*CRIMINAL CASE UPDATE*

TRIAL TO BEGIN FOR MAN FACING DEATH PENALTY IN 2004 GANG EXECUTION

RIVERSIDE - Opening statements are scheduled to begin the morning of Monday, July 20, 2009, in the case of a Riverside man charged with the gang execution murder of Jorge Ortiz.

George Anthony Hernandez Jr, 33, is charged with murder with special circumstances including lying in wait, conspiracy to commit a crime, and soliciting to commit murder. On July 26, 2004, Hernandez and the victim left a Riverside bar together and Hernandez invited Ortiz to "check out his new Impala." Witnesses saw the victim lean into the car at which time Hernandez pulled a 9mm handgun from his waistband and shoot Ortiz through the top of his head. As the victim fell back, Hernandez shot him in the forehead, then three more times in the chest.

The investigation revealed this to be a gang hit at the direction of either the Mexican Mafia or the Arlanza 13 criminal street gang in Riverside, of which Hernandez is a documented member. There is evidence to show that Ortiz was executed because he was believed to have been a snitch. When Hernandez was arrested in October 2004, he had two guns on him, one of which is believed to be the one used to murder Ortiz.

After Hernandez's arrest, investigators uncovered an illicit affair between Hernandez and a female sheriff's deputy who was assigned to the Robert Presley Detention Center where the defendant was housed. Through a series of letters and phone calls, Hernandez and the nowformer deputy, Angela Parks, repeatedly professed their love for one another and Parks told him she would do whatever she could to help his case. There is evidence that Parks assisted Hernandez in a conspiracy to murder the witnesses against him in the Ortiz murder, as well as for her to smuggle methamphetamine into the jail for Hernandez.

Parks was arrested and is facing charges including conspiracy to solicit to commit murder. She was held to answer at a 2005 preliminary hearing and is still awaiting trial.

The Hernandez trial is being held before Judge Paul Zellerbach in Dept. 44 at the Hall of Justice, 4100 Main St., Riverside. The case, RIF119969, is being prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Michael Hestrin.