May 19, 2008

A local man has been found guilty in the death of the father of State Representative Abel Herrero.  57 year old Manual Garcia was convicted of manslaughter.

The victim, Ivan Herrero, 59,  was the father of State Representative Abel Herrero. H died after Garcia punched him at a local restaurant.. It took jurors a little more than 4 hours to make a decision in a case that received so much publicity. While the charge was that of murder, jurors were given other charges to chose from.

After the guilty verdict Garcia was immediately taken into custody. The deliberations started at midday in the trial. They had more than just guilt or innocence to decide.They were given the option of lessor charges. the jury decided on  manslaughter.

They could have decided Garcia was guilty of aggravated assault or criminal negligence. They were also given given the option of "self defense." Opting for that would essentially mean a not guilty verdict.

The punishment phase of the trial begins Tuesday morning. Jurors will hear more testimony from both sides. The prosecution will be asking for the maximum punishment for the crime of manslaughter, which carries up to 20 years in prison.