July 2 Arraignment Set in Deputy Slaying

The man accused of gunning down an Orange County sheriff’s deputy with an assault rifle over the weekend made his first court appearance Tuesday.

A tired-looking Maurice Gerald Steskal, 39, appeared before Superior Court Judge Carl Biggs, who appointed Assistant Public Defender David Dworakowski to represent Steskal.

Dworakowski asked for a postponement for the arraignment. A new date has been set for July 2 in Biggs’ courtroom at the South Justice Center in Laguna Niguel.

Steskal, who could face the death penalty if convicted, stood shackled in a white shirt and bowed his head through the brief proceeding.

He is accused of murdering Deputy Brad Riches, 34, early Saturday in front of a Lake Forest convenience store.

A security camera tape shows a man authorities say is Steskal entering the store shortly before 1 a.m. Deputies say the man, holding an assault rifle, told the clerk not to worry--that the weapon was not to be used in robbing the store but as protection against police.

A few minutes later, Riches was met with a hail of bullets as he parked his patrol car in front of the store. Another deputy who saw the store video identified Steskal based on an arrest he had made in March after a routine traffic stop.

Steskal, whom his wife and roommate described as feeling persecuted by police since his March brush with the law, was arrested near his Lake Forest home about five hours after the shooting.

Riches is the sixth Orange County sheriff’s deputy to die in the line of duty in the department’s 110-year history and the first slain on patrol since 1958.

A candlelight vigil in his memory drew hundreds of people Monday, and a handful of sheriff’s employees were in court Tuesday wearing tiny black lapel ribbons in Riches’ honor.

The slain officer’s funeral is scheduled for 10 a.m. today at Saddleback Valley Church, Lake Forest. From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Trabuco Road will be closed between El Toro Road and Lake Forest Drive.