Long Prison Term in Woods Slaying Stirs Emotions : Courts: 'I'm so glad they put him away,' victim's sister says. A Latino asks if race played a role in the case.

By RENE LYNCH and CHING-CHING NI

Jan. 28, 1995 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITERS

SANTA ANA — In a case that has deeply divided South County and sparked talk of a recall attempt on a judge, a young man was sentenced Friday to 26 years to life in prison for killing a teen-ager who was pierced through the head with a paint-roller rod.

Defense attorney Gene E. Dorney denounced the sentence as “unduly harsh,” in part because his client, Juan Alcocer, 19, was not accused of hurling the makeshift weapon that fatally injured Steve Woods on Oct., 15, 1993. Under the law, however, Alcocer was convicted of second-degree murder and other charges for participating in the beachside melee that ended in Woods’ death.

But the sentence handed down by Superior Court Judge Robert R. Fitzgerald was hailed by friends and relatives of the victim as just punishment for Alcocer, a reputed gang member and one of six young men from South County charged in the slaying. Three of the defendants still await trial or sentencing.

“I’m so glad they put him away, I’m so glad this animal will be put away behind bars,” said the victim’s sister, Shellie Woods of San Clemente, as she wiped tears from her eyes after the court hearing. “I just wish they were all behind bars.”

The case has gone beyond a tragic killing that began with groups of high school students and their friends hanging out at Calafia Beach County Park in San Clemente, listening to car radios and sharing beers. It has mobilized community outrage over gangs and violence and become the focus of debates over illegal immigration and even race.

The Woods family is demanding the harshest penalties possible for all the defendants and are still angry over the Jan. 13 sentencing of Hector Penuelas and Julio Perez Bonilla, both 18.

Superior Court Judge Everett W. Dickey spared the pair prison sentences and instead ordered them confined at a California Youth Authority facility, which must release the youths by the time they turn 25.

Now, the Woods family is launching a campaign to recall Dickey with the help of the group that co-sponsored Proposition 187, the anti-illegal immigration initiative that the state’s voters approved in November.

Leaders of Citizens for Action Now, an Orange County branch of the California Coalition for Immigration Reform, said Steve Woods’ killing was a catalyst for the initiative and charge that some of the murder defendants are illegal immigrants.

“We hope those who want to protect illegals are not in power in any way,” said Barbara Coe, founder of the coalition. “Our goal is to send a message to not only other judges, but other government representatives who we feel have betrayed our trust in the judicial system.” The group has already started collecting the 120,000 signatures needed to issue a recall of Dickey, Coe said.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Gary Paer, who sought prison terms for Penuelas and Bonilla, declined to discuss the recall effort. But Paer said law enforcement officials have not determined that any of the defendants are illegal immigrants and stressed that their immigration status is not an issue in the case.

“We try people who violated the law,” Paer said. “Their immigration status has nothing to do with it.”

Latino rights leaders, in turn, have raised questions about whether the defendants’ race and background have played a role in the case, maintaining that the defendants have wrongly been portrayed as roving gang members looking for trouble. Some of the defendants, however, have admitted gang membership or affiliation, according to trial testimony.

Art Montez, a spokesman for the League of United Latin American Citizens, said the defendants are being treated overly harsh for an attack that many lament as a tragic and a bizarre accident.

“They’re looking for blood,” he said. “They’re not going to stop until these kids hang or they’re burned on a cross on the steps of the courthouse.”

Alcocer, who admitted throwing a block of wood during the attack, was sentenced to 17 years to life in prison for the killing and must serve at least 15 years before becoming eligible for parole. But Fitzgerald added another nine years for Alcocer’s gang membership and his assault on Woods’ friends, who were also subjected to the barrage of projectiles.

Dorney, the defense attorney, described Alcocer as a church-going youth and hard-working student who labored at several jobs to help support relatives in Mexico. He said Alcocer was not in a gang, but hung out with some gang members who lived in his neighborhood.

“It’s unduly harsh. My God, this sickens me,” Dorney said outside of court. “I’m just devastated by this. Of course, we are going to appeal.”

Prosecutors have never revealed who hurled the weapon that pierced Woods’ skull, a factor that some critics say means six defendants are being wrongly held responsible for the act of one.

The confrontation began when Woods and several of his friends parked their vehicles in the lot at Calafia Beach County Park. Alcocer and his group of friends had parked their vehicles near the lot’s only entrance and exit.

According to trial testimony, one of Woods’ friends, Steve Breckenridge, was punched in the face by one of the defendants. The friend drove back to Woods’ group and warned them to leave the park before trouble broke out, according to testimony.

Woods and his friends were driving to the exit when their vehicles were bombarded with a variety of objects--rocks, beer cans, pieces of wood and paint rollers.

The paint-roller rod broke through one of the vehicle windows and pierced Woods through the head. He never regained consciousness and died 25 days later.

Breckenridge made a brief statement at the hearing Friday, telling Judge Fitzgerald that the defendants’ friends are still harassing him and his friends. Breckenridge said he cannot understand why they fail to recognize his pain and leave him alone.

“That’s not the way gangs work,” Fitzgerald said. “They have their own codes to live by. If I had a magic wand I’d wave it and gangs would be gone. I wish I could do that.”

Paer, the prosecutor, said Alcocer’s sentence should send a message to gang members.

“This case is about group responsibility,” he said. “If something bad occurs in a group context, you are ultimately responsible.”