Ann

Austin, Tribune staff writer

A case which began last July was finalized Monday night with a guilty plea after repeated trial postponements.

Johnathan William Talamantes, now 18, was a juvenile when he was charged with committing three counts of aggravated robbery and one count of burglary.

The charges all had a maximum sentence of 20 years in jail and a $35,000 fine. Talamantes was charged with a felony and tried as an adult. Juveniles are rarely tried as adults in Freeborn County but can be in unusual cases, when juveniles have a long history of delinquency or severity of the crime is considered.

Upon conviction, Talamantes would face a 48-month prison term.

The trial, originally schedule in December, has been a study of unusual circumstances.

Judge John Chesterman withdrew himself from the case because he was familiar with Talamantes’s record. The second trial, scheduled with Judge James Broberg who was sick, was also postponed.

A lack of jurors caused the most recent postponement.

The postponement occurred after the judge initially eliminated 12 of the 32 jurors due to absence, reasonable excuse or challenges for cause, which involves lack of impartiality or bias towards the defendant.

Twenty jurors were left for the preemptory challenge, which is the point when the prosecution and defense lawyers may remove jurors without cause. The lawyers may remove up to eight jurors &045; the defense may strike five and prosecutor may strike three. This would leave 12, the number required for a trial.

According to Assistant County Attorney Walker, Judge Broberg gave reason to dismiss more of the jurors due to material that the panel was exposed to which could have influenced their decision against the defendant.

&uot;To summarize, we ran out of jurors,&uot; Walker said. &uot;That is unusual.&uot;

In a statement made by Talamantes Monday night, he admitted to having sold marijuana to one of the victims. He said they didn’t pay him so he went to collect.

On July 15, 2003, around midnight, Talamantes and two others appeared at a residence on College Street, took out a gun and demanded the wallets of three juveniles, court reports said. Talamantes then took their ID’s and keys and apparently assaulted one of the juveniles. According to court reports, one of the witnesses said Talamantes had a piece of pipe with him. The victim believed he was punched several times and knocked unconscious twice, reports said.

Talamantes left the scene, but police later found him at his residence where he tried to flee. An officer and his K9 partner chased Talamantes and found him crouched in the grass. The officer saw a black metallic semi-automatic-looking handgun nearby, which turned out to be a Crossman B.B. air pistol. Also found was one military ID and two Minnesota driver’s licenses, keys, a marijuana pipe and a silver lightweight pole.

Talamantes was arrested and has been held in jail since July.

Sentencing is set for April 13.

(Contact Ann Austin at ann.austin@albertleatribune.com or 379-3435.)