The Antelope Valley Times

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Man pleads no contest to voluntary manslaughter in road rage killing

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Victim Alberto Delpino
Victim Alberto Delpino

LOS ANGELES – A 21-year-old man pleaded no contest Thursday to voluntary manslaughter in the road rage-related death of a Palmdale resident.

Due to the plea, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert J. Perry dismissed a murder charge against Cody Allen Davis stemming from the Jan. 25, 2014, dispute in Palmdale that led to the death three days later of Alberto Delpino, 62, from blunt force trauma injuries.

The judge immediately sentenced Davis to 90 days of Caltrans work, five years on formal probation and ordered him not to drive a motor vehicle until he attends 52 anger management classes and is lawfully licensed and insured.

The judge suspended an 11-year state prison term, which Davis will not have to serve unless he violates the terms of his probation.

Davis received credit for time he has already served behind bars and is expected to be released.

Previous related stories:

Palmdale man, 62, dies after road rage assault

Pretrial hearing continued in Palmdale road rage killing

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Filed Under: Crime/ Safety

42 comments for "Man pleads no contest to voluntary manslaughter in road rage killing"

    • 1) theres a dead guy he was a senior “blunt force trauma” means he was beaten to death w something
      2) his life was worth 90 days of picking up trash.
      3) there was a plea bargain in a court house that if the killer had been black or brown…he woulda been hung
      4) its the AV….as AV residence we should all be proud of what we have allowed our justice to become…right?

  2. This story does not give all the facts. Unless you were there or involved in the case all the negative comments are only opinions. With that said, we all know opinions are like [removed] everyone has one. Sometimes we need to be more compassionate and less judging.

    • The story gives the relevant facts.

      1) A guy plead guilty to manslaughter.

      2) That guy was sentenced to community service.

      Beyond that there are no facts, just questions. The biggest question being what in the world this judge was thinking.

      The most entertaining question around here is why the usual commenters who constantly rave about “liberal judges” and “shoulda just killed him” are switching over to “well, there must be a good reason” and “okay, that’s justice.” I can’t guess what influenced the judge, but our regular commenters have said enough that it is pretty clear why they see this case differently.

      • Who switched over? This is total BS. Right is right and wrong is wrong. This is clearly wrong. Something this blatant should be investigated by the Feds.

        • Cali Palmdale has posted “shoulda got the death penalty” on every article about a non-white criminal being sentenced for the past six months and has said nothing here. That’s one good example off the top of my head.

          Props to you Mike, in that you have been consistent.

        • Still all opinions with only half the facts. We may never know all the information that was factored in. So we all agree right is right. Wrong is wrong. I believe it is wrong for people to illegally come into our country. But that is my opinion. Not all will agree with me. So it clearly is not as clear as we all would like.

          • Other than the two facts I mentioned there ARE no facts. There are numerous stories about what happened. Well maybe not numerous, there is at least one fewer story than there could be since one of the participants is dead, but still more than one. Since none of those stories was ever presented at trial (no trial held) none of them should be taken as facts.

  3. The question is….not so much about money, but connections….WHO in the AV does this guy know/is related to/is in a relationship with? This, along with white privilege, seals the deal on a consequence that does not even amount to a slap on the wrist. By the way, what about the other person who was with him? The last time I checked, anyone who accompanies a person who commits a crime is an accomplice….even if they don’t lift a finger…..no mention of him in the story as far as charges are concerned. We also need to move to REMOVE THAT JUDGE. It’s judges like this who are a part of a faulty system of corruption, unequal, and biased rulings in the AV that allows the status quo to remain so. If the people exercise their power to remove/replace corrupt politicians and judges, perhaps we can create a better and more efficient legal system for our community.

  4. I am shocked (well really I am not I guess) that most people don’t understand how the law and sentencing works. He took a plea deal, which means he plead guilty to a lesser crime to avoid a trial and probable harsher sentencing. There are sentencing guidelines that go along the crime that he plead guilty to.

    It is mentioned that he did not die immediately, but several days later. The beating was a contributing factor but it may not have been the only factor that lead to his death. That would have been taken into consideration.

    Someone compared this to the man which killed someone while driving while intoxicated. A DUI involved death has much different sentencing to go along with it.

    It has nothing to do with race or wealth, it has to do with how the laws are written. OK well wealth can play a part because a person might be able to afford a better lawyer instead of settling on a public defender. That is an issue with how overworked and under staffed the PD office is.

    • He took a plea deal and plead to MANSLAUGHTER. If you think community service is in the sentencing guidelines for manslaughter, think again.

      • it is not impossible for a person to receive probation instead of jail time. When it does happen, a person only serves 50% of their actual jail time 3 years is minimum, so that would be 1 1/2 years, which according to the article, he was given that as credit for time served. Remember manslaughter is a lesser crime then murder, which required malice and a few other legal requirements.

        I can’t post links but do a quick search and you will find that it is actually not uncommon for a person to receive probation from a plea deal. There is one from Kansas that stated that 15 people over a 5 year period were given probation only as well. Texas also was more likely then not to hand down only probation for DUI related deaths.

  5. None of you were there. This alleged victim died of complications
    AIDS! This was a simple fist fight. Too bad all of you are so perfect that you can judge. Such a sad disgusting community!

    • So you were there?

      With ignorant comments like this, no wonder others picture AVers as toothless hillbilly rednecks.

