Trial postponed to Thursday for pair suspected of killing CDCR counselor
Attorneys inched closer to starting the trial of two men suspected of killing a corrections counselor in 2022 as the prosecutor and one of the defense attorneys announced they were ready to begin trial Monday — but the other defense attorney announced he was not ready or available to start trial.
Robert Roberts, 30, is charged with first-degree murder, second-degree attempted robbery and possessing a firearm as a felon in the case of Benny Alcala Jr.'s death in a parking lot in 2022 along Stockdale Highway.
Sebastian Parra, 24, was also charged with murder and second-degree robbery. Parra was indicted by a grand jury after he gave testimony during Roberts’ preliminary hearing. Both defendants pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Deputy Public Defender Gordon Lake is representing Roberts, and defense attorney Tim Hennessy is representing Parra. At Monday’s hearing, Lake announced that he was ready for trial but Hennessy said he was not ready and unavailable until Thursday.
The prosecutor in the case, Supervising Deputy District Attorney John Allen, said he was ready to begin trial Monday, as well. The trial has been delayed for months due to Roberts’ defense attorney changing and the attorneys working on other trials in the past months.
The trial is scheduled to start Thursday if all the attorneys are ready and available to begin and a courtroom is available for the trial.
