A state appeals court panel on Thursday ordered a new hearing for one of two men convicted in the murder of an off-duty Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy in Long Beach more than 18 years ago.
The three-justice panel from California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal sent the case against Justin Ashley Flint back to a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge for a new evidentiary hearing to determine whether Maria Cecilia Rosa was acting “in the course of (her) duties as a peace officer” when she was killed March 28, 2006.
In an August 2023 ruling that denied Flint’s bid for re-sentencing, Superior Court Judge Daniel Lowenthal wrote, “The physical evidence indicates, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Deputy Rosa presented her badge and identified herself as a peace officer.”
He noted in the ruling that Flint and co-defendant Frank Gonzalez “each made statements that indicate that they observed the presentation of the badge, and were aware that Deputy Rosa was a peace officer,” and that the prosecution had proven beyond a reasonable doubt that “Flint was aware, before the shooting, that Deputy Rosa was a peace officer who was engaged in the performance of her duties.”
Rosa was in her driveway and was preparing to leave for work at the Los Angeles County Inmate Reception Center when she was shot to death during an attempted robbery.
The appellate court justices noted in their appeal that Flint contends that the victim was not acting in the course of her duties as a law enforcement officer under the provisions of state law involving sheriff’s deputies who are employed to perform duties exclusively or initially relating to custodial assignments and whose authority extends to any place in the state only while they are engaged in the performance of duties of the officer’s employment.
Flint, who was charged along with co-defendant Frank Christopher Gonzalez, was convicted of one count each of first-degree murder and attempted robbery involving the…
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