SCV men accused of felonies return to court

Three Santa Clarita Valley men accused of having committed felonies returned to court on Thursday, each receiving a future date to appear before a judge once again.

Monolito Guerra

Monolito Guerra, 34, is accused of having shot Deputy Albert White at an apartment complex on Bottletree Lane Nov. 28, 2017, before being shot himself. Both Guerra and White would be taken to the hospital, and both would survive their injuries.

He is set to return on April 27 for a pretrial conference. During a pretrial conference, the involved parties establish timelines for concluding all pre-trial activities, such as setting a tentative trial date, encouraging the settlement of cases, counsel trying to agree on undisputed facts or points of law, and more.

At the time of the incident, Guerra was on parole after serving two years in jail. A little over a month after his release, he was shot multiple times in a shootout with SCV Sheriff’s Station deputies.

White suffered a “through-and-through” wound, meaning the bullet left an entry and exit wound, and though he was initially hospitalized and listed in critical condition, he returned to work in 2018 after recovering from the injury.

Guerra was hospitalized with non-lifethreatening wounds following the shooting, being first taken to Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital and then the USC Medical Center on Dec. 10, 2017.

He is being held in lieu of $5.75 million bail.

Jorge Panama

A Newhall massage therapist accused of multiple sexual assaults saw a continuance of his case in a San Fernando courtroom on Thursday.

Jorge Panama, 56, has been accused by at least a half-dozen women of assaulting them where he worked, at “Massage Plus Healing” on the 22000 block of Lyons Avenue, according to sheriff’s officials.

Panama was initially arrested on suspicion of an April 2021 allegation involving a former client, who was Panama’s second client to allege an assault.

Three years ago, a woman had reported to the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station that Panama had assaulted her at his massage parlor. In the 2018 incident, charges were not filed by L.A. County District Attorney Jackie Lacey due to insufficient evidence, according to detectives.

Panama is scheduled to return to court on March 29 for a prelim setting. A prelim setting is a hearing date to schedule a preliminary hearing — when the evidence is presented to the judge who decides whether the trial will move ahead.

Marino Giammarco

Marino Daniele Giammarco, 32, of Saugus, is alleged to have between Aug. 1, 2016, and April 8, 2019, committed multiple crimes of sexual abuse on a child under the age of 14, and that he engaged in at least three lewd and lascivious acts on the child.

Investigators also allege that on or about April 9, 2019, Giammarco committed a lewd act on the same child.

Deputies with the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station arrested Giammarco on the afternoon of April 13, 2019, on suspicion of carrying a concealed weapon.

After the case was presented to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, prosecutors decided to proceed with the sex charge allegations and not the weapons offense.

Giammarco is slated to return on May 23 for a pretrial conference.