One defendant cops a plea, another convicted

Two defendants left the Supreme Court as convicted felons today, one pleading guilty and the other judged culpable by a jury of his peers. The guilty plea was entered by sixty-three year old Francis Orellano. Orellano, originally charged with murder for the January 2005 killing of Andre Torres on Gibnut Street, this afternoon copped a plea to the lesser charged of Manslaughter. He will be sentenced by Justice Troadio Gonzalez on May tenth. Prosecutor was Blanca Tate, while Marcel Cardona appeared for Orellano.

Nearby, in the court of Justice Adolph Lucas, a jury found traffic officer Glen Rivero guilty of Causing Death by Careless Conduct. The case arose out of the August 2004 fatal knockdown of nineteen year old pedestrian Dwayne Francis between miles four and five on the Northern Highway.