Juan Corona
Encyclopedia
Juan Vallejo Corona is a Mexican
-born serial killer
in the United States
.
He was convicted
of the 1971 murder
s of 25 itinerant
laborer
s; men who had been found buried in shallow graves in the orchard
s of fruit ranches in Sutter County, California
, along the Feather River
north of Yuba City
, where they did seasonal
harvest
ing and thinning
job
s.
At that time, these gruesome crime
s represented the worst and most notorious serial murders in U.S. history
. The local sheriff
said even more men may have been buried in the area.
Corona was sentenced in 1973 to 25 life sentence
s. His second trial, in 1982, failed to render an acquittal
and he was returned to prison
to serve out his sentence.
, Jalisco
, Corona first entered the United States
in 1950. Crossing the border
into California
illegally
, the 16-year-old picked carrots and melons in the Imperial Valley for three months before moving on north to the Sacramento Valley
. His half-brother, Natividad Corona (c. 1923-May 23, 1973), had migrated
to the state in 1944 to work, and settled at Marysville
, across the Feather River from Yuba City.
Corona moved to the Marysville/Yuba City area in May 1953, at the suggestion of Natividad, and found work on a local ranch. He was first married to Gabriella E. Hermosillo on October 24, 1953, in Reno, Nevada
. In 1959, he married Gloria I. Moreno and they had four daughters.
In late December 1955, a flood
occurred on the Yuba
and Feather Rivers. It was one of the most widespread and destructive of any in the recorded history of Northern California
. A rush of water broke through the west levee
and flooded 150 square miles (388.5 km²), killing 38 people. Corona was strangely affected by the death and destruction and had a mental breakdown
. He believed everyone had died in the flood and that he was living in a land of ghost
s.
Corona was suffering from an episode of schizophrenia
. On January 17, 1956, Natividad had him committed
to DeWitt State Hospital in Auburn, California
, where he was diagnosed with "schizophrenic reaction, paranoid type." He received 23 shock treatment
s, before being pronounced recovered and released only three months later.
Afterward, Corona was deported back to Mexico. Corona then returned to the U.S. legally, with a green card. At this time, he stopped drinking. Aside from schizophrenic episodes and a reported violent temper, Corona was regarded as a hard worker. In 1962, he became a licensed labor contractor. He was in charge of hiring workers to staff the local fruit ranches.
Corona reportedly was outwardly macho
and had anger issues with gay
men. His half-brother, Natividad, who was gay, owned the Guadalajara Cafe in Marysville. Early on the morning of February 25, 1970, a young man named José Romero Raya was brutally attacked with a machete
in the restroom of the café. He was discovered by customers at 1:00 a.m., hacked about the head and face, and Natividad called the police. Raya filed a lawsuit
against Natividad, winning a judgment of $250,000, which prompted Natividad to sell his business and return to Mexico instead of paying.
In March 1970, Corona was again committed to DeWitt State Hospital for treatment. A year later, in March 1971, he applied for welfare for the first time, as there was little ranch and/or farm work available. His application was denied, however, because he had too many assets, including two houses and some money in the bank.
on the Sullivan Ranch, where most of the victims were discovered.
In one grave, deputies found two meat receipts bearing Corona's signature. In another two graves, there were two crumpled Bank of America
deposit slips printed with Corona's name and address. This circumstantial evidence
gave an added boost to the case.
Witnesses later told police that some of the victims had been last seen riding in Corona's pickup truck
.
In the early morning hours of May 26, 1971, police burst into Corona's Yuba City home with a search warrant
and arrested him. Damning evidence indicating his guilt was discovered and seized, such as two bloodstained knives, a machete, a pistol
and blood stained clothing. There was also a work ledger that contained 34 names and dates, including seven of the known victims. The ledger came to be referred to as a "death list" by the prosecution, who alleged it recorded the dates the men were murdered.
, Roy Van den Heuvel, who hired several psychiatrist
s to perform a psychological evaluation
. Although the sheriff, Roy Whiteaker, said the prisoner was in no apparent or immediate danger from his fellow townsmen, Corona was moved to the new and larger county jail in Marysville, on May 30, 1971, for "security reasons."
On June 2, Corona was returned to Sutter County for arraignment
, which was closed to the media
and public
. A plea
of not guilty was entered and a date was set for Corona's preliminary hearing
.
By the time the search was terminated on June 4, a total of 25 male victims had been discovered. Four of them were unidentified. Whiteaker said he believed that even more bodies might have been buried in the area.
