By Aaron Burgin, The Porterville Recorder
VISALIA - A Tulare County Superior Court Judge will determine after a preliminary hearing Monday if two men will stand trial for the shooting death of a Porterville man in July.

Tulare County Sheriff's deputies originally thought they were investigating a traffic accident when they found Felix Platas Jr. inside of a car, suffering from a gunshot wound during the early morning hours July 12. He died shortly thereafter.

Joseph A. Sierra and Skyler Jacob Charlie are each charged with first-degree murder, and could face the death penalty if a jury finds them guilty of shooting Platas. Charlie allegedly fired the fatal shot, prosecutor Nick Schuller said. “Without divulging too much information before the preliminary hearing the theory is that Charlie pulled the trigger,” Schuller said.

Deputies originally were responding to a traffic accident involving the vehicle Platas was driving in the 15400 block of Dogwood Street when they made the discovery. Platas' Ford Mustang reportedly hit a motorcycle and a pickup truck before rolling to a stop in a dirt driveway. After performing first aid, deputies pronounced Platas dead at the scene. A coroner determined Platas died from excessive bleeding from the gunshot wound.

Porterville Police Special Weapons and Tactics team members arrested Sierra the morning of Aug. 31 after a three-hour standoff in the 200 block of East Putnam Avenue. One day later, police arrested Charlie, who they said was a person of interest in the July 30 stabbing death of Jose Manuel Lopez, after a day-long search. Charlie has never been charged in the Lopez stabbing.

Charlie's attorney, Deputy Public Defender Roland Soltesz, said he doesn't believe the facts of the case to date amount to a death penalty-eligible case.

“The reason it is a death penalty-eligible case, according to the district attorney, is that it was done for the promotion of a street gang,” Soltesz said Thursday. “There is not anything that would suggest this to be the case.”

Platas was the fourth person who died as a result of a homicide in the greater Porterville area in 2006. His death occurred one block outside of the city limits.

Contact Aaron Burgin at 784-5000, Ext. 1047, or aburgin@portervillerecorder.com.

This story was published in The Porterville Recorder on Jan. 20, 2007