Robbie C., RIF104021, on October 20, 2005 hung jury on all counts, then acquitted of all charges on October 17, 2007
This is the first time that Addison got
a full acquittal in a murder case,
After the acquittal the district attorney tried a second time to send his client to prison for life, Addison shut that down too
- Charges: Murder (Penal Code § 187(a)), attempted murder (Penal Code § 664/187(a), felon in possession of a firearm (Penal Code § 12021(a)(1) (has since been changed to Penal Code § 29800(a)(1)), special allegations of personal use of a firearm (Penal Code § 12022.53(d), a prison term prior (Penal Code § 667.5(b), serious crime prior (Penal Code § 667(a) and three prior strikes (Penal Code § 667(c)&(e)(2)/1170.12(c)(2)).
- Exposure: Robbie was facing 171 years to life in prison.
- Outcome: There were two trials; the first trial ended in a hung jury, with the jury deadlocked at ten to two for acquittal. At the second trial, Robbie was found not guilty of all charges.
This was a really challenging murder case. The allegation was that Robbie shot at two men for no apparent reason killing one and wounding the other. The case was made more challenging because Robbie had two strike priors, so if he was convicted of any one of the charges he would be sentenced to at least 25 years to life in prison. So the felon in possession of firearm charge alone would result in a life in prison sentence.
What had in fact happened was that Robbie was confronted by his best friend who mistakenly believed that Robbie had become involved with his girlfriend. The evidence presented at trial was that Robbie had grown up in South Los Angeles and when he was younger he was an Eleven Eight East Coast Crip (Eleven Eight was for 118th Street in South Los Angeles and East Coast Crips did not have anything to do with the East Coast, it means the eastern side of South Los Angeles). It was an environment where the slightest disrespectful act could have deadly results, so his best friend believing that Robbie was involved with his girlfriend was a very serious matter. The evidence that Addison and Robbie presented at trial was that after his best friend confronted Robbie, the two separated and were about forty feet apart in the courtyard of an apartment complex. His best friend was standing next to another man talking and Robbie was standing next to another man talking, they were all former Eleven Eight East Coast Crips gang members and all knew each other. Robbie was the only person that was not armed.
All of sudden, his best friend pulled out his gun and began firing at Robbie. The man Robbie was next to pulled out his gun to fire back, he got off some shots but then dropped the gun in the chaos. While they were being shot at Robbie picked up the gun and also fired back. Robbie's best friend and the man he was with were both shot, but Robbie best friend succumbed to his wounds. There were many people in the apartment complex that heard the shootout and many people that witnessed only a portion of it. The district attorney presented a theory that Robbie shot his best friend and another person that he grew up with for no known reason. The first trial resulted in a hung jury. Robbie offered fourteen years just to avoid the risk of 171 years to life in prison.
The district attorney rejected the offer on the theory that he would be able to send Robbie to prison for life on the felony in possession of a firearm alone because Robbie had two prior strikes. However there's an exception to felon in possession of a firearm charge--if a person's life is in danger and that person comes upon a firearm, he is allowed to possess the gun to defend himself. The exception matched the facts of what had happened to Robbie. At the second trial the jury acquitted Robbie of all charges and he went home.
However the district attorney wasn't done. In the years that Robbie had been in jail waiting for both trials, he had gotten into a one punch jail fight. The district attorney charged that jail fight as a felony assault so Robbie was again looking at twenty-five years to life in prison. Addison wrote and argued a motion to reduce that charge to a misdemeanor. The motion was granted and Robbie was given credit for time served. Addison had saved Robbie's life a second time.
This is Robbie, Addison and the investigators on the case after the verdicts
This is the docket from the acquittal (the clerk's office said that the "Lost" not Guilty verdict forms)
This is the docket from Robbie's acquittal Robbie was featured in an article in the Los Angeles Daily Journal that was done about Addison winning so many trials. Addison and Christine have been told, but have not been able to confirm, that the Los Angeles Daily Journal has never done an article like this about any other criminal defense attorney.