On June 14, Van den Heuvel was replaced by Richard Hawk, a privately retained defense
attorney. In return for his legal representation
, an agreement was made granting Hawk exclusive literary
and drama
tic property rights
to the defendant
's life story, including the proceedings against him. Under the agreement, Corona waive
d the attorney-client privilege
. Shortly after taking over the defense, and even before seeing Corona's medical record
or reading any of the report
s, Hawk decided against having him plead not guilty by reason of insanity and fired the psychiatrists.
Corona complained of chest pain from his cell in Yuba City, on June 18, and was taken to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with having had a mild heart attack
. The grand jury
returned a 25-count murder indictment
against him on July 12. In early August, Corona was hospitalized again after complaining of chest pain and saying he had not been able to sleep because of it.
. The California Supreme Court
voided the death penalty
in the state on February 18, 1972, ruling
it unconstitutional
, cruel and unusual
. Therefore, it would not be a capital case. Hawk succeeded in getting a change of venue
from Sutter County, to Solano County
.
The trial began on September 11, 1972, at the courthouse in Fairfield, California
, more than an hour from Yuba City. Jury selection
took several weeks, and the trial itself another three months.
Though Corona denied culpability
, he was not called to the stand to testify in his own defense and no defense witnesses were called. The jury deliberated for 45 hours and returned a verdict, on January 18, 1973, finding Corona guilty of first degree murder on all 25 counts charged. The judge, Richard Patton, sentenced Corona to 25 terms of life imprisonment
, to run consecutively, without the possibility of parole
. Despite being sentenced to so many consecutive terms, the Department of Corrections
said that Corona would be eligible for parole in seven years, citing section 669 of the penal code
, which mandate
s that when a crime is punished by life imprisonment, with or without the possibility of parole, then all other convictions shall be merged and run concurrently.
Corona was first incarcerated at Vacaville
's California Medical Facility
, nine miles (14 km) from Fairfield, because of the heart irregularities he had experienced. On December 6, 1973, he was stabbed 32 times in his cell because he had bumped into a fellow inmate in a corridor and failed to say, "excuse me." His left eye was removed in surgery. Of the five men questioned, including the one involved in the bumping incident, one identified as the man's sexual partner and three inmates identified as friends of the partner, four were charged with assault with a deadly weapon
.
He was transferred to the Correctional Training Facility (CTF), Soledad, California
. In early January 1974, Corona's wife, Gloria, filed for divorce
in Fairfield, citing irreconcilable differences
. It was granted on July 30.
, claiming his original legal team had been incompetent
. They had not put forward schizophrenia as a mitigating factor
or pleaded the insanity defense. A new trial was ordered.
The second trial began on February 22, 1982, in Hayward, California
. Corona's defense posited that the real murderer of the ranch workers was most likely Natividad Corona, a known homosexual who was accused of attacking Romero Raya at his cafe in Marysville, and after losing the lawsuit Raya filed had fled back to his native Mexico. Natividad had died eight years earlier in Guadalajara
.
This time around, more than 50 defense witnesses were called to the stand by Hallinan. Corona was called in his own defense. He was asked only two questions, through an interpreter
, taking only two minutes. "Do you understand the state has accused you of killing 25 men?" "Yes," Corona answered, almost inaudibly. "Did you have anything to do with killing those men?" "No," Corona replied. Hallinan then turned Corona over to the prosecutor
, Ronald Fahey, for cross-examination
. Startled prosecution attorneys requested a brief recess to gather their wits and prepare some of the more than 630 exhibit
s for their cross. Later, Fahey questioned Corona about various vans and cars he used at the ranch where he worked and where he lived, in which some weapons were found.
The trial lasted seven months. Corona was again convicted of the crimes on September 23, 1982, and returned to prison after the strategy failed to persuade the jury, which deliberated for 54 hours over a two week period, of his innocence. Afterward, the foreman told the press that the most incriminating piece of evidence against Corona was his work ledger, for which the labor contractor had "no reasonable explanation." He said the jury had dismissed the defense contention that Natividad committed the murders. "He wasn't in Marysville enough to have committed the bulk of the killings," he said.
Juan Corona was transferred from CTF at Soledad to Corcoran State Prison
, Corcoran, California
, in 1992, where he is currently serving a life sentence in the Security Housing Unit (SHU).
