HILLSBORO, Ore.- Gonzalo Pizano-Guzman, age 20, disappeared on the evening of July 6, 2000. As his family searched for him, authorities first discovered his car burned south of Cornelius, and then his body on the side of a gravel road near Henry Hagg Lake. He had been shot and stabbed by unknown assailants. The WCSO began an extensive investigation into Gonzalo’s murder, culminating in the arrest of Joseph Noble and Rafael Mora-Contreras about two months later. Investigators learned that Mora-Contreras had likely killed Gonzalo to prevent his upcoming marriage to Marisol Mora, Rafael Mora-Contreras’ sister. Noble, a criminal associate of Mora-Contreras, had joined in kidnapping and then killing Gonzalo at the behest of Mora-Contreras.

The joint trial of Mora-Contreras and Noble in 2003 remains one of the lengthiest and most complex in Washington County history. During the trial, many individuals testified, some cooperatively and others less so. Both defendants took the witness stand and proclaimed their own innocence while blaming the other for Gonzalo’s murder. The jury convicted both men of murder and each received a life sentence.  Specifically, Mora-Contreras was convicted of Aggravated Murder based on the theory that he had paid Joseph Noble to carry out the crime.

Both convictions were affirmed by the Oregon Court of Appeals.  In 2008 Mora-Contreras filed a petition for Post-Conviction Relief (PCR) in Marion County Circuit Court (case No. 08C25103), alleging that the performance of his original defense attorneys and his appellate attorneys was defective in various ways.  Per standard practice, attorneys from the Oregon Department of Justice (DOJ) represented the State in the PCR litigation, and the Washington County DA’s Office (WCDA) was not a party or directly involved in any way. 

Remarkably, the PCR litigation took nine years from beginning to end.  In November 2017, retired Marion County Judge Jamese Rhoades issued an opinion granting post-conviction relief to Mora-Contreras and sending his case back for a new trial. Judge Rhoades ruled that Mora-Contreras’s defense attorney should have objected to the requirement that he wear a leg restraint and/or a stun belt (fully concealed anti-escape devices) during the trial.  The WCDA’s Office was surprised and disappointed by this ruling and requested that DOJ appeal Judge Rhodes’ decision. DOJ declined to appeal, and Mora-Contreras was then returned from state prison to the Washington County Jail to await his new trial.

The new trial process has taken several years to progress to this point due in part to delays associated with the pandemic and in part to challenges associated with retrying a case nearly two decades later. New defense attorneys were appointed to represent Mora-Contreras, and new prosecutors were assigned (one of the original prosecutors is now a judge and the other has retired).  Additionally, many aspects of the case against Mora-Contreras have changed in the over seventeen years since the original trial. Some witnesses have died, others have become uncooperative, and significant evidence is no longer available to the State. Furthermore, the legislature has since amended the Oregon murder statutes in ways that benefit criminal defendants. Given the changed dynamics, the WCDA in 2021 agreed to participate in a settlement conference with Judge Eric Bergstrom, a veteran judge of dozens of murder cases.  Judge Bergstrom brokered and ratified the resolution of this case.

Today, Rafael Mora-Contreras pleaded guilty to Manslaughter in the First Degree and Kidnapping in the Second Degree and was sentenced to 25 years and 10 months in prison. 

From 2018 until as recently as last week, the WCDA has been in periodic and detailed communication with the family of Gonzalo Pizano-Guzman. This has included consultation with an experienced victim advocate and direct meetings with the assigned prosecutors. Through our meetings we have found the Pizano family to be an extremely loving and dedicated group.  They are justifiably passionate about seeking justice for their son and brother’s murder.  To that end, they have clearly expressed that, if at all possible, Rafael Mora-Contreras should be re-sentenced to the same life term originally imposed.  Prosecutors have explained the difficult aspects of the case to the Pizano family, but they remain steadfast in their belief that Mora-Contreras should receive a life sentence.  The WCDA’s Office agrees that Mora-Contreras deserves to spend his life in prison for the murder of Gonzalo Pizano-Guzman.  However, we must also weigh the strength of the evidence in a case in 2021, the likelihood of conviction, the changes to Oregon’s murder laws that have a retroactive impact on this case, and the likely sentence when deciding whether to agree to a resolution.  It is the professional assessment of experienced prosecutors that this plea agreement is indeed the appropriate resolution to this case.  We applaud the passion of the victim’s family, and regret that they are unhappy with the result.

The co-defendant, Joseph Noble, did not file a PCR claim and remains incarcerated with the Oregon Department of Corrections. He will be eligible for a parole hearing in 2031.

HILLSBORO, Ore.- On May 11, 2021, Miguel Hernandez-Cuesta plead guilty to attempted second-degree assault, aggravated harassment and driving under the influence of intoxicants. Judge Ramón Pagán then sentenced the defendant to three years formal probation and six months in the Washington County Jail. In addition to his jail sentence, Judge Pagán also ordered the defendant’s driver’s license be revoked for life. Deputy District Attorney Nadya Martin prosecuted the case against Mr. Hernandez-Cuesta.

