This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Crime & Safety

Judge Rules Enough Evidence For Rossmoor Stabbing Suspect to Stand Trial

James Anthony Rivas, 18, is scheduled to face a jury at 8 a.m. June 20.

A knife speckled with human blood.

An alleged statement made during an arrest.

A young woman’s face slashed.

Find out what's happening in Los Alamitos-Seal Beachwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The details came out slowly, methodically. Some were debated and some simply accepted by attorneys as they questioned the witnesses in the case of a 27-year-old jogger stabbed multiple times in Rossmoor last autumn.

After listening to testimony during a Friday morning hearing, an Orange County judge ruled there was enough evidence to try 18-year-old James Anthony Rivas, of Rossmoor, for attempted murder.

Find out what's happening in Los Alamitos-Seal Beachwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Rivas has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and mayhem, according to court records. In January, another charge was added: second-degree burglary, to which Rivas also pleaded not guilty. The prosecution alleges Rivas burglarized a Rossmoor woman’s garage in May 2012 in addition to the Oct. 9 attack on the Rossmoor jogger.

During the hearing in the Westminster courtroom, Rivas sat handcuffed to his chair, his ankle chains still attached.

Senior Deputy District Attorney Brett Brian provided documents, pictures, and witness testimony to the judge in an effort to prove there is enough evidence to try Rivas. Rivas is the man who shoved a woman to the ground, stabbed her multiple times, dropped his knife and continued stabbing and chasing her, all while saying nothing, authorities allege.

Brian said authorities had analyzed the DNA on the knife allegedly found near the scene of Rivas' arrest Oct. 25. The study, Brian said, showed the weapon had blood of someone who matched the defendant’s DNA.

“Blood was detected in the small holes on the bottom of the grip of the folding knife,” Brian said.

Other DNA found on the grip matched Rivas DNA as well, Brian said. Reading a portion of the report, Brian said the exam found the chance of another person matching either profile was “one in a trillion unrelated individuals.”

The defense stipulated the evidence, meaning they did not disagree with the finding.

The prosecution also brought forward three witnesses to question. Each described different aspects of the investigation: interviews with witnesses, an interview with the victim, the circumstances of Rivas' arrest and the burglary attempt in May 2012.

Defense Attorney Mark Fredrick questioned Deputy Mo Faour  – who interviewed witnesses at the scene and the victim at the hospital -- as to whether there was an accurate description of the man who allegedly attacked her. Faour said both had described the man as male, 5 feet  9 inches and skinny.

At one point, the prosecution asked one of the witnesses, Detective Jason Karr, who was present at Rivas’ arrest, what the defendant said when officers took him into custody on Oct. 25.

“I can’t remember the exact quote but it was something to the effect of, 'How did you guys find me?'” Karr said.

Later the defense grilled Karr about the statement and asked him if he’d like to refer to the police report to refresh his memory. The report, which Karr looked over, stated that Rivas had said, “How did you catch me?

“It wasn’t ‘How did you find me,’ was it?” Fredrick asked.

“No,” Karr said.

Brian also brought forward pictures of the gruesome injuries of the woman as proof that Rivas had attempted to disfigure her, an act called “mayhem.”

The defense argued there had been no evidence the woman was permanently scarred.

“There’s no indication that she was disfigured, dismembered or disabled,” Fredrick contended.

The prosecution disagreed.

“Certainly what she had that night was disfiguring,” Brian said.

Judge Sharon Mettler didn’t buy the defense's argument.

“It’s difficult to believe that that will disappear without a number of years," she said.

A previously unreported wrinkle in the case came up as Brian called his last witness, an OCSD investigator, who said another Rossmoor resident reported Rivas as the same man who broke into her Rossmoor garage in May 2012.

OCSD Investigator David Purser said that a Rossmoor woman had contracted him and said that the man who perpetrated the October attack was the same person.

However, after Fredrick questioned Purser further, Purser said when the talked to the woman in May, she initially selected a different person as the man who burglarized her garage.

After the ruling, Fredrick declined to comment on strategy for the upcoming case. However his line of questioning suggested that he will argue authorities arrested the wrong man based on vague descriptions by witnesses.

The judge set the trial date for June 20 at 8 a.m. in Orange County court.

Click here for today’s top stories from Los Alamitos-Seal Beach-Rossmoor Patch.

Stay Patched in! Like Los Alamitos Patch on Facebook | Follow us on Twitter and Sign up for the daily email with links to the latest local news.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.