Trial Ordered in Fatal Stabbing

Rejecting claims of self-defense, a judge ordered a Ventura man Monday to stand trial on murder and attempted-murder charges for stabbing three men at a party last fall in Simi Valley.

Robert Winters, 19, conceded during a two-day preliminary hearing that he stabbed the three victims with a pocketknife; one of them died. But his attorney argued that Winters acted in self-defense after a group of drunk party-goers jumped him.

“They accosted him, they were on him, and it was only at that time that he came up swinging with a knife,” said Deputy Public Defender Randy Tucker, arguing that the charges should be reduced.

Tucker cited the testimony of three defense witnesses who said they saw one of the victims push Winters before the knife came out.

“It is a tragedy,” Tucker said. “But what Mr. Winters did there was not murder.”

Ventura County Superior Court Judge Ken Riley, in ordering the trial, ruled that prosecutors presented credible evidence to show that a fight had occurred and that Winters used unreasonable, deadly force.

In addition to the victim who was killed, two others were seriously injured in the Oct. 13, 2001, brawl.

The stabbings occurred about 10 minutes after Winters showed up at a Breton Avenue residence with friends and began arguing with another party-goer, Simi Valley Police Det. Jay Carrott testified last week.

As Ryan Kramer and Mike Ponticelli tried to escort Winters from the house, Kramer tripped on a step in the garage, and he and Winters fell to the ground, Carrott testified.

Based on his interviews, the detective added, Winters lunged at the victims with an opened knife and began swinging it “like a madman,” cutting Kramer and Ponticelli, who recovered from their wounds.

But their friend Randy Lucero, 21, died after Winters buried the 3-inch blade in his chest.

Winters, who did not know the victims, fled the scene and turned himself in to police the next day.

In addition to the charges related to the stabbings, Winters is accused of stealing beer from a convenience store on the way to the party that evening.

He remains held in lieu of $1-million bail.