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
-born serial killer
Serial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
He was convicted
Conviction
In law, a conviction is the verdict that results when a court of law finds a defendant guilty of a crime.The opposite of a conviction is an acquittal . In Scotland and in the Netherlands, there can also be a verdict of "not proven", which counts as an acquittal...
of the 1971 murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
s of 25 itinerant
Itinerant
An itinerant is a person who travels from place to place with no fixed home. The term comes from the late 16th century: from late Latin itinerant , from the verb itinerari, from Latin iter, itiner ....
laborer
Laborer
A Laborer or labourer - see variation in english spelling - is one of the construction trades, traditionally considered unskilled manual labor, as opposed to skilled labor. In the division of labor, laborers have all blasting, hand tools, power tools, air tools, and small heavy equipment, and act...
s; men who had been found buried in shallow graves in the orchard
Orchard
An orchard is an intentional planting of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit or nut-producing trees which are grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of large gardens, where they serve an aesthetic as well as a productive...
s of fruit ranches in Sutter County, California
Sutter County, California
Sutter County is a county located along the Sacramento River in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California, north of state capital Sacramento. Sutter County is part of the Greater Sacramento CSA....
, along the Feather River
Feather River
The Feather River is the principal tributary of the Sacramento River, in the Sacramento Valley of Northern California. The river's main stem is about long. Its length to its most distant headwater tributary is about . Its drainage basin is about...
north of Yuba City
Yuba City, California
Yuba City is a Northern California city, founded in 1849. It is the county seat of Sutter County, California, United States. The population was 64,925 at the 2010 census....
, where they did seasonal
Seasonal Food
Seasonality of food refers to the times of year when a given type food is at its peak, either in terms of harvest or its flavour. This is usually the time when the item is the cheapest and the freshest on the market. The food's peak time in terms of harvest usually coincides with when its flavour...
harvest
Harvest
Harvest is the process of gathering mature crops from the fields. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulse for harvest, typically using a scythe, sickle, or reaper...
ing and thinning
Thinning
Thinning is a term used in agricultural sciences to mean the removal of some plants, or parts of plants, to make room for the growth of others.- Forestry :...
job
Job (role)
A job is a regular activity performed in exchange for payment. A person usually begins a job by becoming an employee, volunteering, or starting a business. The duration of a job may range from an hour to a lifetime . If a person is trained for a certain type of job, they may have a profession...
s.
At that time, these gruesome crime
Crime
Crime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction...
s represented the worst and most notorious serial murders in U.S. history
History of the United States
The history of the United States traditionally starts with the Declaration of Independence in the year 1776, although its territory was inhabited by Native Americans since prehistoric times and then by European colonists who followed the voyages of Christopher Columbus starting in 1492. The...
. The local sheriff
Sheriff
A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....
said even more men may have been buried in the area.
Corona was sentenced in 1973 to 25 life sentence
Life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...
s. His second trial, in 1982, failed to render an acquittal
Acquittal
In the common law tradition, an acquittal formally certifies the accused is free from the charge of an offense, as far as the criminal law is concerned. This is so even where the prosecution is abandoned nolle prosequi...
and he was returned to prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
to serve out his sentence.
Early life
Born in AutlánAutlán, Jalisco
Autlán de Navarro is a city and its surrounding municipality of the same name in the Costa Sur region of the southwestern part of the state of Jalisco in Mexico. At the Mexican census of 2005, the city had a population of 53,269 inhabitants. The municipality has a surface area of 962.9 km²...
, Jalisco
Jalisco
Jalisco officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Jalisco is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is located in Western Mexico and divided in 125 municipalities and its capital city is Guadalajara.It is one of the more important states...
, Corona first entered the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1950. Crossing the border
Border
Borders define geographic boundaries of political entities or legal jurisdictions, such as governments, sovereign states, federated states and other subnational entities. Some borders—such as a state's internal administrative borders, or inter-state borders within the Schengen Area—are open and...
into California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
illegally
Illegal immigration
Illegal immigration is the migration into a nation in violation of the immigration laws of that jurisdiction. Illegal immigration raises many political, economical and social issues and has become a source of major controversy in developed countries and the more successful developing countries.In...
, the 16-year-old picked carrots and melons in the Imperial Valley for three months before moving on north to the Sacramento Valley
Sacramento Valley
The Sacramento Valley is the portion of the California Central Valley that lies to the north of the San Joaquin-Sacramento Delta in the U.S. state of California. It encompasses all or parts of ten counties.-Geography:...