In the early morning hours of July 26, 2020, the defendant attempted to place an order via a drive-thru window at a restaurant in Tualatin, Oregon. Once the order was placed, the defendant pulled up to the second window and fell asleep at the wheel of his vehicle. A store manager confronted the defendant who denied he was under the influence. He then pulled into a parking spot at the restaurant and feel asleep at the wheel a second time.

Several officers responded to the scene and found the defendant asleep. He was partially hanging out of the driver’s side door with the vehicle running. They ordered him to exit the vehicle at which point his vehicle rolled forward and nearly struck a law enforcement vehicle.

The defendant agreed to step out of the car and participate in field sobriety tests.  At the conclusion of the tests, officers placed him under arrest for driving under the influence of intoxicants. The defendant began to cough profusely and told officers he had COVID-19 while the officer was searching him. Officers told him to stop what he was doing. As an officer was checking his pockets, the defendant turned and coughed and spat on her face. He was restrained and taken to the Washington County Jail for processing.

The Washington County District Attorney’s Office wishes to acknowledge the work of the Tigard Police Department on this case.

HILLSBORO, Ore.- On May 7, 2021, Judge Erik Buchér sentenced James Sekou Jones to 70 months in prison after a jury convicted the defendant of two counts of second-degree robbery and unauthorized use of a vehicle. Senior Deputy District Attorney Allison Brown prosecuted the case.

On November 13, 2019, the two victims met the defendant over social media and arranged for an exchange of marijuana. The defendant suggested they meet at an apartment complex in Tualatin, Oregon. The victims drove to the location late in the evening where the defendant and an accomplice entered the vehicle and sat in the backseats. Mr. Jones and his accomplice threatened the victims with what the victims believed was a gun and demanded they leave their property and exit the vehicle. The two men then fled in the stolen vehicle.

Tualatin police responded to the scene. They eventually located the vehicle abandoned at a second apartment complex. They then used information gathered from social media to identify Mr. Jones and his accomplice. The pair left the state before authorities could arrest them, but Mr. Jones was eventually arrested in Mississippi and extradited back to Washington County, Oregon for prosecution.

The Washington County District Attorney’s Office wishes to acknowledge the investigative work of the Tualatin Police Department on this case, as well as the work of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office’s Forensic Unit. 

In addition to his prison sentence, Mr. Jones was also ordered to undergo post-prison supervision for three years upon his release. He will be transferred to the Oregon Department of Corrections to begin serving his sentence.

HILLSBORO, Ore.- On May 3, 2021, Washington County District Attorney Kevin Barton formally requested that the Oregon Attorney General’s Office review an investigation conducted by the Washington County Major Crimes Team into the use of deadly physical force by the Tigard Police Department on January 6, 2021. A letter detailing this request can be read here. 

The Washington County Major Crimes Team concluded its investigation into the officer-involved shooting and submitted its findings to this office on April 27, 2021. The Attorney General’s Office will review these findings and make a determination regarding criminal responsibility for the incident.

An Assistant Attorney General will be named as a Special Deputy District Attorney for Washington County to function within Washington County’s SB 111 Plan.

The Washington County District Attorney’s Office is unable to comment further on this case as this matter is still pending. 

HILLSBORO, Ore.- On April 22, 2021, Steven Wayne Jones pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of intoxicants. Judge Oscar Garcia sentenced the defendant to 50 months in prison. Deputy District Attorney David Pitcher prosecuted the case against Mr. Jones.

This is the defendant’s 10th DUII conviction since 1998. Mr. Jones was most recently convicted of DUII in Multnomah County, Oregon in 2017 and was still undergoing court-ordered supervision when he was arrested for the most recent offense.

Mr. Jones, whose driver’s license has been revoked for life, was found asleep behind the wheel of his vehicle outside a convenience store in December of 2020. Deputies from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene. They found an empty beer can in his cup holder along with a bottle containing liquor in the backseat. The defendant admitted to consuming alcohol earlier that day. Deputies conducted a breath test in which the defendant was found to have a blood alcohol content of .19.

The Washington County District Attorney’s Office wishes to acknowledge the work of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office in removing this dangerous driver from our roadways.

In addition to his prison sentence, Judge Garcia also ordered the defendant to undergo 10 months of post-prison supervision and to participate in an alcohol treatment program.

HILLSBORO, Ore.- On April 15, 2021, a Washington County jury found Jesus Gongora Dominguez, age 20, guilty of six counts of first-degree sodomy. Deputy District Attorney Chris Lewman prosecuted the case before Judge Oscar Garcia.

In December of 2019, the victim disclosed to a mandatory reporter that he was sexually abused by the defendant four years prior. Hillsboro police were notified and arranged an interview with the victim and his family.

The victim reported that the defendant had sexually abused him multiple times. He told investigators that the defendant would lure him into his bedroom with the promise of candy or video games and would then sexually abuse him. He ordered the victim not to tell anyone about the abuse.

Despite years of concealing the abuse, the victim found the courage to come forward and reveal the acts the defendant committed. 

The Washington County District Attorney’s Office wishes to commend the victim in this case for his bravery in reporting this abuse. This office also thanks the Hillsboro Police Department and CARES Northwest for their work on this difficult case.

A sentencing hearing is scheduled for July 7, 2021. The defendant will remain in custody until that time.