Pubdate: Sat, 21 Nov 1998 Source: Orange County Register (CA) Copyright: 1998 The Orange County Register Contact: http://www.ocregister.com/ Author: Stuart Pfeifer DEATH PENALTY SOUGHT IN TEEN INFORMANT'S SLAYING Courts: Trio May Face Execution In Chad Macdonald's Killing. The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office will seek the death penalty for three people accused of strangling a Yorba Linda youth in a case that sparked debate about the use of minors as police informants, a prosecutor announced Friday. Deputy District Attorney Jeff Ramseyer announced the decision during a hearing before Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Dewey Falcone in Norwalk. Prosecutors declined to disclose the factors that led to their decision. Florence L. Noriega, 29, Michael L. Martinez, 21, and Jose A. Ibarra, 20, are charged with murder in the March 3 slaying of former police informant Chad Allen MacDonald, whose body was dumped in a Los Angeles alley. MacDonald, 17, was slain after bringing his 17-year-old girlfriend to a Norwalk house frequented by drug users. His girlfriend was raped, shot in the face and abandoned in the Angeles National Forest. She testified at a preliminary hearing that the trio accused MacDonald of working for the police before killing him. According to court documents, MacDonald agreed to work as an informant for Brea police after his arrest for possessing methamphetamine for sale. He made one undercover drug buy for Brea police, but was no longer working as an informant at the time he was killed, records indicate. Forrest Latiner, Ibarra's lawyer, has argued that the evidence shows the three were trying to teach MacDonald "a lesson," that there was no attempt to kill him. He said he was disappointed prosecutors chose to seek the death penalty instead of life prison terms without parole. "The death penalty should be reserved for the worst of the worst kinds of cases," Latiner said. "This, though a very serious case, is not of that sort and doesn't warrant the seeking of the death penalty for any of the three accused. But the prosecution's decision was praised by an attorney for the MacDonald family. "Society needs to be safe and it is imperative that perpetrators of heinous crimes of this nature understand that their actions will not be tolerate," attorney Lloyd Charton said. Noriega could become only the 10th woman on California's death row. - --- Checked-by: Patrick Henry