. His half-brother, Natividad Corona (c. 1923-May 23, 1973), had migrated
Human migration
Human migration is physical movement by humans from one area to another, sometimes over long distances or in large groups. Historically this movement was nomadic, often causing significant conflict with the indigenous population and their displacement or cultural assimilation. Only a few nomadic...
to the state in 1944 to work, and settled at Marysville
Marysville, California
Marysville is the county seat of Yuba County, California, United States. The population was 12,072 at the 2010 census, down from 12,268 at the 2000 census. It is included in the Yuba City Metropolitan Statistical Area, often referred to as the Yuba-Sutter Area after the two counties, Yuba and...
, across the Feather River from Yuba City.
Corona moved to the Marysville/Yuba City area in May 1953, at the suggestion of Natividad, and found work on a local ranch. He was first married to Gabriella E. Hermosillo on October 24, 1953, in Reno, Nevada
Reno, Nevada
Reno is the county seat of Washoe County, Nevada, United States. The city has a population of about 220,500 and is the most populous Nevada city outside of the Las Vegas metropolitan area...
. In 1959, he married Gloria I. Moreno and they had four daughters.
In late December 1955, a flood
Flood
A flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land. The EU Floods directive defines a flood as a temporary covering by water of land not normally covered by water...
occurred on the Yuba
Yuba River
The Yuba River is a tributary of the Feather River in the Sacramento Valley of the U.S. state of California. It is one of the Feather's most important branches, providing about a third of its flow. The main stem of the river is about long, and its headwaters are split into North, Middle and South...
and Feather Rivers. It was one of the most widespread and destructive of any in the recorded history of Northern California
Northern California
Northern California is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The San Francisco Bay Area , and Sacramento as well as its metropolitan area are the main population centers...
. A rush of water broke through the west levee
Levee
A levee, levée, dike , embankment, floodbank or stopbank is an elongated naturally occurring ridge or artificially constructed fill or wall, which regulates water levels...
and flooded 150 square miles (388.5 km²), killing 38 people. Corona was strangely affected by the death and destruction and had a mental breakdown
Mental breakdown
Mental breakdown is a non-medical term used to describe an acute, time-limited phase of a specific disorder that presents primarily with features of depression or anxiety.-Definition:...
. He believed everyone had died in the flood and that he was living in a land of ghost
Ghost
In traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to...
s.
Corona was suffering from an episode of schizophrenia
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly manifests itself as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social...
. On January 17, 1956, Natividad had him committed
Involuntary commitment
Involuntary commitment or civil commitment is a legal process through which an individual with symptoms of severe mental illness is court-ordered into treatment in a hospital or in the community ....
to DeWitt State Hospital in Auburn, California
Auburn, California
Auburn is the county seat of Placer County, California. Its population at the 2010 census was 13,330. Auburn is known for its California Gold Rush history.Auburn is part of the Greater Sacramento area.- History :...
, where he was diagnosed with "schizophrenic reaction, paranoid type." He received 23 shock treatment
Electroconvulsive therapy
Electroconvulsive therapy , formerly known as electroshock, is a psychiatric treatment in which seizures are electrically induced in anesthetized patients for therapeutic effect. Its mode of action is unknown...
s, before being pronounced recovered and released only three months later.
Afterward, Corona was deported back to Mexico. Corona then returned to the U.S. legally, with a green card. At this time, he stopped drinking. Aside from schizophrenic episodes and a reported violent temper, Corona was regarded as a hard worker. In 1962, he became a licensed labor contractor. He was in charge of hiring workers to staff the local fruit ranches.
Corona reportedly was outwardly macho
Machismo
Machismo, or machoism, is a word of Spanish and Portuguese origin that describes prominently exhibited or excessive masculinity. As an attitude, machismo ranges from a personal sense of virility to a more extreme male chauvinism...
and had anger issues with gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
men. His half-brother, Natividad, who was gay, owned the Guadalajara Cafe in Marysville. Early on the morning of February 25, 1970, a young man named José Romero Raya was brutally attacked with a machete
Machete
The machete is a large cleaver-like cutting tool. The blade is typically long and usually under thick. In the English language, an equivalent term is matchet, though it is less commonly known...
in the restroom of the café. He was discovered by customers at 1:00 a.m., hacked about the head and face, and Natividad called the police. Raya filed a lawsuit
Lawsuit
A lawsuit or "suit in law" is a civil action brought in a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have incurred loss as a result of a defendant's actions, demands a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint...
against Natividad, winning a judgment of $250,000, which prompted Natividad to sell his business and return to Mexico instead of paying.
