Hearing postponed in case that raises racial justice law - The San Diego Union-Tribune

A sentencing hearing for Osvaldo Lopez was continued until March 2

The sentencing hearing for a man convicted of manslaughter in a 2017 Imperial Beach shooting, whose lawyer has said his prosecution is racially biased, was postponed Thursday.

Osvaldo Lopez, 39, tested positive for COVID-19 recently and was not able to come to court for the scheduled hearing, according to his attorney Deputy Public Defender Emily Rose-Weber. Lopez is now scheduled to be sentenced March 2.

Lopez was convicted by a jury on December of killing Ricardo Sales, who was having an affair with Lopez’s wife. The jury acquitted Lopez of murder charges but convicted him under the theory he honestly, but unreasonably, believed Sales posed a threat to himself and his family. He faces a maximum of 21 years in prison.

Rose-Weber has argued that Lopez should get either probation or the minimum term of three years, citing the Racial Justice Act, a 2021 law that allows defendants to challenge their prosecution or conviction by alleging that their case was tainted by racism.

She contrasted Lopez’s case with that of Aaron Russell, a White ex-sheriff’s deputy who shot a man while on duty in downtown San Diego in 2020. Russell was allowed to plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter under the same theory as Lopez and not be subject to a firearms enhancement. A judge sentenced Russell to a year in jail and probation, though prosecutors had asked for a six-year sentence.

She said Lopez’s offer to pleas guilty were rejected and he still faces the firearms charge, which adds a decade to his sentence.

Sales was a member of a National City street gang, according to court records, with what Lopez’s attorney said was a history of threats, assaults and arrests. Lopez discovered the affair and contacted Sales to tell him to leave his wife alone. Instead Sales told Lopez to meet him at a shopping center.

There the two spoke for a few minutes. Lopez, who was armed with a gun while Sales had a knife and billy club, said he was punched by Sales, then opened fire, hitting him eight times.

source: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/courts/story/2022-02-24/hearing-racial-justice-law

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