Law and Disorder 11-5

Sixteen-year-old Aziz Gazga committed suicide by hanging himself in the bathroom of his mother’s home on 10/30. Authorities responded at 10:20 a.m. and were told Gazga had recently broken up with his girlfriend, with whom he had a child. The young man was found by his mother’s boyfriend, according to police, who couldn’t get the bathroom door open when he went to get ready for work.

Fabian Maduena was sentenced to 21 years in state prison on 10/28 after pleading no contest to gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, along with several other related charges. Maduena killed 41-year-old Rosario Silvestre in March when, driving on Highway 101, his car struck a vehicle carrying Silvestre, causing it to flip multiple times and eject Silvestre. Maduena was apprehended shortly afterward down the road from the accident.

The UCLA School of Law named a new courtroom in honor of Santa Barbara attorney A. Barry Cappello and his wife Lori on 10/28. The courtroom-which will be used as a mock trial courtroom-was named after the Cappellos in recognition of their $1.25 million endowment of the school’s trial practice program. Cappello graduated from UCLA Law in 1965 and has since garnered a reputation as one of Santa Barbara’s top trial lawyers.