
Santa Barbara County (Santa Maria) Superior Court
By Justin Kloczko
Daily Journal Staff Writer
Daily Journal Staff Writer
SANTA MARIA — Maybe the biggest case of Judge Timothy J. Staffel's career was also his most overlooked.
It was 2005 when a triple homicide, the only capital case he has presided over, went to trial in his courtroom in Santa Maria, just north of Santa Barbara, the county seat.
Defendant James Manuel Noriega was accused of fatally strangling his p... (continued)