Attorneys Begin to Build their Defense

Attorneys for the two Rialto men accused in the beating of a San Francisco Giants fan at Dodger Stadium answered a few media questions outside the courtroom following a hearing on Monday.

Louie Sanchez, 29, and Marvin Norwood, 30, both of Rialto were arrested Thursday and charged Friday in connection with the March 31 attack of Bryan Stow.

Sanchez's attorney, Gilbert Quinones, said his client was a Dodgers fan who had attended the opening day game with “his brother-in-law, his sister and his child.” He said Sanchez works as a supervisor in the auto-detailing department of a Fontana vehicle auction company.

Sanchez “doesn't seem like the type of individual who would do this,” Quinones said, declining to describe what his client may have told him about the events of March 31.

Norwood's lawyer, Lee Rosen, said his client worked as a carpenter.

Both men are charged with mayhem, assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury and battery with serious bodily injury, all felonies, according to the District Attorney's Office.

Sanchez is charged with an additional two misdemeanor counts of battery stemming from another alleged run-in the same day, when he allegedly attacked another man and woman, according to the criminal complaint.

The court document refers to injuries that caused Stow “to become comatose due to brain injury and to suffer paralysis.”

Police said Stow was attacked solely because he was wearing Giants apparel while his attackers and the female getaway driver were wearing Dodgers gear.

Stow, a 42-year-old Santa Cruz paramedic and a father of two, remains hospitalized at San Francisco General Hospital. He underwent emergency surgery last week after suffering a seizure due to a build up of fluid on his brain, according to media reports.

Dorene Virginia Sanchez, 31, the sister of Louie Sanchez was arrested as an accessory, but released Friday on $50,000 bail. The woman may also be Norwood’s girlfriend or wife. She has not been charged, but has a tentative court date of Aug. 19, according to Los Angeles County Jail records.

Quinones said he found it “hard to believe” reports that Sanchez's sister might have testified against her brother in what may have been grand jury proceedings.

Louie Sanchez lives with his parents, six houses away from Norwood.

Police on Thursday searched the homes and towed a truck that neighbors said belonged to Norwood.

A neighbor said Norwood and Dorene Sanchez live with three children, including a toddler and two children between 9- and 11-years-old. Louie

Sanchez's son is about 9 or 10 and visits his father on weekends, according to a neighbor.

Witnesses to the Dodger Stadium beating reported seeing a child about 10-years-old in the car in which the two assailants fled after the attack. A law enforcement source told the Los Angeles Times that a child provided authorities with information about the crime.

The Times also reported that the two suspects may have bragged to friends and co-workers about fights at the stadium the day of the attack.

Sanchez faces a maximum of nine years in prison, while Norwood faces up to eight years behind bars, according to prosecutors.

City News Service contributed to this report.