Lawyers in a three-defendant Santa Rosa murder case went judge shopping Wednesday, bouncing from courtroom to courtroom on a series of challenges they hoped would lead to tactical advantage at trial.
Defense attorneys first rejected Judge Gary Medvigy, a former prosecutor. The case then was transferred to Judge Virginia Marcoida, an ex-deputy public defender.
Prosecutors bumped Marcoida, sending the large entourage of family and court watchers through the corridors to Judge Julie Conger, who was sitting in for Judge Robert LaForge.
Behind the scenes, deputies scrambled to move the defendants, including the accused shooter, 17-year-old Jose Campos-Mendoza of Santa Rosa.
Rather than taking the defendants' pleas, Conger sent the case to Judge Dana Simonds, who presides over the criminal division, for re-assignment.
Simonds is expected to name the new judge on Friday. Her choices are limited to Judges Ken Gnoss, Jamie Thistlethwaite and herself.
"It's just a question of different styles," said Walter Rubenstein, attorney for Daniel Escobido Calderon, 23, of Petaluma, who is charged as an accessory.
The challenges are not unusual. Medvigy and Marcoida are a frequent target for the motions, which are made without naming a specific reason.
On Wednesday, an out-of-town attorney for the third defendant, Alfonso Mendoza Ramirez, 18, of Santa Rosa, requested Medvigy be taken off the case.
Prosecutors Chris Honigsberg and Troye Shaffer, asked Marcoida to bow out.
"It's certainly been a trend lately," Rubenstein said.
He said the challenges are more prevalent when attorneys know there is no chance of settling a case before trial. The stakes are higher because two of the defendants are charged with murder and face life sentences.
They are charged in the Dec. 3 slaying of Christopher Ochoa, 23, outside El Puente Cantina on Santa Rosa Avenue.
Police said he was killed after a fight erupted between two groups of acquaintances who had "bad blood" over some undisclosed dispute.
Campos-Mendoza and Ramirez arrived together in the same car and were seen earlier in the night with a firearm, police said.
The teenager, who is charged as an adult with four felonies, is suspected of firing on Ochoa and another man, Julian Loeza, 21, who was wounded.
Police said he and Ramirez acted "in concert." Calderon was charged with being in possession of the gun.
The shooting was not believed to be gang related. Campos-Mendoza's family maintains he acted in self-defense when attacked by older men.
The tense situation has led to extra deputies at the hearings.
The head of court security, Sgt. Eric Thomson, said special precautions are being taken in handling Campos-Mendoza because he is a minor. He can't have contact with adult defendants and the jail must be locked down when he is brought in from juvenile hall.
On Wednesday, Campos-Mendoza was flanked by several deputies as he moved among courtrooms. He stood out from adult defendants wearing blue in his orange colored jumpsuit.
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