Bluedog
09-01-2010, 07:49 PM
Damn, this woman is smart! Even though her younger son was caught red handed, got the shit kicked out of him by the homeowner, and confessed, she was able to figure out what REALLY happened --He's innocent!
Brothers Julio and Jonathan Castelan share court date for separate criminal cases
WYOMING — Julio and Jonathan Castelan are brothers separated by five years, but they shared a family mobile home, the same jail and, now, the same court date for their separate criminal cases.
Each has a probable cause hearing Thursday: Julio, 20, accused in an armed robbery in Grand Rapids that turned deadly, and Jonathan, whose 15th birthday is Wednesday, is charged as an adult for allegedly entering a Kentwood home and killing a dachshund with a hammer.
Even as her two sons face long prison sentences if convicted, the 41-year-old who raised them defends her boys and said she is not affected by their arrest or the charges.
“None of it’s true,” said their mother, speaking from her porch in Country Estates mobile home park in Wyoming, near Clyde Park Avenue and 44th Street SW. She did not want to be identified.
Julio CastelanJulio CastelanHer older son was formally charged with armed robbery on May 21, the same day the younger son allegedly killed the dog.
Police say Julio Castelan and two other men were robbing a man on Griggs Street SW in August when the 33-year-old victim, Pablo Barradas, was shot to death by Jose Benavides Jr., 23, who is charged with murder.
Julio Castelan, whose Thursday hearing is in Grand Rapids District Court, is in Kent County Jail on a $750,000 bond.
He has convictions for malicious destruction of property and assault and battery, and faces a separate armed robbery and home invasion charge pending in Kent County Circuit Court.
Jonathan CastelanJonathan CastelanJonathan Castelan’s Thursday hearing is in Kentwood District Court.
He was in the Kent County Jail before being released to his mother.
Court documents state Jonathan Castelan confessed to killing the dog, an eight-pound pet named Pinto, after he and a 13-year-old neighbor entered a Jefferson Avenue SE home to look for money, jewelry or anything else he could sell.
Jonathan Castelan said the dog barked, jumped and bit him, so he hit the animal in the head with a hammer and “the dog got quiet,” according to an affidavit of probable cause. He threw the dog on the bed and covered it with a blanket so he would not have to look at it, police said.
The homeowner told police he returned home in the afternoon, chased out two intruders and found his dog lifeless on the bed with a broken neck.
Jonathan Castelan and the 13-year-old boy, who is charged as a juvenile for the home invasion, also were in the juvenile court system in 2008, suspected of setting a fire in a woods near the mobile home park.
The brothers’ mother said police and others are to blame, not her sons. She said the investigation needs to be directed toward the system that is seeking to convict her sons.
She also said the 13-year-old was influencing Jonathan Castelan’s behavior. And she suggested the dog’s owner could have hurt her son.
“How strong is a man compared with a boy?” she said. “It’s not like they were armed with a gun or knife.”
http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/05/brothers_julio_and_jonathan_ca.html
Brothers Julio and Jonathan Castelan share court date for separate criminal cases
WYOMING — Julio and Jonathan Castelan are brothers separated by five years, but they shared a family mobile home, the same jail and, now, the same court date for their separate criminal cases.
Each has a probable cause hearing Thursday: Julio, 20, accused in an armed robbery in Grand Rapids that turned deadly, and Jonathan, whose 15th birthday is Wednesday, is charged as an adult for allegedly entering a Kentwood home and killing a dachshund with a hammer.
Even as her two sons face long prison sentences if convicted, the 41-year-old who raised them defends her boys and said she is not affected by their arrest or the charges.
“None of it’s true,” said their mother, speaking from her porch in Country Estates mobile home park in Wyoming, near Clyde Park Avenue and 44th Street SW. She did not want to be identified.
Julio CastelanJulio CastelanHer older son was formally charged with armed robbery on May 21, the same day the younger son allegedly killed the dog.
Police say Julio Castelan and two other men were robbing a man on Griggs Street SW in August when the 33-year-old victim, Pablo Barradas, was shot to death by Jose Benavides Jr., 23, who is charged with murder.
Julio Castelan, whose Thursday hearing is in Grand Rapids District Court, is in Kent County Jail on a $750,000 bond.
He has convictions for malicious destruction of property and assault and battery, and faces a separate armed robbery and home invasion charge pending in Kent County Circuit Court.
Jonathan CastelanJonathan CastelanJonathan Castelan’s Thursday hearing is in Kentwood District Court.
He was in the Kent County Jail before being released to his mother.
Court documents state Jonathan Castelan confessed to killing the dog, an eight-pound pet named Pinto, after he and a 13-year-old neighbor entered a Jefferson Avenue SE home to look for money, jewelry or anything else he could sell.
Jonathan Castelan said the dog barked, jumped and bit him, so he hit the animal in the head with a hammer and “the dog got quiet,” according to an affidavit of probable cause. He threw the dog on the bed and covered it with a blanket so he would not have to look at it, police said.
The homeowner told police he returned home in the afternoon, chased out two intruders and found his dog lifeless on the bed with a broken neck.
Jonathan Castelan and the 13-year-old boy, who is charged as a juvenile for the home invasion, also were in the juvenile court system in 2008, suspected of setting a fire in a woods near the mobile home park.
The brothers’ mother said police and others are to blame, not her sons. She said the investigation needs to be directed toward the system that is seeking to convict her sons.
She also said the 13-year-old was influencing Jonathan Castelan’s behavior. And she suggested the dog’s owner could have hurt her son.
“How strong is a man compared with a boy?” she said. “It’s not like they were armed with a gun or knife.”
http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/05/brothers_julio_and_jonathan_ca.html