As one alleged accomplice in a fatal Burlingame bank heist and pair of Mountain View robberies heads to a jury, another prepares to face a jury in what is expected to be a very similar trial.
After a morning of instructions, jurors retired yesterday to deliberate the fate of Sikai Telea, 28, on 13 felony charges including first-degree murder. The panel were mum until 4:35 p.m. when they went home with plans to return this morning.
Meanwhile, fellow defendant Manny Liu's attorney filed a pile of motions yesterday and Judge Mark Forcum is expected to begin pre-trial motions Thursday morning. Unlike Telea, who admitted firing a weapon during the Oct. 11, 2002 takeover robber, Liu is assumed to be only the getaway driver. Regardless, both men are charged with the same crimes, including the murder of bank manager Alice Martel.
Prosecutor Steve Wagstaffe concedes it might be harder to convince a jury Liu is as culpable as the others in Martel's death when he never entered the bank. However, under California law, anyone who participated in an underlying felony is considered as responsible for any death that occurred as a result.
Telea admitted participation in the bank robbery and a pair of robberies weeks later but claimed during his trial that he was scared for his own life. Confessed ringleader Seti Scanlan, who was sentenced last summer to life in prison without parole, threatened his life if he did not go along with the crime plans, Telea testified.
Liu is not expected to take the same duress defense but many of the motions his attorney filed mimicked those in the Telea trial.
Fourth accomplice Amu
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