Defendants Accused Of Beating Bryan Stow Admit Being Involved In Altercation On Secret Jailhouse Recording

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge George Lomeli has determined that the two men accused of beating Bryan Stow into a coma, Louie Sanchez and Marvin Norwood, will have to stand trial for those accusations. In making his decision Judge Lomeli relied heavily on a secret recording from a cell as the two men waited to stand in lineup following their July 21, 2011 arrest.

The tape was played in court Thursday and a transcript was released yesterday. Among other things, Sanchez is identified as having said "it's all my fault" to which Norwood responded "I'm gonna fry regardless, bro." Norwood continued, "[t]hey pretty much got it. They got it, bro. ... We need to come up with a good f- defense."

Norwood appears to be the chattier of the two and would go on to express disbelief at the "misfortunate" situation. "I don't get how ... we are the bad guys because something misfortunate happened to, you know, their side."

If discussing all these things while in a holding cell in jail didn't tip you off as to the kind of criminal minds we are dealing with here (or that they stand accused of mercilessly beating a fellow human), there's this exhcange.

"I f- got mad and they were talking s- to my sister, so what am I going to do?" he asked Norwood.

At one point, Sanchez said, "You know me when I am mad. There's six of these big white dudes. I mean, what do you want me to do, man?"

Norwood said the Giants fans had "tried to jump you," and later asked, "What kind of man would I have been if I hadn't jumped in and tried to help you?"

Right.

The judge's ruling is essentially that the prosecution has presented enough evidence, in the form of this recording, to proceed to trial, where the prosecution's burden will be much higher. Stannie Dee and Ollie Dum could face approximately 10 years in prison each.

Photo via AP

Bryan Stow defendant: 'It's all my fault' [San Francisco Chronicle]