‘Cold’ Murder Case Dismissed

A judge Wednesday dismissed murder charges against three men accused of a 1996 drive-by shooting, the third Orange County “cold case� in as many months to fail in court.

Only three weeks before the start of the trial, prosecutors abruptly asked Superior Court Judge Francisco P. Briseno to drop the charges after acknowledging that they could not corroborate incriminating statements one of the suspects made to police.

The men were arrested after a cold-case investigator with the Santa Ana Police Department took another look at the unsolved killing of Oscar Higareda, who was fatally shot on Bristol Street. Jimmy Plazola, 29, Servando Silva, 27, and Pedro Sarinana, 24--all of Santa Ana at the time of the shooting--spent more than a year in jail awaiting trial.

As the judge dismissed the case, Plazola hugged his attorney, Frank Ospino, and flashed a broad smile at relatives and friends gathered in the courtroom. Just days after his arrest, Plazola’s wife had given birth to a boy who celebrated his first birthday Wednesday--the day his father was ordered released.

In dropping the charges, prosecutors with the state attorney general’s office said the years between the slaying and the arrests complicated their efforts.

“Time has certainly played a factor,� Deputy Atty. Gen. Michael Murphy said. “It was 5 years old. People’s memories are getting old.�

The dismissal follows dozens of arrests in cold cases as Orange County detectives make use of cutting-edge technology and fresh evidence to reopen unsolved cases. But in recent months, prosecutors have found it tough to convert arrests into convictions.

In June, an Orange County jury acquitted an alleged gang member accused of a 1989 drive-by shooting. Two weeks ago, prosecutors failed to win a guilty verdict in the county’s oldest cold case to go to trial.

In that trial, jurors split 8 to 4 in favor of acquitting Larry Paige, who was accused of the 1975 slaying of a Santa Ana man gunned down in front of his 4-year-old stepson.

The latest case stemmed from the fatal shooting of Higareda, 18, on Oct. 19, 1996. The evening began at a fast-food restaurant with his brother Jose and four friends.

At the eatery, the six were confronted by a group of gang members. Higareda, his brother and friends left the restaurant, got into their car and drove north on Bristol Street. But another vehicle followed them and eventually pulled alongside.

Gunfire rang out, and Higareda was struck in the head.

For years, police were unable to determine who was in the shooter’s car. But investigators said they got a key break last year after arresting Sarinana on an unrelated warrant for drug possession.

Sarinana, according to court documents, told detectives he had been a passenger in the car that had opened fire. Sarinana named Plazola as the vehicle’s driver and Silva as another passenger.

The district attorney’s office filed murder charges against all three. The case was handed to the attorney general’s office when county prosecutors realized that Silva had once worked for the district attorney’s office.

Sarinana refused to cooperate with state prosecutors. And, like Plazola and Silva, he insisted he had nothing to do with the murder. Defense attorneys argued in court that Sarinana’s statements were coerced and that he told detectives little more than what they had let him know about the shooting.

A videotape of Sarinana’s interrogation shows him sobbing frequently and wiping away tears with his T-shirt. At one point, he tells the investigators: “I don’t even remember that incident, and I’m just lying to you so you’ll get off my case. . . . I’m just asking you to give me more information about this case.�

But at a preliminary hearing in February, Superior Court Judge John Conley concluded that the statements were made voluntarily. And he ruled that there was enough evidence to bring all three men to trial.

In an effort to bolster the case, state prosecutors tried to corroborate what Sarinana told police. But as they probed deeper, their investigation began to “cast doubt on the reliability of Sarinana’s statement to investigators,� according to court documents.

Despite Wednesday’s dismissal, Murphy cautioned, the investigation is far from over. Police are continuing to probe the shooting, and he said he could not rule out new charges being filed in the future against either the same suspects or others.

Sarinana faces extradition to New Mexico, where last year he pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana but fled before he could be sentenced, his attorney Ed Hall said.

But Silva and Plazola were scheduled to be released from Orange County Jail late Wednesday, much to the delight of waiting loved ones.

“We’re real excited,� said Plazola’s niece, Isabel Olvera. “We all knew that he wasn’t involved in it. It’s sad it took them a year to figure it out.�

Plazola’s relatives said he had abandoned the gang lifestyle a year before the shooting and had moved to Riverside County, where he had settled down with his wife and three children when police arrested him.

“He was trying to get his life together, which he did, and then this happened to him,� Olvera said. “It’s really sad.