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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
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

Santa Clarita Murder Trial Enters Final Phases

Nearly three years after Rick Sandoval was shot and left for dead, and Alejandro Sanchez-Torres was fatally shot near his 7-year-old son, the Santa Clarita murder trial for three men accused in the crime entered its final stage.


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 Related: Murder Trial Under Way In 2011 Halloween Robbery, Murder

Closing arguments began Wednesday and are expected to wrap up Thursday in the murder trial of Diamonte McGhee, Eric Edwards and Branden Higgs, all 20 and of Santa Clarita.

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.

Santa Clarita, murder, Halloween, Good Samaritan, shooting, robbery, Canyon Country

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.

Lieberman’s closing remarks focused on getting the jurors to understand “Robbery is a continuing offense,” a phrase he repeated several times for the eight men and four women on the jury.

Lieberman told jurors it didn’t matter if the three teens intended to kill Torres or Sandoval, the fact that a man died during their alleged robbery made them guilty of felony murder.

For Chris Chaney, who represented McGhee, he promised to give jurors a reason they could look their neighbors in the eye after the trial and tell them why they voted not guilty.

He implored jurors to go over jury instructions and take them to heart. If a witness provided questionable testimony, and a juror could draw with equal weight to a conclusion of innocence or guilt from testimony, then the juror was required by law to draw a conclusion of innocence, he said.

On Wednesday, Lieberman explained the law and theory behind each of the 18 counts against the men for about three and a half hours, recapping testimony, as well.

On Thursday, Chaney is going over testimony and events that took place several three days before the shooting, in which Lieberman claimed McGhee and Edwards — who was Higgs’ cousin McGhee reportedly didn’t know very well — met with some boys for a fight, and McGhee pulled out a gun and tried shooting at them.

The event demonstrated how McGhee had “reckless disregard” for human life, Lieberman said, which went toward proving a special allegation.

Chaney also planned to advise jurors further on how to handle evidence from witnesses if they had a question about their statements, he said.

The trial began seven weeks ago, and testimony wrapped up two weeks ago, with jury instructions being given last week, then revised in court.

Higgs was represented by attorney Michael Schensul, who said there were several incontrovertible facts

“You’re going to hear that there was a robbery. You’re going to hear that there was an attempted murder. You’re going to hear that there was a murder,” Schensul said in his opening statement. “But the rest of the case is a little more complicated than that.”

Schensul argued the evidence is going to show the robbery, attempted murder and murder that took place are not Higgs’ fault, he said.

“You will hear that there’s one person responsible for all of this — this tornado that brought all of the people that you’re going to see down in this case, including Branden Higgs,” Schensul said.

Edwards has been in custody since April 30, 2012, for the crime, Higgs has been in custody since Aug. 27, 2012, and McGhee has been in custody since Jan. 27, 2012.

While the murder charge comes with a possibility of the death penalty, District Attorney spokesperson Jane Robison said that the court will not seek the death penalty for anyone under the age of 18, even though they are being tried as adults.

“With the special circumstances,” Robison said, “they could go away for life.”

The case is expected to go to the jury for deliberation today.

Do you have a news tip? Call us at (661) 298-1220, or drop us a line at community@hometownstation.com.

KHTS AM 1220 - Santa Clarita Radio

Santa Clarita Murder Trial Enters Final Phases

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About Perry Smith

Perry Smith is a print and broadcast journalist who has won several awards for his focused, hyperlocal community coverage in several different regions of the country. In addition to five years of experience covering the Santa Clarita Valley, Smith, a San Fernando Valley native, has worked in newspapers and news websites in Los Angeles, the Northwest, the Central Valley and the South, before coming to KHTS in 2012. To contact Smith, email him at Perry@hometownstation.com.