One of three Santa Clarita men accused of a 2011 robbery-murder in Canyon Country is due back in court in April to begin his retrial, officials said.
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Branden Higgs, 20, of Canyon Country, is scheduled to face a pretrial hearing April 15, and his trial is scheduled to start within 30 days of that date.
Jurors found Eric Edwards and Diamonte McGhee guilty of a 2011 Halloween murder in Canyon Country in October.
They filed a motion for a new trial, and Judge Lloyd Nash is expected to rule on the motion when Edwards and McGhee are due back for sentencing on March 18 and March 20, respectively.
From a previous story:
McGhee and Edwards were both found guilty of murder and attempted murder, with special allegations that a firearm was used in the commission of the crime, and that their assaults were done during the commission of a robbery.
The judge cleared the court after outbursts from Edwards and McGhee, who were ordered back to custody during the reading of the last of the verdict, in an emotional courtroom in San Fernando.
The jury found McGhee and Edwards responsible for the murder of Alejandro Sanchez-Torres, who tried to help Ricardo Sandoval while Sandoval was being robbed.
The jury found Branden Higgs not guilty of conspiracy to commit robbery. On the other 10 counts against Higgs, the judge declared a mistrial.
McGhee was painted as the “mastermind” by Deputy District Attorney Brad Lieberman, who accused McGhee of talking his “road dogs” Edwards and Higgs into a Halloween 2011 robbery that left a man dead.
During the alleged theft, Sandoval was beaten and threatened at gunpoint, and when Sanchez-Torres tried to intervene, he was shot once in the heart, inches below his tattoo of the name of his son, who was standing nearby, according to court testimony.
After Sanchez-Torres was shot, McGhee allegedly stood over Sandoval and shot him in the leg, according to court testimony.
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