Thirty-year-old Louis Sanchez and 31-year-old Marvin Norwood are both pleading not guilty to charges of mayhem assault and battery in the beating of Stow on March 31 of last year. While Stow has been rehabbing, the district attorney has been building a case against the suspects and that includes what sounds like a confession.
Their only comment was 'yes your honor' when asked if they understood the charges against them. Their attorneys entered pleas of not guilty on their behalf. Sanchez is changing to a public defender from a private attorney who said Sanchez could not afford him for a month-long trial.
Some of the evidence against Sanchez and Norwood is a secretly recorded conversation following a lineup last July. In it, the men are heard discussing how they beat the 43-year-old Stow in the Dodger Stadium parking lot after the season opening game against the Giants. It was a beating that left the Santa Cruz paramedic permanently disabled with brain damage. The men also talked about the need to make up some kind of defense. We may learn more about their defense when the two return to court July 24 for a pre-trial hearing.
