By Will Bigham, Staff Writer
Posted: 04/03/2010 06:55:24 PM PDT
RANCHO CUCAMONGA - A woman initially charged with murder for stabbing her husband to death in Upland reached a plea bargain with prosecutors Friday that carries a maximum prison sentence of seven years.
Naomi Valdivia, 35, has long maintained that she was acting in self-defense when she killed 36-year-old Jose Luis Gonzales with a sword on April 26, 2008.
Her prosecutor, Deputy District Attorney Nancy Cooper, said the outcome of a trial in Valdivia's case would depend largely on the testimony of her children, who Cooper said might be inclined to support their mother's version of what happened.
Gonzales was killed following an argument with his wife in the family's apartment in the 800 block of West Orchid Court, near Foothill Boulevard and San Antonio Avenue.
Prosecutors initially charged Valdivia, a mother of five, with murder and other felonies for her husband's death. But according to her family, she has long maintained she acted in self-defense.
"She was beaten that night," Lydia Arias, Valdivia's sister, said last year. "He brandished a weapon, his own personal weapon in the house that night, came at her with it and assaulted her with it first."
Valdivia pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter Friday in West Valley Superior Court and is scheduled to be sentenced May 3.
Her plea bargain carries a sentencing "lid" of seven years, which means her sentence can't exceed that period, Cooper said.
will.bigham@inlandnewspapers.com
Read more: http://www.sbsun.com/breakingnews/ci_14814406#ixzz0k8CZ1wP1
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