Miguel Cisneros, 19, of Pixley, was found guilty of First Degree Murder, personal discharge of a firearm, and a gang special circumstance which will result in Life without the Possibility of Parole. The defendant shot 19 year old Evarado Marquez in Pixley on February 6, 2004. This case was prosecuted by Tulare County Deputy District Attorney Daniel Underwood and investigated by the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office and the Tulare County District Attorney Investigations Division.

Miguel Cisneros was the second murder conviction over the past seven days and the second gang motivated First Degree Murder verdict in the past two months. Since late May there have been four First Degree Murder convictions. The other three murder verdicts were on Gerardo Martinez Jr., Roger Saesee, and Oscar Aguilar.

Last Friday, July 21, 2006, a jury found that Gerardo Martinez Jr. of Visalia was legally sane for the murder of his father Gerardo Martinez Sr. This case was tried in two phases with the jury finding that the defendant stabbed his father to death a week prior. The murder occurred on September 13, 2002. By entering a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, the defendant attempted to claim that he either did not know what he was doing when he murdered his father, did not understand the consequence of his actions, or did not know what he did was wrong. The jury found the defendant guilty of First Degree Murder, which carries a Life sentence with the earliest possibility of parole in 25 years, and rejected the defendants claim of insanity. The case was prosecuted by Tulare County Deputy District Attorney Nicholas Schuller with investigation by the Visalia Police Department and the Tulare County District Attorney’s Investigations Division.

May 26, 2006, Roger Saesee was convicted of First Degree Murder, personal discharge of a firearm, and a gang special circumstance which will result in Life without the Possibility of Parole. The gang motivated murder of Joe Fernandez occurred in North Visalia on November 15, 2004, and was investigated by the Visalia Police Department and the Tulare County District Attorney Investigation Division. The case was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Kerri Rasner.

May 19, 2006, Oscar Aguilar was convicted for the murder of 21 year old, Raul Ceballos, of Porterville. The murder occurred on July 31, 2005 in Porterville. The jury found the defendant guilty of First Degree Murder, personal discharge a firearm, and the special circumstance of “drive by” murder which will result in a sentence of Life without the Possibility of Parole.


Contact person: Assistant District Attorney, Don Gallian 733-6411