TranslatePress Release Index
Santa Rosa Woman Sentenced for Vehicular Manslaughter and Leaving Scene of Accident Resulting in Death
Defendant Allisa Marie Whitten, 35 years old of Santa Rosa, was sentenced today by the Honorable Mark Urioste to serve 3 years and 3 months in state prison after pleading no-contest in November of last year to crimes including felony leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death, misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter, misdemeanor destroying evidence, and misdemeanor driving a motor vehicle without a valid driver’s license. Read full story
Petaluma Man Sentenced for Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence, and Solicitation to Commit Murder
Defendant Anthony Eugene Nelson, 33 years old of Petaluma, was sentenced earlier today by the Honorable Dana Simonds to serve 50 years in state prison after pleading no-contest in November of last year to crimes including sexual assault, inflicting great bodily injury upon a domestic partner, and solicitation to commit murder. Read full story
Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office, U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division Sign Agreement to Coordinate Investigations, Outreach, and Training to Protect Workers’ Rights
District Attorney Carla Rodriguez announced today that the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office has signed a memorandum of understanding creating a 5-year partnership with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division. The specific goals of the agreement are to increase coordination between the two agencies in conducting outreach and education in the community, conducting joint investigations of wage theft law violators, and cross-training investigators and staff at both agencies with the goal of greater protection of victims of wage theft. Read full story
Santa Rosa Man Sentenced to Life in Prison for October 2022 Shooting of Two Near Union Hotel in Santa Rosa
Defendant Marcell Battiest, 29 years old of Santa Rosa, was sentenced Wednesday by Sonoma County Superior Court Judge Troye Shaffer to serve 65 years-to-life in prison after being convicted by a jury in September of two counts of attempted murder, conspiracy to commit robbery, shooting into an occupied vehicle, felon in possession of a firearm, committing a felony offense while out on bail, as well as another robbery from February of 2021. Read full story
Prison inmate convicted of 1985 murder of Guerneville man denied parole once again
Inmate Vernon Bragg, now 70 years old of Dallas Texas, was denied parole yesterday by the California State Board of Parole Hearings following an afternoon hearing held at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville. In 1985, Bragg was convicted of murder for the shooting and killing of Ray Rasmussen of Guerneville. Following the murder, Bragg was sentenced to an indeterminate life sentence in state prison. Read full story
Man sentenced for conspiracy to trespass and trespass at Sonoma County Farms
Wayne Hsiung, a 42-year-old California state bar licensed attorney from San Francisco, was sentenced earlier today to serve 2 years on probation and 90 days in county jail after having been convicted by a Sonoma County jury in November of this year to charges of felony conspiracy to commit trespass and two counts of trespass. The convictions stem from large animal rights protests staged on Sonoma County Farms in 2018 and 2019. Read full story
Santa Rosa Man Sentenced to 14 Years in Prison for Sexually Abusing a Teenager
Defendant Leonel Padilla Gomez, 36 years old, of Santa Rosa, California, was sentenced on November 16, 2023, by the Honorable Laura Passaglia to 14 years in state prison. This sentence follows Gomez’s convictions related to sexually abusing a teenager. Read full story
Santa Rosa Man Sentenced to 36 Years in Prison for Child Sexual Assault
Defendant Ambrosio Leiva-Moreno, 32 years old, of Santa Rosa, California, was sentenced on November 15, 2023, by the Honorable Laura Passaglia to 36 years in the state prison. This sentence follows Leiva-Moreno’s convictions related to sexually assaulting a child. Read full story
Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office Awarded Grant from the Office of Traffic Safety for Specialized DUI Prosecution Team
Sonoma County District Attorney Carla Rodriguez has announced that as a result of her office receiving a $516,000 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS), it will be able to continue to have a specialized prosecution team that handles alcohol and drug-impaired driving cases. Read full story
Criminal charges not warranted related to July 29, 2022, officer-involved shooting of David Pelaez-Chavez
On July 29, 2022, in a rural area of Sonoma County outside of Healdsburg, David Pelaez-Chavez was shot and killed by a Sonoma County Sheriff’s Deputy. Pursuant to a county-wide protocol in which outside agencies investigate incidents of officer-involved shootings, the Santa Rosa Police Department investigated this shooting. At the conclusion of their investigation, they then provided their investigation to the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office to evaluate the appropriateness of any potential criminal charges. Read full story