Stow Attackers to Stand Trial

LOS ANGELES – A judge ruled on Friday that two men accused of beating a San Francisco Giants’ fan after the 2011 season-opening game at Dodger Stadium will stand trial after a preliminary hearing.

A brutal attack that left Bryan Stow, a paramedic from Santa Clara, suffering from brain injuries that will make him permanently disabled was the central focus of last week’s preliminary hearing in a Los Angeles Superior Court.

Louie Sanchez

Judge George Lomeli ruled that Louie Sanchez, 30, and Marvin Norwood, 31, both of Rialto in San Bernardino County will stand trial on charges of mayhem, assault and battery. The preliminary hearing, which took five days, included key testimony from Sanchez’s sister, who is also the fiancée of Norwood, Dorene Sanchez. She was testifying under a grant of immunity from the prosecution. It was Dorene Sanchez who, prosecutors say, drove the car that took the suspects away from Dodger Stadium.

Marvin Norwood

Her testimony was critical because it placed both defendants at the scene. Most other witnesses who saw the attack were unable to positively identify the suspects. Dorene Sanchez was originally charged as an accessory after the fact.

Stow had attended the Giants- Dodgers season opening game on March 31, 2011. The attack occurred in the parking lot after the game as Stow, along with other friends, was leaving.
Until testimony on Thursday, the fourth day of the hearings, witnesses had been unable to positively identify the suspects as the men involved in the beating. One witness, Mary Donely, identified the men she saw standing near Stow’s body lying on the parking lot. Donely testified hearing profanity and a scuffle before she and her husband ran toward the trouble. She also testified hearing Stow’s head hitting the pavement and watched Louie Sanchez kick him in the head and attempt to punch him. In court, Donely identified Louie Sanchez as the assailant and identified Norwood as well.

Both men have pleaded not guilty.

Read More:

NBC 4: Timeline: Brian Stow Case

LA Times: Bryan Stow beating: Two suspects ordered to stand trial in attack