ORANGE COUNTY CRIMINAL DEFENSE UPDATE: Man found guilty in Orange murder trial

Jose Anthony Verduzco was found guilty of killing the lover of his longtime girlfriend and plotting out the act beforehand. According to the Orange County Register, the Orange man looked straight ahead as the guilty verdict was read.

The District Attorney’s Office argued to the jury that Verduzco planned, confronted, shot and killed Miguel Angel Jimenez in the driveway outside Verduzco’s home in November, 2005. Conversely, throughout the trial, the defense maintained that Verduzco shot Jimenez in “the heat of passion”– a defense commonly-raised in first degree murder cases. The murder in this case occurred one week after Verduzco discovered that the girlfriend he had for 24 years was having an affair with Jimenez.

The jury apparently thought that a week was too much time for Verduzco to be so caught up in his anger so as not to be able to control his actions–which could warrant a conviction for a lesser charge. Instead the jury found that the killing was intentional and calculated, which justified a first degree murder conviction. Verduzco will be sentenced on April 1 and faces 50 years to life in state prison.


Comments about this post can directed to Orange County Criminal Defense Attorney William Weinberg at (714) 834-1400.