Lawyers in Sonoma slaying protest removal of gang graffiti

<p>Potential evidence in the shotgun slaying of a 17-year-old Boyes Hot Springs youth at a park on the outskirts of Sonoma last month may have been destroyed, attorneys for two of three defendants said Friday.</p><p>Walter Rubenstein, who represents Juan Carlos Perez, 24, of American Canyon, said when he went to Maxwell Farms Regional Park off Highway 12 near Sonoma last week, he found a park ranger sanding gang graffiti off a picnic table where the shooting occurred.</p><p>Perez; Juan Calderon, 17, of Boyes Hot Springs; and Javier Ceja, 19, of Sonoma face murder charges in the death of Luis Roberto Miranda on Oct. 22. Miranda was struck in the head and face with shotgun pellets from a sawed-off 16-gauge shotgun as he and friends hung out in the park's group picnic area.</p><p>Because of the "possible destruction of evidence," one of Calderon's attorneys, Bruce Enos, urged Judge René Chouteau to ask the District Attorney's Office to take measures to prevent any loss of evidence.</p><p>It was unclear what significance the graffiti could have in the case or if investigators already had documented the scene with photos or video. Prosecutor Bob Waner didn't address the defense attorneys' complaints.</p><p>Chouteau declined to issue any orders Friday.</p><p>Calderon, believed to be the shooter, is being tried as an adult. All three are being held without bail in what police are calling a gang-related homicide.</p><p>Rubenstein said park rangers may have been trying to discourage teenagers from congregating at the site, which had become a memorial to Miranda, with candles and piles of melted wax.</p><p>He said that as he was exploring the crime scene he came upon a ranger using a power sander to erase gang signs on the table. "She was sanding down apparent gang graffiti," he said.</p><p>In another trip to the park last Saturday, he said he found that table and others had been moved from their original locations as described in police reports.</p><p>"There is a problem memorializing the evidence," he said.</p><p>In court Friday, Calderon entered a not-guilty plea, as had his co-defendants earlier.</p><p>Chouteau set aside dates in January for a preliminary hearing or possible settlement, though Ceja's attorney, Mark Retana, said the case was unlikely to be resolved through negotiation.</p><p>The defendants are due back in court Jan. 24 and Jan. 28.</p><p>Contact staff writer Lori A. Carter at 568-5312 or lcarter@pressdemocrat.com.</p>