Man sentenced to life in prison for Lamont bar shooting
A man was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years to life in prison plus 25 years to life in prison for shooting a man to death after a fight broke out near a bar in Lamont.
Jose Gomez Rivera, 39, was found guilty by a Kern County jury of first-degree murder with a firearm enhancement. Gomez Rivera shot Rosalino Soto to death on June 30 outside Descanso Bar after Gomez Rivera's friend got in a fight with Soto, according to the Kern County District Attorney’s Office.
When Gomez Rivera did not like the way the fight was going, he shot Soto with a .38 caliber handgun at close range, according to the DA. Soto was taken to Kern Medical for treatment but died upon arrival. Gomez Rivera fled and discarded the gun, according to the DA.
Gomez Rivera was in Kern County Superior Court Tuesday for the sentencing and was assisted by a Spanish interpreter. He mostly looked at the table in front of him, closing his eyes a few times to listen.
At Tuesday’s hearing, Judge John Oglesby denied Deputy Public Defender Jacob Evans’ request for a new trial after Evans argued that there was not juror misconduct, but rather a “confusion of the jurors.”
Oglesby said rather than breaking up the fight, Gomez Rivera “simply shot” Soto when the fight did not go the way he expected. He said it did not make sense for the referee of the fight to be armed with a gun and chose to impose the maximum sentence with the firearm enhancement.
