On June 1, 2009, Wilbert Street, 62 of Tulare, was convicted by way of jury trial of willful, deliberate, and premeditated attempted murder and for being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. The defendant faces life in prison for his crimes.

On June 2, 2008, around 6:00 p.m., the defendant Wilbert Street got into a verbal altercation with the victim. The argument involved the defendant making inappropriate advances towards the victim’s girlfriend. The victim confronted the defendant from the sidewalk in front of the defendant’s residence. Seeing that the defendant was holding a hammer at the time, the victim bent down and picked up a nearby brick. The defendant then went back inside his home and within minutes after entering the home, the defendant then exited his home and shot the victim. The victim was able to prevent more shots from being fired by the throwing the brick at the defendant. The brick hit the defendant in the head causing the gun to fall to the ground. The victim survived, but was shot in the shoulder and arm.

The defendant had a lengthy California and Nevada criminal record, which included several prior felony convictions. Most notably, in 1981, the defendant was convicted by a Reno, NV jury for attempted first-degree murder. The defendant received 18 years prison and continued to re-offend. Additionally, in 1968 the defendant was convicted in Reno, NV for rape. These crimes were charged as special allegations, which were found to be true by the Honorable Judge Kathryn Montejano on June 3, 2009. As a result, additional prison time will be added to the defendant’s sentence for these prior convictions.

Sentencing is set for August 13, 2009 at 8:30 a.m. in Department 11 of the Visalia Division of the Tulare County Superior Court.

The case was investigated by Corporal Don Smith of the Tulare Police Department. Deputy District Attorney Jason Lianides served as the prosecutor.
 

Contact Person: Shani Jenkins, Assistant District Attorney (559) 733-6411