California ‘Code of Silence’ prison guard wants conviction, other charges tossed out

A California prison guard convicted last week of lying to a federal grand jury about another guard’s attack on an inmate who later died is asking a judge to throw out her perjury conviction, as well as four other charges on which the jury failed to reach a verdict.

Brenda Villa, 32, of North Highlands, was convicted last Monday of perjury in a trial focused on the “code of silence” among guards at California prisons.

A jury failed to reach unanimous verdicts on one count of conspiracy to commit falsification of records and three counts of falsification of records stemming from a Sept. 15, 2016, attack at California State Prison, Sacramento, on Ronnie Price, a 65-year-old inmate.

Now, her attorney is asking Senior U.S. District Judge William B. Shubb to throw out all the charges, arguing that Shubb should exercise his “independent judgment” and set aside her conviction.

“In this case, much of the government’s evidence was uncontested except the defendant, Brenda Villa, denied being a knowing participant in a ‘Code of Silence’ intended to cover up the tragic indefensible use of force by another correctional officer,” her attorney, Eric Hintz, wrote in a motion filed Sunday. “Unfortunately for the government, its case was largely dependent on the testimony of witnesses who engaged in criminal behavior themselves and the court properly instructed the jury that they should exercise caution when considering the testimony of these witnesses.

“The government took the better part of seven years to bring this case to trial and was allowed to put on its case without a single objection by the defendant. Defendant now seeks the court’s assistance in putting an end to this matter by finding that the Jury’s verdict as to Count 5 was not supported by proof beyond a reasonable doubt and further finding that same failure of proof as to Counts 1 through 4.”

Prosecutors would not say after the verdict whether they would seek a second trial on the counts the jury deadlocked on, but Hintz wrote in his motion that he received an email from them at 2:45 p.m. Friday that they planned to seek a new trial.

Shubb scheduled a hearing for Monday afternoon in the case, which already has seen two other New Folsom prison guards sentenced to prison in the attack on Price and the subsequent cover up.

Guard Arturo Pacheco was accused of yanking Price’s legs backward out from under him while he had his hands cuffed behind his back. Price fell face first onto the concrete floor and died at UC Davis Medical Center two days later.

Pacheco pleaded guilty last July to two counts of deprivation of rights under color of law and two counts of falsifying records. He was sentenced to 12 years and seven months in prison.

Ashley Aurich, Pacheco’s partner during the escort, pleaded guilty in January 2021 to falsifying records in a federal investigation and testified at trial. She was sentenced to 21 months in prison.

Villa was not present during the attack, but was a new correctional sergeant who was accused of orchestrating a cover up among guards afterward.

She faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for the perjury conviction.

Hintz is also asking Shubb to relieve him as Villa’s lawyer and replace him with a federal defender because she has used up her legal defense funds provided by the California Correctional Peace Officers Association.

“I was retained by Brenda Villa in October of 2020 with the understanding that her legal defense would be paid for by the CCPOA Legal Defense Fund subject to the contractual limits of that coverage,” Hintz wrote in a separate motion. “In the months prior to the Jury Trial in this matter, I was informed that the limits of Brenda Villa’s legal defense coverage were in danger of being exhausted.

“Rather than dealing with this issue on the eve of trial, I elected to proceed to trial without concerning my client or opposing counsel or the court of this situation. In the week after the jury was discharged in this matter, while the government was still deciding whether to request a second trial, I informed counsel that I might not be able to continue my representation of Brenda Villa in the event of a second jury trial because I would likely not be compensated for the same.”

He added that he and Villa “are in agreement that in the event that the government is seeking a second trial that new counsel be appointed at public expense for her continued representation.”