Source: Orange County Register (CA) Contact: http://www.ocregister.com/ Pubdate: Thu, 10 Sep 1998 Author: Stuart Pfeifer - OCR TRIAL ORDERED FOR SUSPECTS IN DEATH OF TEEN INFORMER If convicted, the three held in Chad MacDonald's killing could face death. A Los Angeles judge ordered three suspects to stand trial Wednesday for the strangulation of a teen-ager who had worked as a Brea police informant. Michael L. Martinez, 21, Florence Noriega, 29, and Jose Ibarra, 19, could face the death penalty if convicted of the March 3 slaying of 17-year-old Chad MacDonald, a crime that sparked debate about the use of minors as police agents. Municipal Court Judge Stephen Marcus ordered the suspects to trial after three days of testimony that included the first account of the killing from MacDonald's teen-age girlfriend. According to the girlfriend's testimony, the suspects accused her and MacDonald of working for the police, strip-searched them while looking for a hidden "wire," then strangled MacDonald. The girlfriend said Ibarra raped her before the three suspects drove her to a ditch, choked her with a rope and shot her in the face. She survived. The hearing also focused on MacDonald's involvement in methamphetamine trafficking and use, which took place even after he had agreed to help police arrest other drug dealers to avoid his own prosecution on sales charges. Brea police officials said they severed their relationship with MacDonald in February after he was arrested a second time in possession of methamphetamine. Attorneys for Martinez and Ibarra said they belive the evidence will show MacDonald was killed as payback for his work for the Brea police, not during a robbery or sexual assault, special circumstances that could lead to the death penalty. Ibarra's lawyer, Forrest Latiner, said he will urge the District Attorney's Office not to seek the death penalty, in part because of MacDonald's drug-dealing background. "He didn't deserve to be beaten and strangled and dumped in an alley - but he's not a babe in the woods," Latiner said. MacDonald's family has sued the Brea police, contending officers misled the teen-ager and his mother and put him in danger. State lawmakers have passed a bill that would restrict the use of minors as police informants. - --- Checked-by: Joel W. Johnson