By C1 Staff
SACRAMENTO — A man accused of killing a California corrections officer is scheduled to go on trial next year, where he faces the possibility of the death penalty if found guilty.
Guam PDN reports that Joseph Cabrera Sablan, along with James Ninete Leon Guerrero, was indicted in August 2008 on allegations that he killed CO Jose Rivera.
An autopsy of Rivera found 28 injuries, seven of which were to the head and neck, that are said to have been inflicted by Sablan with ah icepick-type weapon.
Guerrero and federal prosecutors reached a plea agreement earlier this year that spared him from the death penalty.
Sablan will face trial on April 6, 2015. His attorney has filed several motions, including one that would move the case to outside the Eastern District of California.
The motion arguers that because of the high concentration of correctional facilities within the Eastern District of California, it would be extremely difficult to find an objective pool of jurors.