    • I know a fair number of people doing huge chunks of time for what were supposed to be “simple fist fights” and a lot of them didn’t track the guy they beat to death, which is clear premeditation.

      If you go around having “simple fist fights” you are just aching for a manslaughter charge. Guy falls and hits his head. Guy turns out to have a heart condition and up and dies. That’s the chances you take.

      The question here is WHY this particular guy, who did show clear premeditation, not only got the murder beef reduced to manslaughter but then didn’t even get a fair sentence on that. Other than the obvious white privilege I can’t even guess what prompted the judge in this case.

    • I think that Lee thought everyone would go wild over this AIDS angle, but people don’t die of AIDS suddenly after being assaulted. It’s kind of funny. It sounds like something an immature 10 year old would come up with. The guy killed was gay, so he died of AIDS. Stupid.

    • How in the hell? Or should I say what kind of coward (and 2 on top of that) would have a fist fight with a 62 year old man that looks like the one in the picture? I’ll be damn that is some BS! Can’t stand a coward and the world is full of them. Whoever raised those boys should be damn shame. I believe that God will retribute these people back. It’s just a matter of time. He may have a son that will die the death of a coward. Who knows? But the ultimate justice will prevail.

  7. Not too many weeks ago, a young man began serving a 15 to life term for getting into a car while very drunk and then crashing into a bedroom, killing a little old lady. It was the first time he had ever killed anyone accidently. Now this other man is free after the first time he killed someone on purpose. He faces 11 years if he violates probation. Why do you get less time when you actually attempt to injure? America, you better get wise!

    • Total BS hopefully his day will come

      Rember this cowards name give him nothing but grief see that he never holds a job total scum bag.

  8. WOW all I can say Money might have wealthy parents what if it was the other way around and why cant we see a name Black and Hispanic its ok but if it was the other way sure different outcome its a white Day every day. corruption

    • I’m a little confused WOW. As a proud Hispanic from Texas and living in East Lancaster I just don’t see any white people in my neighborhood, and very few in Palmdale. Where I shop all employees are Black or Hispanic and so are all the customers. But I’m told the Antelope Valley was once a white community. Frank

      • There’s a few of them, but not many if truth be told. I do think that a fair number of Hispanics say that they are white when asked, which is mystifying when a person considers all of the advantages to being a minority.

      • I don’t know where you live but in my neighborhood, it’s about 50 % white, 45% Hispanic and 5% African-American. Where my sister in law lives in Quartz Hill it is about 75% White, 20% Hispanic and 5% African-American.

  9. I cannot believe that justice can be found in this suspended sentence and the extremely modest terms of parole. This would be an even more interesting story if the Antelope Valley Times partnered with the LA times to investigate crime and punishment in the Antelope Valley. There’s something rotten here.

  10. This publication is completely irresponsible and is not reporting important facts of the case. It is also readers responsibility to understand they have no idea! Ignorance breeds ignorance ….av times should be embarrassed and ashamed of their shorty reporting!

    • What “important facts” can there be? Two guys followed one guy until he got out of his car, then they beat him to death. Based on “well, we didn’t mean to KILL him” this guy gets off with a manslaughter plea deal, which is not unusual. The prosecutor would rather have the sure thing rather than go through trial on the issue of premeditation and risk having a sympathetic jury buy into the “didn’t mean to kill him” bit.

      He plead no contest. Since there was no trial the major elements of the case are accepted without dispute. He isn’t denying that he followed a guy until he got out of his car and then beat him to death. Where it all goes sideways is with the judge suspending the typical sentence and letting this killer walk.

      The only thing left out of the story is no doubt left out because it is not available, and that is the reasoning of the sentencing judge. We can speculate about what this guy was thinking all we want. But at the end of the day, unless the judge himself presents some really compelling statement about why he made this decision I am going to assume he just liked the white boy since “all” he did was kill a Hispanic.

  12. WTF! Cal trams work for killing someone? This would be different if the killer wasn’t white and the victim wasn’t a gay Latino man. This is crap.

    • Right cause hes white he gets 5 years of caltrons but if he was blackor hispanic he would be looking at life the judge must be white his self losers but hey karma is a b.

  13. Disgusting, a true lack of justice in my opinion. “Lawfully licensed and insured”!? Well I’m glad the court is addressing the core of the issue.

  14. Why don’t they post Cody Davis’s picture? Is it because he agreed to be a SNITCH to lighten his sentence?

  15. It looks, to me, like Cody Allen Davis is a snitch. I think hee got a deal to SNITCH. I wonder how many of his friends and acquaintances he will SNITCH on to fulfill his side of the deal. I think Davis is a rat.

    • If you’ve followed this story from the beginning it should’ve always been manslaughter. SNITCH isn’t related to any part of what truly happened here.

    • Easter Angel: Let’s say he did make a deal in exchange for testifying (which this article does not indicate was the case.) You use the word SNITCH. But really, what is a SNITCH. A SNITCH as you call it, is a person who has knowledge of something illegal or wrong, and makes a conscious choice to cooperate with the police by telling the truth and revealing the facts. It’s a morally correct decision, yet you label it with such a negative term like: SNITCH. The only people I have ever known to use the word SNITCH or RAT are gang-bangers and criminals. Which are you?

  16. That is an outrage! Should of stayed up here. The judges here definitely would of given him prison tome.