A 35-year-old man whose murder case factored into disputes over the Orange County jail snitch scandal has about another year to go behind bars in prison following a plea deal with prosecutors, according to court records obtained Monday.
Rito Samuel Tejeda pleaded guilty Friday to voluntary manslaughter and assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury, both felonies. He also admitted sentencing enhancements for personal use of a deadly weapon and inflicting great bodily injury on the victim, according to court records.
As part of his plea deal, the murder charge was dismissed. Tejeda had 5,436 days credit, or about 14 years and 11 months, behind bars.
Tejeda pleaded guilty to fatally stabbing 51-year-old Frederick Sledge in an apartment at 1411 Delaware St. in Huntington Beach on Oct. 23, 2013.
The case has dragged on for 13 years as Tejeda has been declared mentally incompetent to stand trial for mental health reasons. As recently as June 26, his attorney, Sara Ross of the Orange County Public Defender’s Office, raised the issue of his competence, which suspended legal proceedings, but they were back on track last month.
Last year, Ross filed what is known as a Pitchess motion for records regarding the arresting officer, Steve Wickser, regarding an alleged hit-and-run collision in Santa Ana Sept. 28, 2015.
On Oct. 23, 2013, Wickser questioned Tejeda, who initially identified himself as Alfred Jimenez and was covered in blood. Tejeda told the officer, “I got stabbed… by some guy,” according to court records.
Tejeda also said he had been the victim of a robbery, Wickser reported.
As Tejeda was taken to a hospital for treatment, Wickser followed a “blood trail” where Tejeda was contacted to an apartment at 1411 Delaware St., the officer reported.
Wickser questioned Tejeda again at a hospital and then spoke with a friend of the victim, who told police that Tejeda had been stabbed by a rival gang member and nearly died months prior to the killing, Wickser reported.
The friend said Sledge had been selling crack cocaine, Wickser said. The friend said he saw Sledge pick up Tejeda the night before the killing, according to the police report.
Authorities never released the motive for the killing. Tejeda’s case never went to a preliminary hearing as prosecutors opted for a grand jury indictment in 2014.
Tejeda’s case was assigned to retired Fourth District Court of Appeal Justice Thomas Goethals when he was an Orange County Superior Court judge, triggering a legal dispute as prosecutors moved to disqualify Goethals from the case.
The dispute at the time centered on complaints that prosecutors were engaging in blanket disqualifications of Goethals from cases assigned to him. Critics blamed it on dissatisfaction from prosecutors for Goethals issuing rulings against them in the snitch scandal that erupted in the prosecution of Scott Dekraai, the worst mass killer in the county’s history.
Retired Orange County Public Defender Scott Sanders, who is in private practice now, led efforts to uncover abuse of snitches in the jail to illegally collect evidence against inmates represented by counsel.
Appellate Court justices ruled in 2016 that the prosecutors had the right to disqualify Goethals but in a sharply worded opinion the justices called for state lawmakers to reform the process of disqualification and accused prosecutors of abusing the privilege to punish Goethals.
Orange County Superior Court Judge Richard King ruled the prosecutors could not disqualify Goethals from the case, ruling that the systemic disqualifications were wreaking havoc on the flow of cases in the courthouse.