SANTA ANA — Orange County prosecutors Tuesday filed the first criminal case under recently enhanced state punishment guidelines against a 33-year-old Rosemead man accused of stealing clothes from a Mervyn's store in Garden Grove.
The case against Manuel Vincent Juarez does not qualify him for the mandatory life sentence for three-time losers under the "three-strikes" provisions. But Assistant Dist. Atty. Brent F. Romney said Juarez's one previous felony conviction makes him a "two-strike" defendant facing double the minimum punishment if convicted.
