Man acquitted in Oxnard killing freed after judge rejects life sentence for gun violations
An Oxnard man acquitted of murder was freed from jail Thursday after a judge rejected a prison sentence of 25 years to life for breaking laws connected to the gun he used.
"You will go home today," Judge David Worley told a beaming Jaime Villarreal at a sentencing hearing in Ventura County Superior Court in Ventura.
Villarreal was acquitted by a jury last month of both second-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of 40-year-old Raymond Delval in August 2019 in Oxnard, but still faced sentencing Thursday for three associated firearm convictions.
Worley sentenced him to a total of four years and four months in prison for those crimes: possession of the illegal short-barreled rifle he used to kill Delval, being a felon in possession of a firearm and being a felon in possession of ammunition. But he does not have to serve a day in prison because the sentence is less than the credits awarded for the nearly four years he spent in local jail.
The Ventura County District Attorney's Office asked that Villarreal be sent to prison for 25 years to life, which is allowed under California's "three strikes" sentencing law. Voters passed the law to put individuals convicted of three serious or violent crimes in prison — the so-called three strikes — for most or all of their lives.
Villarreal had two strikes stemming from a couple of robberies he was convicted of 27 years ago and for which he served eight years in prison. He faced a third under a special provision in the three strikes law for firearm cases.
Worley eliminated Villarreal's two previous strikes from consideration at the hearing, confirming a ruling he had tentatively made the previous day. The prosecution argued for the life sentence at the hearing, while defense attorney John Taylor said that would be unjust.
"It is so disproportionate to the crime of firearm possession that it shocks the conscience," Taylor said.
Villarreal would not be released from prison until after 2045 under that scenario, which would make him 68 years old, Taylor said.
Prosecutor Anne Spillner argued that the sentence was justified. Villarreal used illegally obtained firearms in both of the robberies as well as in the Oxnard shooting, she said.
"The Legislature has determined that felons are irresponsible with guns," she said. "That is why they are not allowed to have guns. Knowing that, he continued to get guns on the black market."
But the judge agreed with Taylor that Villarreal was not the "career criminal" the three strikes law was intended to take off the streets.
Villarreal has rehabilitated himself since the robberies that he committed when he was around 19, Worley said.
The defendant appears to have used his time in prison to change the trajectory of his life, Worley said.
He has devoted his efforts to raising his three children, becoming a productive member of the community and turning away from his criminal past, Worley said.
The jury in the case returned the not guilty verdicts a month ago after Worley replaced one juror who refused to deliberate. The judge supported the jury's findings at the sentencing.
Not only did Villarreal act in self defense but he did all he could to diminish the situation before the shooting, Worley said.
Villarreal smiled as he entered and left the courtroom and pleased supporters, including two of his sisters watched the proceedings.
The prosecution said Delval's family had decided not to make a statement.
"They were devastated by the verdict and indicated they didn’t want to come to the sentencing," Spillner said.
Kathleen Wilson covers courts, crime and local government for the Ventura County Star. Reach her at kathleen.wilson@vcstar.com or 805-437-0271.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Man acquitted in Oxnard killing freed after judge drops 2 strikes