In March 1970, Corona was again committed to DeWitt State Hospital for treatment. A year later, in March 1971, he applied for welfare for the first time, as there was little ranch and/or farm work available. His application was denied, however, because he had too many assets, including two houses and some money in the bank.
Evidence
Juan Corona had been supplying workers to the ranches where the victims were discovered. He housed a lot of the men that worked for him in a bunkhouseBunkhouse
A bunkhouse is a hostel or barracks-like building that historically was used to house working cowboys on ranches in North America. As most cowboys were young single men, the standard bunkhouse was a large open room with narrow beds or cots for each individual and little privacy...
on the Sullivan Ranch, where most of the victims were discovered.
In one grave, deputies found two meat receipts bearing Corona's signature. In another two graves, there were two crumpled Bank of America
Bank of America
Bank of America Corporation, an American multinational banking and financial services corporation, is the second largest bank holding company in the United States by assets, and the fourth largest bank in the U.S. by market capitalization. The bank is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina...
deposit slips printed with Corona's name and address. This circumstantial evidence
Circumstantial evidence
Circumstantial evidence is evidence in which an inference is required to connect it to a conclusion of fact, like a fingerprint at the scene of a crime...
gave an added boost to the case.
Witnesses later told police that some of the victims had been last seen riding in Corona's pickup truck
Pickup truck
A pickup truck is a light motor vehicle with an open-top rear cargo area .-Definition:...
.
In the early morning hours of May 26, 1971, police burst into Corona's Yuba City home with a search warrant
Search warrant
A search warrant is a court order issued by a Magistrate, judge or Supreme Court Official that authorizes law enforcement officers to conduct a search of a person or location for evidence of a crime and to confiscate evidence if it is found....
and arrested him. Damning evidence indicating his guilt was discovered and seized, such as two bloodstained knives, a machete, a pistol
Handgun
A handgun is a firearm designed to be held and operated by one hand. This characteristic differentiates handguns as a general class of firearms from long guns such as rifles and shotguns ....
and blood stained clothing. There was also a work ledger that contained 34 names and dates, including seven of the known victims. The ledger came to be referred to as a "death list" by the prosecution, who alleged it recorded the dates the men were murdered.
Legal proceedings
Corona was provided legal aid and assigned a public defenderPublic defender
The term public defender is primarily used to refer to a criminal defense lawyer appointed to represent people charged with a crime but who cannot afford to hire an attorney in the United States and Brazil. The term is also applied to some ombudsman offices, for example in Jamaica, and is one way...
, Roy Van den Heuvel, who hired several psychiatrist
Psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...
s to perform a psychological evaluation
Psychological evaluation
A psychological evaluation or mental examination is an examination into a person's mental health by a mental health professional such as a psychologist. A psychological evaluation may result in a diagnosis of a mental illness...
. Although the sheriff, Roy Whiteaker, said the prisoner was in no apparent or immediate danger from his fellow townsmen, Corona was moved to the new and larger county jail in Marysville, on May 30, 1971, for "security reasons."
On June 2, Corona was returned to Sutter County for arraignment
Arraignment
Arraignment is a formal reading of a criminal complaint in the presence of the defendant to inform the defendant of the charges against him or her. In response to arraignment, the accused is expected to enter a plea...
, which was closed to the media
News media
The news media are those elements of the mass media that focus on delivering news to the general public or a target public.These include print media , broadcast news , and more recently the Internet .-Etymology:A medium is a carrier of something...
and public
Public
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individuals, and the public is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the Öffentlichkeit or public sphere. The concept of a public has also been defined in political science,...
. A plea
Plea
In legal terms, a plea is simply an answer to a claim made by someone in a civil or criminal case under common law using the adversary system. Colloquially, a plea has come to mean the assertion by a criminal defendant at arraignment, or otherwise in response to a criminal charge, whether that...
of not guilty was entered and a date was set for Corona's preliminary hearing
Preliminary hearing
Within some criminal justice systems, a preliminary hearing is a proceeding, after a criminal complaint has been filed by the prosecutor, to determine whether there is enough evidence to require a trial...
.
By the time the search was terminated on June 4, a total of 25 male victims had been discovered. Four of them were unidentified. Whiteaker said he believed that even more bodies might have been buried in the area.
