Jury Selection To Begin For Trial Of Alleged RivCo Cop Killer

INDIO, CA — Jury selection is scheduled to get underway Tuesday for the trial of an ex-con accused of gunning down two Palm Springs police officers and trying to kill others when they approached his mother's home to investigate a domestic disturbance.

During a pretrial hearing Friday morning at the Larson Justice Center in Indio, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Anthony Villalobos conferred with the prosecution and defense regarding a timetable for the trial of 28-year- old John Hernandez Felix.

After both sides acknowledged they were ready to proceed, Villalobos ordered 800 prospective jurors to the courthouse for screening as their qualifications and availability. The jurors will be grouped into panels and furnished questionnaires for starters. Based on their answers, prospects will be summoned back for additional screening over a two-week period. Opening statements are not expected until about mid-April.

Felix is charged with two counts of murder and six counts of attempted murder, with special circumstance allegations of killing police officers and committing multiple murders, making him eligible for the death penalty if convicted.

The convicted felon allegedly gunned down veteran training Officer Jose Gilbert Vega, 63, and rookie Officer Lesley Zerebny, 27, on Oct. 8, 2016, after they responded to a family disturbance call stemming from a spat between the defendant and his sister over a television remote control.

Felix opened fire on Vega, Zerebny and a third officer through the metal screen door of his mother's property after the victims stepped onto the porch, prosecutors allege. He also allegedly fired on five of their colleagues, who responded to the shooting. None were struck by the gunfire.

Felix was taken into custody following a 12-hour standoff.

District Attorney Mike Hestrin alleged soon afterward that the defendant wanted to kill cops, donning body armor and firing armor-piercing rounds from an AR-15 rifle during the attack.

The trial comes after a string of delays connected to defense motions regarding his mental fitness, including an argument alleging he has intellectual disabilities that should preclude him from execution, provided jurors opt to recommend the death penalty.

Criminal proceedings were previously suspended for six months in 2017 when Felix's attorneys, John Dolan and Jacob Devane, sought to have him declared mentally incompetent to stand trial.

They argued that he suffers from "traumatic amnesia" and has no memory of the shooting, preventing him from contributing to an adequate defense, but Villalobos ruled in late 2017 that Felix was sufficiently competent.

Following a bench trial with testimony from mental health experts, Villalobos ruled that prosecutors could proceed with their capital murder case against Felix, leading to an appeal of the judge's decision and another two- month delay. An appellate court denied the defense's appeal seeking to bar the death penalty from being included as an option upon conviction.

Vega and Zerebny were the first Palm Springs police officers to be killed in the line of duty since Jan. 1, 1962, when Officer Lyle Wayne Larrabee died during a vehicle pursuit. The only other death in the department was that of Officer Gale Gene Eldridge, fatally shot on Jan. 18, 1961, while investigating an armed robbery.

Vega had been with the department 35 years -- five years past his retirement eligibility -- and had planned to retire in 2018.

He had eight children, 11 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Zerebny had been with the department for 18 months and had just returned to duty following maternity leave, having given birth to a daughter, Cora, four months before her death.

Felix, who is being held without bail at the Robert Presley Jail in Riverside, has a prior conviction for assault with a deadly weapon, for which he served time in state prison.

— By City News Service