Jorge Banda found legally sane in murder
Shot and killed deputy in 2007
A jury needed only 20 minutes Thursday to conclude Jorge Banda was sane when he murdered a Tulare County Sheriff’s Department detective.
Banda, 25, claimed he was legally insane when he shot and killed Detective Kent Haws on Dec. 17, 2007 near Ivanhoe, the Tulare County District Attorney’s Office reported.
The defendant, who was found guilty of first-degree murder of a peace officer on Aug. 28, is facing an automatic sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. He is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 18. He was also found to have committed murder for the benefit of a criminal street gang while illegally being in possession of a firearm due to a prior felony conviction for auto theft.
Banda is not eligible for the death penalty because he has an IQ below 70.
