OAKLAND - The defendant in a years-old murder case was sentenced to 13 years, more than double the amount of time that prosecutors had initially sought to impose in a plea deal that a judge rejected. Bryon Revels, 32, was formally sentenced on Christmas Eve and transferred to North Kern State Prison on Jan. 7, court records show.
A federal judge on Friday gave the Justice Department permission to release transcripts of a grand jury investigation into Jeffrey Epstein's abuse of underage girls in Florida - a case that ultimately ended without any federal charges being filed against the millionaire sex offender. U.S. District Judge Rodney Smith said a recently passed federal law ordering the release of records related to Epstein overrode the usual rules about grand jury secrecy.
The prosecution's case against Estrada-Avalos was marred by inconsistent or at one point, admittedly dishonest testimony from the lone eyewitness, a woman who admitted she was driving when Estrada-Avalos and a group of people, including the victim, got into a shouting match that precipitated the shooting. The woman lied on the stand at Estrada-Avalos' preliminary hearing, claimed to have memory problems at key moments of the timeline,