Riverside Public Defender Piles Up Victories: Three Full and Three Partial Acquittals in Nine Trials Win Him Special Recognition, Jason W. Armstrong, Los Angeles Daily Journal, Volume 121, Number 32, February 20, 2008.
In another of Steele's high-profile wins, the defender secured a murder acquittal in October for Robbie Catchings, a Moreno Valley resident prosecutors said shot and killed a man at a Perris apartment complex in 2002. Steele also persuaded a judge to reduce to a misdemeanor a felony assault charge against Catchings in a separate case that could have exposed the defendant to a life sentence under the three-strikes law. Catchings walked free as a result.
. . .
Jenny Reis, a Corona woman who served on the jury that acquitted Catchings, said Steele's 'down-to-earth' evidence presentation helped his credibility with the jury.
. . .
She also said she could tell Steele 'thoroughly believed' in his client's innocence.
'He was so passionate,' Reis said. 'He reminded me of a parent defending [his or her] child.'
Robbie was also featured in a newspaper article covering when Addison was named Riverside County Public Defenders Office Attorney of the Year.
Public defender's office honors staff, Sonja Bjelland, The Press-Enterprise, Local B7, December 9, 2007.
"The Riverside County public defender's office presented awards Friday night to a staff committed to providing opportunity and hope.
Deputy Public Defender Addison Steele won the top award for his embodiment of what it means to fill that role, said Robert Willey, assistant public defender. Steele spent 115 days in trial in 2007 and thanked the entire office for helping him win the case of Robbie Catchings, who was charged with murder and acquitted by jury.
“As you can see, I didn't win a murder trial, we won a murder trial,” Steele wrote in an e-mail to staff, Willey said.
You can follow all the press on the case from beginning to end here
After Addison and Robbie won the murder trial, the district attorney tried to give Robbie a life in prison sentence because he was a third striker and had gotten in a jail fight while he was waiting for his trial, the trial that he was acquitted of all charges. Addison filed a series of motions, including a bail motion when the deputy district attorney on the case tried to have Robbie sent back to jail, a motion to dismiss the jail fight case, a motion to strike the strike priors, and a motion to reduce the jail fight charge to a misdemeanor. The judge reduced the case to a misdemeanor. Robbie pled guilty to the misdemeanor for credit for time already served, and it was finally all over. Robbie was able to go home and take care of his ailing mother.
This is the first newspaper article about the district attorney trying to give Robbie a life sentence after they lost his murder trial.
This is the story of Mr. 319
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2014 | Santa Maria Times | Staff Reports 3 charged in connection in Guadalupe homicide appear in court: Motion filed by defense to compel discovery | October 27, 2014 | Santa Maria Times | Rebecca Howes Quadruple-Murder Arraignment Delayed Until December: Nicolas Holzer is accused of slaying his parents and two sons in August | October 28, 2014 | Noozhawk | Lara Cooper Grand Jury Indicts Goleta Man Accused of Killing Four Family Members: Nicolas Holzer faces four counts of murder in the August stabbing deaths of his parents and two sons | October 14, 2014 | Noozhawk | Lara Cooper Santa Maria Judge Rejects Change of Venue Motion in U-Haul Murder Case | October 10, 2014 | Noozhawk | Janene Scully Second Change of Venue Motion Denied in U-Haul Murder Case | October 10, 2014 | Lompoc Recor d | Rebecca Howes Judge orders temporary protective order for discovery in gang conspiracy case | October 8, 2014 | Santa Maria Times | Rebecca Howes Holzer Pleads Not Guilty: Public Defender Ponders Insanity