Accused synagogue shooter to face trial on murder, other charges
SAN DIEGO _ A San Diego judge on Friday ordered a 20-year-old man to stand trial on charges of murder and attempted murder in the April shootings at a Poway synagogue.
John Timothy Earnest, of Rancho Penasquitos, also faces one count of arson from a fire at an Escondido mosque on March 24.
A preliminary hearing for Earnest wrapped up after a final prosecution witness testified, through an interpreter, about being shot in a leg at Chabad of Poway on April 27.
San Diego Superior Court Judge Peter Deddeh determined there was enough evidence presented at the hearing for Earnest's case to move forward. Because of special-circumstance allegations that the crimes were committed as a hate crime, prosecutors have the option of seeking the death penalty in his case.
That decision has not yet been made, Deputy District Attorney Leonard Trinh said after the hearing.
Authorities believe the shootings were prompted by Earnest's hatred of Jewish people, as expressed in an online "open letter" that he posted before the incident. In the letter, he said he made up his mind to commit the shooting after 51 people were killed and 49 injured in a March 15 suspected white supremacist shooting at a New Zealand mosque.
_The San Diego Union-Tribune
