Settlement conference approved
Defendant charged with murder in man’s shooting
A Yuma County Superior Court judge on Wednesday approved a request from the defense for a settlement conference for the man charged with murder in connection to a fatal shooting last month, which will be held sometime within the coming weeks.
When asked to provide the court with the status of the case, the attorney representing 50-year-old John Nate Gardea Sr. explained that he was in the process of interviewing witnesses, but most of them are either homeless or in prison.
He also informed the court that his client has been offered a plea agreement by prosecutors for 20 to 25 years in prison, but due to his age, Gardea would likely not accept the offer. For those reasons he was requesting a settlement conference.
A settlement conference is a meeting between the prosecution and defense in an attempt to reach a mutually agreeable resolution to the case without having to go to trial. They are usually conducted by the judge in their chambers.
Gardea, who remains in custody at the Yuma County jail on a $1 million cash-only bond, has been charged with first-degree murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and misconduct involving weapons in the death of 42-year-old Edward Rowland Jr., who was shot and killed on June 1.
Afterward, Superior Court Judge David Haws, who is presiding over the case, granted the request and ordered it be transferred so a judge could be appointed to conduct the settlement conference.
He also scheduled a status hearing for 8:30 a.m. on Sept. 26
Gardea was taken into custody by Yuma police officers at approximately 5:30 p.m. on June 1 without incident at Knight’s Inn, located at 2730 S. 4th Ave.
According to Yuma police, officers were dispatched to the Twin Palms Apartments, located in the 900 block South 1st Avenue, at approximately 3:20 a.m. that day in reference to an altercation with shots being fired.
When officers arrived, they found a male who had been shot. The man was transported to Yuma Regional Medical Center where he died at approximately 6:22 a.m.