Plea | September 18, 2014 | Santa Barbara Independent | Kelsey Brugger Murder Defendant Nicolas Holzer Appears in Court | September 17, 2014 | YouTube | News Channel 3-12 Quadruple Murder Defendant Nicolas Holzer Appears in Court | September 16, 2014 | News Channel 12-3-11 Goleta Man Accused of Killing Four Family Members Pleads Not Guilty: Nicolas Holzer's attorney says she reserved the right to later enter a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity | September 16, 2014 | Noozhawk | Lara Cooper Holzer Case on Hold: Arraignment Delayed as a New Judge is Assigned | September 11, 2014 | Santa Barbara Independent | Kelsey Brugger Arraignment Postponed for Goleta Man Accused of Killing Four Family Members: The public defender asks for a different judge in the case against Nicolas Holzer, whose parents whose parents and sons were found stabbed to death | September 9, 2014 | Noozhawk | Lara Cooper Holzer's Court Case Continued Until Next Week | September 9, 2014 | YouTube | Victoria Sanchez Mass-Murder Suspect Nicolas Due Back in Court for Arraignment Tuesday | September 7, 2014 | Noozhawk | Giana Magnoli Law experts weigh in on costs to retry local gang leader | September 5, 2014 | Santa Maria Times | Rebecca Howes Paperwork Snafu Forces Judge to Postpone Hearing in Santa Maria Slaying Case | September 3, 2014 | Noozhawk | Janene Scully New Defense Attorney Assigned to Bank Robbery, Carjacking Case | August 27, 2014 | Santa Maria Times | Staff Reports Court Records Shed Light on Holzer Murders: Nicolas and Ex-Wife Juana Exchanged Accusations of Sexual Abuse Against Sons | August 21, 2014 | Santa Barbara Independent | Kelsey Brugger U-Haul murder case defendant granted reappointment of counsel | August 16, 2014 | Santa Maria Times | Rebecca Howes U-Haul murder case defendant granted reappointment of counsel | August 16, 2014 | Lompoc Record | Rebecca Howes Holzer Officially Charged with Murders, Appears in Court: DA Joyce Dudley Undecided on Whether to Pursue Death Penalty | August 14, 2014 | Santa Barbara Independent | Lyz Hoffman Quadruple Murder Suspect in Court | August 14, 2014 | YouTube | News Channel 3-12 Mass Murder Suspect Makes First Court Appearance in Fatal Stabbing of Family: Nicolas Holzer, accused of killing parents, sons at home near Goleta, does not enter a plea | August 13, 2014 | Noozhawk | Lara Cooper Isla Vista Man Accused of Rape Appears in Court | June 26, 2014 | Santa Barbara Independent | Kelsey Brugger Trial in Ibarra Murder-Torture Case Delayed Until November | March 18,2014 | Noozhawk | Gina Potthoff U-Haul murder trial delayed until November: Defendant granted right to represent himself | March 15, 2014 | Santa Maria Times | Rebecca Howes Judge: Godinez defense cold case 'dragging': Prosecutor says he's ready to proceed after many delays | February 14, 2014 | Santa Maria Times | Rebecca Howes Judge Denies Change of Venue in Ibarra Case: Superior Court Judge Rick Brown denied a motion to move the high-profile Anthony Ibarra murder case out of Santa Maria, and rejected three other defense motions Friday afternoon at Santa Barbara County Juvenile Court | February 8, 2014 | NBC News | Santa Maria Times Judge denies change of venue in Ibarra case: Solis, eight others charged in March U-Haul murder case | February 8, 2014 | Santa Maria Times | Rebecca Howes Change of venue denied in massive Ibarra murder case | February 7, 2014 | Santa Maria Times | Staff Report Judge Denies Request to Relocate Ibarra Murder Trial | February 7, 2014 | Noozhawk | Gina Potthoff Man Sentenced to Nine Years for DUI Injury Collision: Martin Maguire Struck Canadian Couple on Motorcycle Last May, Severing Their Legs | February 6, 2014 | Santa Barbara Independent | Kelsey Brugger Trial in Santa Maria cold case murder postponed for month: Godinez faces charge in '05 shooting death | January 14, 2014 | Santa Maria Times | April Charlton