Court Briefs

The plea bargain comes more than three years after Reza Eslaminia, 44, was arrested July 31, 2002 for drug possession and a misdemeanor charge of driving on a suspended license. On Monday, the day he was scheduled to begin a jury trial, he agreed to admit the drug charge and waived his right to Proposition 36 treatment. He faces 32 months in prison when sentenced Dec. 2.

Eslaminia was convicted in connection to the death of Hedayat Eslaminia, a 56-year-old former Iranian Cabinet member who fled to the United States reportedly with $30 million. The elder Eslaminia was kidnapped from his Belmont apartment in 1984 and suffocated in a steamer trunk while being driven to Southern California. Eslaminia was one of five men — collectively labeled "The Billionaire Boys Club” — charged in the alleged extortion and murder scheme.

He served roughly 10 years in prison before a federal judge overturned the conviction because the jury was improperly given a taped interview.

Men accused of Burlingame stabbing in court

Two suspects accused of a gang-related stabbing that occurred in front of Burlingame High School as a football game was letting out Friday night appeared in a San Mateo County courtroom today.

Martin Medina-Lopez, 24, and Juvenal Gonzalez-Ruiz, 22, are both charged with the attempted murder of a teenage boy and another man in an apparent gang melee, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney’s office.

The 16-year-old boy, whose name has not been released, was walking with 33-year-old Richard Bier on Carolan Avenue at about 10:50 p.m. when the two spotted members of a rival gang playing soccer on the high school’s softball field.

Bier and the teen yelled gang epithets at the group playing soccer and then ran, prompting the group to give chase, according to police.

Medina-Lopez and Gonzalez-Ruiz reportedly caught up with the victims at the south entrance to the football field, and a fight began, according to police. One of the defendants allegedly stopped at his vehicle to grab a knife.

The 16-year-old was stabbed in the chest, and Bier sustained cuts to his hands, police said.

When a citizen yelled for Medina-Lopez and Gonzalez-Ruiz to stop, they fled in a green convertible Ford Mustang, and possibly a late-model black Acura.

The two men were apprehended several hours later in San Mateo.

The teen is recovering from his wound and is listed in stable condition, police said. Bier was not hospitalized.

Both men remain in custody without bail, and were made to agree to a protection order today stating they would not attempt to make any form of contact with the victims.

They will appear in court again on Nov. 1 at 1:30 p.m., at which time they are expected to enter a plea.

Hearing continues for driver in fatal crash

The driver who spent four months in a coma after allegedly causing a crash that killed a local photojournalist and her teen daughter should learn next month if he’ll stand trial on two counts of vehicular manslaughter and one count of driving on the wrong side of the road.

Wen Tu Mei, 37, faces seven years and four months in prison if ultimately convicted of killing San Francisco Examiner photographer Susan Caldwell, 41, and her 14-year-old daughter Nina Garrison.

A preliminary hearing on the evidence began yesterday but did not finish. The hearing will continue Nov. 18, according to court records clerks. Mei is free from custody on $100,000 bail.

Fatal DUI crash suspect delays plea in court

The 23-year-old Santa Rosa man accused of killing two young girls parked on the shoulder of El Camino Real while driving under the influence delayed a plea a second time Tuesday.

Patrick Archie Worden is charged with two felony counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. His blood alcohol content was 0.16, twice the legal limit, two hours after the fatal Oct. 16 crash. If convicted, he faces about 13 years in prison. Worden remains in custody on no-bail status at the San Mateo County Jail. Toxicology tests are still outstanding. He returns to court Nov. 22.<