One of the six suspects in an attempted murder case was in court Friday where his attorney was there seeking to get the charges dismissed against him because of lack of probable cause.
But, the state asserts that the attorney for Sean Arevalo Mendoza had filed the motion out of time and shouldn’t even be considered. But, Ben Fisher told the judge that he was told all motions were to be filed by August 30.
Judge Chambers said he would look over the transcript of the preliminary hearing to determine if the state lacked probable cause, but also whether the defense filed the motion out of time.
Earlier Judge Chambers had lowered the bond for Arevalo Mendoza to 50-thousand based on the preliminary hearing testimony which he believes showed Arevalo Mendoza had a minor role in the case. He was able to post that bond and is currently free.
The six suspects accused with the beating and stabbing of Jeffrey Payne also includes Joseph and Jordon LeShore, Desmond and John Robert Cantu and Troy Bell.
The judge Friday also granted a defense motion to continue the trial of Jordon LeShore with no objection from the state. The judge set a new motions deadline of October 4, in his case but didn’t set a new trial date.
Another co-defendant, Desmund Cantu entered “Guilty” pleas in two cases that were combined into one. He entered guilty pleas to aggravated battery, two counts of aggravated burglary and aggravated assault. All other charges including attempted 1st degree murder were dropped by the state. He will be sentenced on September 13, at 10:30 a-m.
The attack on Payne occurred back on February 18, when these men allegedly broke into Payne’s home and physically attacked and stabbed him numerous times in the leg and torso. The motive for the attack appears to be an incident involving the LeShore brothers mother where she may have been slapped so hard, she was knocked down.
Judge Chambers indicated that he would issue a ruling in the case against Arevalo Mendoza at some point in the future.