Sentencing delayed for ninth time for man convicted of 2013 murder

FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- Justice for Miriam Corona's family has been moving at a snail's pace.

There is still no prison sentence for the man convicted of her murder nearly two years after a jury handed down its verdict and over 11 years since her death.

Corona was asleep when prosecutors say she was shot in the back of her head in 2013. They charged her boyfriend, Daniel Gomez Cervantes, with murder.

At trial, Cervantes' attorneys said he did not pull the trigger.

"(There's a) reasonable possibility that Ms. Corona committed suicide," defense attorney Jack Revvill told the jury in June 2022.

The case has been slow from the start. It did not go to trial for nine years. And in the nearly two years since the guilty verdict, Cervantes has been in court at least nine times for sentencing.

Nearly every time, his defense attorneys have pushed the date back. They did it again on Wednesday.

"I am asking for a month," defense attorney Erin Ormonde said. "It's time to decide this case one way or the other," Judge Arlan Harrell said later.

The latest delay comes as attorney Ormonde tries to secure more public funding. She has told the court she is trying to hire two experts, who have testimony that could have changed the jury's verdict.

"The funding issue for the experts is a constitutional issue," Ormonde said.

By hiring experts and outlining what they will say in an affidavit, Ormonde appears to be doing the legwork on a motion for a new trial. She wants a new jury to hear new evidence.

Action News Legal Analyst Tony Capozzi says Ormonde has an uphill battle.

"It's a steep hill to climb on a motion for a new trial, especially now that you're trying to come in with new evidence that maybe should've been presented at the time of trial," Capozzi said. "It's going to be very difficult."

If the defense can secure funding for expert testimony, the motion for a new trial would be in the judge's hands. If the defense cannot get funds, the judge could sentence Daniel Gomez Cervantes, and then he could file an appeal.

Everybody will be back in court on May 2.

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