the river.

    In the Mustang were found items from Melendez-Huerta's home — paintings, a comic book collection, a wallet, checkbook and a blood-stained ceramic statuette of a pixie with the wings broken off, police said.

    Wings found underneath Melendez-Huerta's body matched the statuette, Parker testified.

    Two others were sentenced for their involvement in the crime.

    Days before a jury trial was scheduled to begin in 2010, Michael Ray Collier entered a no-contest plea to reduced charges of voluntary manslaughter, robbery, first-degree burglary and a drug charge.

    Prosecutors said Collier dropped Carter off at Melendez-Huerta's home, knowing Carter planned to commit a robbery.

    Collier was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

    Carter's girlfriend at the time, Tamara Patrice Simmons, was originally charged with being an accessory to murder. She pleaded no contest in 2009 to harboring a felon. She was sentenced to the 187 days she had already served in jail and three years probation.

    http://www.appeal-democrat.com/news/...a4bcf6878.html
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