Villanueva trial set
By André Coleman 11/13/2008
Trial is expected to begin Thursday for a Pasadena man charged with the death of his girlfriend, who was shot and killed by a police officer reacting to his alleged shooting spree two years ago.
Because a criminal suspect in California can be charged with murder if someone dies during the commission of a felony, 23-year-old Walter Jesus Villanueva faces one count of murder, three counts of attempted murder, one count of assault with a firearm on a peace officer, one count of shooting at an inhabited dwelling, one count of shooting at an occupied motor vehicle and four counts of assault with a firearm. The complaint also alleges that those crimes, committed in the early morning hours of Sept. 3, 2006, were gang-related.
Killed in the incident was Erica Hindman, Villanueva’s girlfriend and the mother of their 3-year-old daughter, Aaliyah.
Pasadena Police Officer Timothy Bundy accidentally killed Hindman when he fired one shot at the vehicle driven by Villanueva. Bundy was unaware that Hindman was a passenger in the car. It is against Pasadena Police Department policy to fire at moving vehicles unless the driver presents a danger to bystanders or the officer.
Meanwhile, negotiations between the city and attorneys representing the child in a civil lawsuit filed against the city and the Police Department have broken down.
Attorneys had been in settlement talks ongoing since Aug. 25 when Superior Court Judge Kenneth Freeman declared a mistrial in the case after attorney Brad Gage, who represents the Hindman and Villanueva’s daughter, showed autopsy photos to jurors while the shooting victim’s emotionally distraught mother was present in the courtroom — something that Freeman had warned Gage one day earlier not to do.
“The question is: where do we go from here?” said Pasadena Mayor Bill Bogaard. "The city is preparing for the trial and will defend the case vigorously. There are no settlement talks at this time."
The civil trial is set to begin in January, said city spokeswoman Ann Erdman.
Villanueva's confrontation with police began when police received a call at about 1 a.m. from a woman reporting that Villanueva followed her and her friends to a party, where he allegedly fired shots at them from a vehicle.
Bundy was one of the officers who responded to the scene, and while officers were interviewing witnesses, Villanueva allegedly returned to the area and fired several more shots into the air before driving off at high speed.
Bundy has testified that he was unaware Hindman was in the vehicle when he fired.
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