Aguilar

This is an article about a murder trial that Addison won

Defense attorneys consider any murder that results in less than life in prison an absolute win

This client was only convicted of manslaughter, he served about ten years and went home,

instead of serving the rest of his life in prison

   "When Edward Tony Aguilar stabbed a Winchester man twice last year--once in the throat--and killed him while he was driving, it wasn't murder.

   After a week of deliberations, a jury at Southwest Justice Center found that Jon Willson was killed during a sudden quarrel and convicted Aguilar of voluntary manslaughter.

   The verdict shocked the prosecutor and friends and family of the victim.

. . .

   Aguilar, 38, of Menifee, showed little emotion as he listened to the verdicts that mean he'll someday be able to go home.

   His attorney, Deputy Public Defender Addison Steele, said Aguilar and his family had hoped he'd be going home Thursday, had the jury agreed with the defense argument that Aguilar killed Willson in self-defense.

   If Aguilar had been found guilty of either first or second-degree murder, he could have spent the rest of his life in prison. Now, the most time he can serve is 14 years in prison, his attorney said.

. . .

  'I would have been happier if he had been able to go home today, but I'm still happy with this verdict,' Steele said outside the courtroom.

  Willson was stabbed twice--first in the right side and then in the throat--while driving his pickup with Aguilar as the lone passenger April 10, 2003. Willson's body was found slumped in his pickup hidden in an orange grove in the Woodcrest area of south Riverside. Aguilar left it there and fled to an uncle's nearby home before he burned the clothes he worn during the slaying.

. . .

  Steele said jurors told him that when they first began deliberating last week, they were split evenly in four ways: Three thought Aguilar was guilty of first degree murder, three second degree murder, three believed it to be voluntary manslaughter and three more felt he was not guilty because it was self-defense.

  'They said they worked through every bit of evidence in there,' Steele said, 'I think they just came to the conclusion that Edward was afraid of Jon.'

   Jurors also told him that Aguilar made the right decision to testify: 'They said they realize he contradicted himself several times, but they still came away thinking he was afraid.'"

This is the article from the sentencing

The judge was bothered that Addison's client had won the trial so he gave him the maximum for the lesser offense

Addison calls this the victory tax

That's when the life sentence charge or charges are beaten and the judge gives the maximum for whatever is left

This is the article from when the verdict came in

This is another article about the case

This is another Article about the case

This is another article about the case

This is another article about the case

This is another article about the case