A Santa Barbara County Superior Court judge on Friday set trial dates for multiple defendants charged in connection with 10 slayings, 14 attempted murders and lesser crimes allegedly linked to a violent international criminal gang in the Santa Maria Valley .
During a monthly hearing Friday morning, Judge John McGregor set Feb. 18, 2020 for the start of jury selection in the trial involving 11 defendants facing the most serious charges.
Also on Friday morning, the judge set an Oct. 28 trial start date for a case with two defendants facing lesser charges. Those defendants face charges of conspiracy to commit a crime and criminal street gang conspiracy, and that trial is expected to last eight to 10 weeks.
Both cases originated from Operation Matador, a multi-agency law enforcement investigation led by the Santa Maria Police Department that culminated with arrests in March 2016.
Months later, a Santa Barbara County Criminal Grand Jury handed down indictments in two cases alleging multiple felonies.
Law enforcement sources have contended the alleged crimes were committed on behalf of the violent international criminal gang known as MS-13.
In the primary case, about 50 felony counts, including murder and attempted murder, stem from killings and other crimes that occurred between January 2013 and March 2016.
Based on talks behind closed doors earlier Friday morning, the judge asked the defense attorneys about the proposed trial date.
“Your honor, I believe the February 2020 date that we discussed is realistic,” said defense attorney Stephen Dunkle, who represents defendant Marcos Sanchez Torres.
“We’ll be ready,” Senior Deputy District Attorney Ann Bramsen answered when the judge asked the prosecution team about the planned trial date.
The trial could last up to 18 months, according to previous estimates.
The judge also said he would set deadlines for attorneys to file motions, which are expected to seek change of venue, challenge wiretaps, and more.
“This gives all parties involved in this case a substantial period of time to get ready for trial on this case that is an old case,” McGregor said. “And it’s the court’s intention to proceed to trial on that date.”
Tentative trial dates have been set and scrapped previously in both cases, and attorneys have changed for several of the defendants.
Last month, the judge granted a defense request to appoint Aoki Law to serve as the discovery coordinator to help organize evidence for the various attorneys.
McGregor also approved an initial payment of $15,000 to the firm, and reminded the defense attorneys that that new consultant also must abide by protective order that has kept most of the evidence confidential.
The voluminous discovery in the case reportedly adds up to 80,000 pages, along with an additional tens of thousands of pages that were involved the County Criminal Grand Jury proceedings.
In other matters during the March hearing, the judge agreed to allow defense attorney Adam Pearlman to step down from the case, with a replacement attorney, William Davis from Merced, assigned to represent Olvin Serrano.
Meanwhile, a 12th defendant remains in Ohio after being taken into federal custody on a different homicide case allegedly linked to MS-13, but McGregor said his court-appointed attorney, Tom Allen, could remain on the case for now.
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.