On June 14, Van den Heuvel was replaced by Richard Hawk, a privately retained defense
Defense (legal)
In civil proceedings and criminal prosecutions under the common law, a defendant may raise a defense in an attempt to avoid criminal or civil liability...
attorney. In return for his legal representation
Practice of law
In its most general sense, the practice of law involves giving legal advice to clients, drafting legal documents for clients, and representing clients in legal negotiations and court proceedings such as lawsuits, and is applied to the professional services of a lawyer or attorney at law, barrister,...
, an agreement was made granting Hawk exclusive literary
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
and drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
tic property rights
Property
Property is any physical or intangible entity that is owned by a person or jointly by a group of people or a legal entity like a corporation...
to the defendant
Defendant
A defendant or defender is any party who is required to answer the complaint of a plaintiff or pursuer in a civil lawsuit before a court, or any party who has been formally charged or accused of violating a criminal statute...
's life story, including the proceedings against him. Under the agreement, Corona waive
Waiver
A waiver is the voluntary relinquishment or surrender of some known right or privilege.While a waiver is often in writing, sometimes a person's actions can act as a waiver. An example of a written waiver is a disclaimer, which becomes a waiver when accepted...
d the attorney-client privilege
Attorney-client privilege
Attorney–client privilege is a legal concept that protects certain communications between a client and his or her attorney and keeps those communications confidential....
. Shortly after taking over the defense, and even before seeing Corona's medical record
Medical record
The terms medical record, health record, and medical chart are used somewhat interchangeably to describe the systematic documentation of a single patient's medical history and care across time within one particular health care provider's jurisdiction....
or reading any of the report
Report
A report is a textual work made with the specific intention of relaying information or recounting certain events in a widely presentable form....
s, Hawk decided against having him plead not guilty by reason of insanity and fired the psychiatrists.
Corona complained of chest pain from his cell in Yuba City, on June 18, and was taken to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with having had a mild heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
. The grand jury
Grand jury
A grand jury is a type of jury that determines whether a criminal indictment will issue. Currently, only the United States retains grand juries, although some other common law jurisdictions formerly employed them, and most other jurisdictions employ some other type of preliminary hearing...
returned a 25-count murder indictment
Indictment
An indictment , in the common-law legal system, is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that maintain the concept of felonies, the serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that lack the concept of felonies often use that of an indictable offence—an...
against him on July 12. In early August, Corona was hospitalized again after complaining of chest pain and saying he had not been able to sleep because of it.
Trial
It took over a year after the murders were discovered for the case against Corona to come to trialTrial (law)
In law, a trial is when parties to a dispute come together to present information in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court...
. The California Supreme Court
Supreme Court of California
The Supreme Court of California is the highest state court in California. It is headquartered in San Francisco and regularly holds sessions in Los Angeles and Sacramento. Its decisions are binding on all other California state courts.-Composition:...
voided the death penalty
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
in the state on February 18, 1972, ruling
Court order
A court order is an official proclamation by a judge that defines the legal relationships between the parties to a hearing, a trial, an appeal or other court proceedings. Such ruling requires or authorizes the carrying out of certain steps by one or more parties to a case...
it unconstitutional
Constitutionality
Constitutionality is the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution. Acts that are not in accordance with the rules laid down in the constitution are deemed to be ultra vires.-See also:*ultra vires*Company law*Constitutional law...
, cruel and unusual
Cruel and unusual punishment
Cruel and unusual punishment is a phrase describing criminal punishment which is considered unacceptable due to the suffering or humiliation it inflicts on the condemned person...
. Therefore, it would not be a capital case. Hawk succeeded in getting a change of venue
Change of venue
A change of venue is the legal term for moving a trial to a new location. In high-profile matters, a change of venue may occur to move a jury trial away from a location where a fair and impartial jury may not be possible due to widespread publicity about a crime and/or its defendant to another...
from Sutter County, to Solano County
Solano County, California
Solano County is a county located in Bay-Delta region of the U.S. state of California, about halfway between San Francisco and Sacramento and is one of the nine San Francisco Bay Area counties. The county's population was reported by the U.S. Census to be 413,344 in 2010...
.
The trial began on September 11, 1972, at the courthouse in Fairfield, California
Fairfield, California
Fairfield is a city located in Solano County in Northern California, USA. It is generally considered the midpoint between the cities of San Francisco and Sacramento, approximately from the city center of both cities, approximately from the city center of Oakland, less than from Napa Valley, 18...
