Update: 'Not Guilty' Pleas in Dodger Stadium Beating Case

UPDATE:

Two men accused of beating a San Francisco Giants fan at Dodger Stadium on opening day pled "not guilty" in court Wednesday morning.

Louis Sanchez also withdrew his request to have his bail reduced from $500,000 to $100,000 dollars.

Sanchez, 29, and Marvin Norwood, 30, are accused of attacking Giants fan Bryan Stow when he was leaving Dodger Stadium on March 31.

Suspects Appear Handcuffed, Separated

They appeared handcuffed in court, but were separated and, according to City News Service, did not seem to be acknowledge one another.

Frank Santoro, a deputy district attorney prosecuting the case, told the court that "identification" was no longer an issue, although police lineups have been very ineffective.

Suspects May Have Admitted Guilt

He said defendants have admitted guilt in both formal interviews with police and in jail conversations.

Gilbert Quinones, attorney for Sanchez, told the court he objected to the characterization of the statements as "admissions."

Dorene Sanchez, the girlfriend of Louis Sanchez who is believed to have driven the getaway vehicle that night, has apparently given testimony before the grand jury.

The District Attorney's office also decided late Wednesday that they would not be filing charges against her.

According to the Los Angeles Times, prosecutors say they cannot prove she knew about the beating when she drove the men home after the game.

Sanchez and Norwood, who are neighbors in Rialto, are each charged with mayhem, assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury and battery with serious bodily injury, all felonies.

Sanchez is also charged with two misdemeanor counts of battery stemming from another alleged run-in the same day, when he allegedly attacked another man and woman.

Court Papers Say Stow Beating Was "Two Part Incident"

In court papers, deputy district attorneys Michele Hanisee and
Frank Santoro allege the attack on Stow's group was "a two-part incident" in which Sanchez initially shoved Stow and punched another man,

Stow and his friends walked away, but the men followed them several hundred feet, prosecutors contend.

Sanchez allegedly punched another of Stow's friends, knocking him to the ground, and then ran up behind Stow and punched the paramedic in the side of the head, according to the prosecution's filing.

Prosecutors also contend Sanchez has had a string of run-ins with the law, including a January 2003 conviction following his arrest for corporal injury on a spouse or cohabitant, three DUI arrests and a high-speed police chase in 2005.

One Suspect Has Previous Prison Record

Sanchez was sentenced to a 16-month prison term in February 2008 for violating his probation and was paroled less than five months later, the prosecutors said.

Sanchez and Norwood have remained jailed since their July 21 arrests.
  
Sanchez's attorney, Gilbert Quinones, said outside court last week that his client was a Dodgers fan who had attended the opening day game with ``his brother-in-law, his sister and his child.'' He said Sanchez works as a supervisor in the auto-detailing department of a Fontana vehicle auction company.

Norwood's lawyer, Lee Rosen, said his client worked as a carpenter.

Giovanni Ramirez, Now Exonerated, Is Still in Jail on Parole Violation

An initial suspect in the case, 31-year-old Giovanni Ramirez, was arrested May 22 but was never charged in the Stow beating. even though Los Angeles police Chief Charlie Beck initially expressed confidence the right man had been arrested.

Ramirez is now imprisoned in San Diego on a violation of his parole stemming from another case, but his attorneys are petitioning for his release.

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