CASE OF INTEREST

Date: June 17, 2004

Case: People v. Derrick Courtney and Melvin Peete

Contact: Rod Norgaard, Supervising Deputy District Attorney
Gang Unit
Telephone: 874-84631

District Attorney Jan Scully announced the return of a jury verdict in the case of People v. Derrick Courtney and Melvin Peete for the first-degree murder of Manuel Trillo. The jury found both defendants guilty of that murder, and also found a special circumstance true that the murder was committed during the course of a robbery. Both defendants face a sentence of life without the possibility of parole and will be sentenced on July 16th at 9:00 a.m. in Department 26 of the Superior Court.

Supervising Deputy District Attorney Rod Norgaard, who prosecuted the case, indicated, "Both defendants were engaged in extremely violent conduct in that they committed a mid-day home invasion robbery. These defendants came into Mr. Trillo's home wielding guns, with numerous adults and children both inside the house and directly out front where the shooting occurred."

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