, more than an hour from Yuba City. Jury selection
Jury selection
Jury selection are many methods used to choose the people who will serve on a trial jury. The jury pool is first selected from among the community using a reasonably random method. The prospective jurors are then questioned in court by the judge and/or attorneys...
took several weeks, and the trial itself another three months.
Though Corona denied culpability
Culpability
Culpability descends from the Latin concept of fault . The concept of culpability is intimately tied up with notions of agency, freedom and free will...
, he was not called to the stand to testify in his own defense and no defense witnesses were called. The jury deliberated for 45 hours and returned a verdict, on January 18, 1973, finding Corona guilty of first degree murder on all 25 counts charged. The judge, Richard Patton, sentenced Corona to 25 terms of life imprisonment
Life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...
, to run consecutively, without the possibility of parole
Parole
Parole may have different meanings depending on the field and judiciary system. All of the meanings originated from the French parole . Following its use in late-resurrected Anglo-French chivalric practice, the term became associated with the release of prisoners based on prisoners giving their...
. Despite being sentenced to so many consecutive terms, the Department of Corrections
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is responsible for the operation of the California state prison and parole systems. CDC&R is the second largest law enforcement or police agency in the United States behind the New York City Police Department which employs approximately...
said that Corona would be eligible for parole in seven years, citing section 669 of the penal code
California Penal Code
The Penal Code of California forms the basis for the application of criminal law in the American state of California. It was originally enacted in 1872 as one of the original four California Codes, and has been substantially amended and revised since then....
, which mandate
Mandate (criminal law)
A criminal court may impose a "mandate" on a person accused of a crime consisting of an obligation to engage in certain conditions or activities in exchange for suspension or reduction in penalty; such as, conditions of probation, conditional discharges, or other conditional sentences...
s that when a crime is punished by life imprisonment, with or without the possibility of parole, then all other convictions shall be merged and run concurrently.
Corona was first incarcerated at Vacaville
Vacaville, California
Vacaville, California is a city located in the northeastern portion of the San Francisco Bay Area in Solano County. The city is nearly half way between Sacramento and San Francisco on I-80. It sits approximately from Sacramento, and from San Francisco...
's California Medical Facility
California Medical Facility
California Medical Facility is a male-only state prison located in the city of Vacaville, Solano County, California. It is older than California State Prison, Solano, the other state prison in Vacaville.-Facilities:...
, nine miles (14 km) from Fairfield, because of the heart irregularities he had experienced. On December 6, 1973, he was stabbed 32 times in his cell because he had bumped into a fellow inmate in a corridor and failed to say, "excuse me." His left eye was removed in surgery. Of the five men questioned, including the one involved in the bumping incident, one identified as the man's sexual partner and three inmates identified as friends of the partner, four were charged with assault with a deadly weapon
Assault
In law, assault is a crime causing a victim to fear violence. The term is often confused with battery, which involves physical contact. The specific meaning of assault varies between countries, but can refer to an act that causes another to apprehend immediate and personal violence, or in the more...
.
He was transferred to the Correctional Training Facility (CTF), Soledad, California
Soledad, California
Soledad, meaning "solitude" and "loneliness" in Spanish, is a city in Monterey County, California, United States. Soledad is located southeast of Salinas, at an elevation of 190 feet...
. In early January 1974, Corona's wife, Gloria, filed for divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
in Fairfield, citing irreconcilable differences
Irreconcilable differences
The concept of irreconcilable differences provides a possible ground for divorce in a number of jurisdictions.In Australian family law with no-fault divorce it is the sole ground, adequate proof being that the estranged couple have been separated more than 12 months.In the United States it can be...
. It was granted on July 30.
Second trial
On May 18, 1978, Corona's conviction was overturned by an appeals court who upheld a petition by his defense attorney, Terence HallinanTerence Hallinan
Terence Hallinan is an American attorney and politician from San Francisco, California. He is the second of six sons born to leftist attorney Vincent Hallinan and his wife Vivian....
, claiming his original legal team had been incompetent
Competence (law)
In American law, competence concerns the mental capacity of an individual to participate in legal proceedings. Defendants that do not possess sufficient "competence" are usually excluded from criminal prosecution, while witnesses found not to possess requisite competence cannot testify...
. They had not put forward schizophrenia as a mitigating factor
Mitigating factor
A mitigating factor, in law, is any information or evidence presented to the court regarding the defendant or the circumstances of the crime that might result in reduced charges or a lesser sentence.-Death penalty in the United States:...
or pleaded the insanity defense. A new trial was ordered.
