After deliberating barely one day, jurors tasked with assessing the mental competency of a man accused of ambushing and killing a 30-year-old Riverside County sheriff’s deputy returned with a verdict Wednesday of competence, paving the way for a capital murder trial.
The Murrieta jury assigned to the case of Jesse Ceazar Navarro, 45, of Lake Elsinore decided on Wednesday that the defendant is not psychologically impaired.
Riverside County Superior Court Judge F. Paul Dickerson accepted the unanimous finding and set a status hearing for Navarro on Feb. 27 at the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta. Trial proceedings may still be a year or more away.
The defendant is charged with first-degree murder of a peace officer, attempted murder of a peace officer, special circumstance allegations of killing a law enforcement official and lying in wait, as well as sentence-enhancing gun and great bodily injury allegations, for the January 2023 death of Deputy Darnell Calhoun.
The District Attorney’s Office will seek the death penalty for Navarro.
Testimony in his competency trial began in mid-December but was interrupted by a two-week hiatus surrounding Christmas and New Year’s Day. The prosecution and defense rested Monday and returned to the Murrieta courthouse Tuesday to complete closing statements, after which Dickerson sent jurors behind closed doors to weigh evidence from the trial, which they did for a short while Tuesday, then for part of the day Wednesday.
Navarro is being held without bail at the Robert Presley Detention Center.
“The defendant is trying to manipulate the justice system,” Deputy District Attorney Marcus Garrett said at the outset of trial.
Navarro’s attorney, Lori Myers, argued her client had a mental deficiency validated medically, possibly stemming from “bullet fragments” still in his head.
Garrett said Navarro had schemed with loved ones to give the appearance of a mental deficiency. In a recorded jailhouse conversation with his wife, Yvette Navarro, the defendant told her, “Everything is going according to our plan,” the prosecutor told jurors.
“Mr. Navarro is able to multi task and retain information,” Garrett said.
Garrett quoted one of the forensic psychologists delegated to examine the defendant, Dr. Stacey Waring, who imparted, “In my professional opinion, he’s presently competent” to stand trial.
In another instance, Garrett referenced a brain scan conducted at UC Irvine Medical Center, after which Dr. Mark Tran issued a finding that there are “no significant areas of decreased activity in the cerebrum.”
Myers sought a mental competency trial based on submissions to the court, and it was granted.
According to a sheriff’s arrest warrant affidavit filed with the criminal complaint, Calhoun went to a residence in the 18500 block of Hilldale Lane, near Grand Avenue, about 4:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 13, 2023, after 911 dispatchers received a call indicating a domestic altercation at the location.
Calhoun arrived alone and “contacted several individuals in the driveway of the residence,” according to the affidavit.
“Navarro partially concealed himself behind an open door of his (pickup) truck, holding a handgun out of sight of Deputy Calhoun,” the document stated. “Within 17 seconds of Deputy Calhoun arriving on scene, Navarro began shooting at him.
“Navarro fired multiple rounds at Deputy Calhoun, (who) fled on foot. Navarro then entered his truck, drove in the direction that Calhoun had fled and continued to fire at him from the truck.”
The affidavit revealed Calhoun returned fire, but “none of the rounds appeared to injure” Navarro.
The lawman was hit several times and collapsed in the street. He was taken to Inland Valley Medical Center in Wildomar, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
A backup deputy engaged Navarro in a gunfight a couple minutes after Calhoun’s “deputy under fire” call, wounding the defendant. The responding deputy wasn’t injured.
Calhoun is survived by his wife, Vanessa, and young sons Russell, Troy and Malcolm.
The defendant has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.