OFF THE WIRE
Cesar Villagrana, a Hells Angels Motorcycle Club member from California, in Washoe District Court with attorney Richard Schonfeld
A California chapter Hells Angels member told a judge Thursday he was not guilty of charges related to the fatal September melee between rival motocycle gxxg members at John Ascuaga’s Nugget.
Hells Angels member Cesar Villagrana, 36, pleaded not guilty to charges ranging from second-degree murder and carrying a concealed weapon. Washoe Chief District Judge Connie Steinheimer scheduled him a Jan. 17 trial.
Villagrana, of Gilroy, Calif., remains free on $300,000 bail. He is charged in a Nov. 9 indictment as a principal to Jeffrey Pettigrew’s Sept. 23 murder because he allegedly accepted a challenge to a fight, and allegedly began firing shots when violence struck out on the crowded casino dance floor between Pettigrew and Vagos member Stuart Gary Rudnick.
Pettigrew was the San Jose Hells Angels chapter president. Villagrana is accused of wounding two rival Vagos members.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Karl Hall said Rudnick — held in California on indictments of conspiracy to engage in an affray and challenge to a fight resulting in death with the use of a deadly weapon — should be brought back to Reno next week. He will then be arraigned.
The accused shooter, Vagos member Ernesto Manuel Gonzalez, 53, of San Francisco pleaded not guilty Nov. 17 to murder with a deadly weapon and conspiring to fight with his rivals. He is being held without bail and represented by the public attorney’s office. His trial is also slated to start Jan. 17.
During Thursday’s hearing, Steinheimer gave Villagrana’s attorney, Richard Schonfeld, of Las Vegas, 90 day instead of 21 days to file a motion to challenge the grand jury indictment.
Schonfeld said he is going to request the co-defendants be tried separately.
Rudnick is accused in the indictment of instigating the fight. Grand jury transcripts show that Rudnick, nicknamed “Jabbers,” provoked Pettigrew on the dance floor. Shortly before the gun battle, veteran members from the rival clubs — including national members — had negotiated a truce between the San Jose rival chapters who seemingly had been wanting to fight during Street Vibrations.
After Pettigrew punched Rudnick in the face, it ignited the fatal gunfire that led to the city of Sparks declaring a 24-hour state of emergency and canceling the remainder of the annual motorcycle festival. Besides being shot multiple times, the medical examiner’s office said Pettigrew was stabbed in the face, with his nose nearly severed.
Steinheimer said she is considering meeting with law enforcement to determine if she should order a “no colors” ban for future court hearings. The purpose would be so that rival motorcycle club members wouldn’t wear identifying clothing while being in close proximity of each other.
http://www.rgj.com/article/20111201/NEWS01/111201021/People-attending-motorcycle-melee-shooting-hearings-Reno-can-t-wear-gang-colors?odyssey=nav%7Chead