The second trial began on February 22, 1982, in Hayward, California
Hayward, California
Hayward is a city located in the East Bay in Alameda County, California. With a population of 144,186, Hayward is the sixth largest city in the San Francisco Bay Area and the third largest in Alameda County. Hayward was ranked as the 37th most populous municipality in California. It is included in...
. Corona's defense posited that the real murderer of the ranch workers was most likely Natividad Corona, a known homosexual who was accused of attacking Romero Raya at his cafe in Marysville, and after losing the lawsuit Raya filed had fled back to his native Mexico. Natividad had died eight years earlier in Guadalajara
Guadalajara, Jalisco
Guadalajara is the capital of the Mexican state of Jalisco, and the seat of the municipality of Guadalajara. The city is located in the central region of Jalisco in the western-pacific area of Mexico. With a population of 1,564,514 it is Mexico's second most populous municipality...
.
This time around, more than 50 defense witnesses were called to the stand by Hallinan. Corona was called in his own defense. He was asked only two questions, through an interpreter
Interpreting
Language interpretation is the facilitating of oral or sign-language communication, either simultaneously or consecutively, between users of different languages...
, taking only two minutes. "Do you understand the state has accused you of killing 25 men?" "Yes," Corona answered, almost inaudibly. "Did you have anything to do with killing those men?" "No," Corona replied. Hallinan then turned Corona over to the prosecutor
Prosecutor
The prosecutor is the chief legal representative of the prosecution in countries with either the common law adversarial system, or the civil law inquisitorial system...
, Ronald Fahey, for cross-examination
Cross-examination
In law, cross-examination is the interrogation of a witness called by one's opponent. It is preceded by direct examination and may be followed by a redirect .- Variations by Jurisdiction :In...
. Startled prosecution attorneys requested a brief recess to gather their wits and prepare some of the more than 630 exhibit
Exhibit (Legal)
An exhibit, in a criminal prosecution or a civil trial, is physical or documentary evidence brought before the jury. The artifact or document itself is presented for the jury's inspection...
s for their cross. Later, Fahey questioned Corona about various vans and cars he used at the ranch where he worked and where he lived, in which some weapons were found.
The trial lasted seven months. Corona was again convicted of the crimes on September 23, 1982, and returned to prison after the strategy failed to persuade the jury, which deliberated for 54 hours over a two week period, of his innocence. Afterward, the foreman told the press that the most incriminating piece of evidence against Corona was his work ledger, for which the labor contractor had "no reasonable explanation." He said the jury had dismissed the defense contention that Natividad committed the murders. "He wasn't in Marysville enough to have committed the bulk of the killings," he said.
Juan Corona was transferred from CTF at Soledad to Corcoran State Prison
California State Prison, Corcoran
California State Prison, Corcoran is a male-only state prison located in the city of Corcoran, in Kings County, California. Also known as Corcoran State Prison, CSP-C, CSP-COR, CSP-Corcoran, and Corcoran I, it should not be confused with the newer California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and...
, Corcoran, California
Corcoran, California
Corcoran is a city in Kings County, California, United States. Corcoran is located south-southeast of Hanford, at an elevation of 207 feet . It is part of the Hanford–Corcoran, Metropolitan Statistical Area...
, in 1992, where he is currently serving a life sentence in the Security Housing Unit (SHU).
Further reading
- Cray, Ed. Burden of Proof: The Case of Juan Corona. New York: Macmillan, 1973. ISBN 0025287702
- Kidder, TracyTracy KidderJohn Tracy Kidder is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American writer of the 1981 nonfiction narrative, The Soul of a New Machine, about the creation of a new computer at Data General Corporation...
. The Road to Yuba City: A Journey into the Juan Corona Murders. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1974. ISBN 0385028653 - Villaseñor, VictorVictor VillaseñorVictor Villaseñor is an acclaimed Mexican-American writer, best known for the New York Times bestseller novel Rain of Gold. Villaseñor's works are often taught in American schools. He went on to write Thirteen Senses: A Memoir , a continuation of Rain of Gold. His book Burro Genius: A Memoir ...
. Jury: The People vs. Juan Corona. Boston: Little Brown, 1977. ISBN 0316903000 - Talbitzer, Bill. Too Much Blood. New York: Vantage Press, 1978. ISBN 0533038014
- Cartel, Michael. Disguise of Sanity: Serial Mass Murderers. Toluca Lake, Calif.: Pepperbox Books, 1985. ISBN 0961462507