Madera County, officially the County of Madera, is a county located at the geographic center of the U.S. state of California. It features a varied landscape, encompassing the eastern San Joaquin Valley and the central Sierra Nevada, with Madera serving as the county seat. Established in 1893 from part of Fresno County, Madera County reported a population of 156,255 in the 2020 census.
Chowchilla is a city in Madera County, California, United States. The city's population was 19,039 at the 2020 census. Chowchilla is located 16 miles (26 km) northwest of Madera, at an elevation of 240 feet (73 m).
Isla Vista is an unincorporated community in Santa Barbara County, California, in the United States. As of 2020 census, the community had a population of 15,500. For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined the community as a census-designated place (CDP). The majority of residents are college students at the University of California, Santa Barbara, or Santa Barbara City College. The beachside community of Isla Vista lies on a flat plateau about 30 feet (9 m) in elevation, separated from the beach by a bluff.
In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a local government area, typically a county or a group of counties. The exact scope of the office varies by state. Generally, the prosecutor is said to represent the people of the jurisdiction in the state's courts, typically in criminal matters, against defendants. District attorneys are elected in almost all states, and the role is generally partisan. This is unlike similar roles in other common law jurisdictions, where chief prosecutors are appointed based on merit and expected to be politically independent.
A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in civil law. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the case in a criminal trial against the defendant, an individual accused of breaking the law. Typically, the prosecutor represents the state or the government in the case brought against the accused person.
Thomas William Sneddon Jr. was the district attorney of Santa Barbara County, California. He had more than two decades of experience as a District Attorney, and more than three decades of experience as a prosecutor. He is best known for leading two investigations of Michael Jackson on child sexual abuse allegations in 1993 and 2005. His most famous case was when he was prosecuting child molestation charges against Jackson in the trial People v. Jackson in 2005, at the end of which Jackson was acquitted.
Central California is generally thought of as the middle third of the U.S. state of California, north of Southern California and south of Northern California. It includes the northern portion of the San Joaquin Valley, part of the Central Coast, the central hills of the California Coast Ranges and the foothills and mountain areas of the central Sierra Nevada.
The Mariposa War, also known as the Yosemite Indian War, was a conflict between the United States and the indigenous people of California's Sierra Nevada in the 1850s. The war was fought primarily in Mariposa County and surrounding areas, and was sparked by the discovery of gold in the region. As a result of the military expedition, the Mariposa Battalion became the first non-indigenous group to enter Yosemite Valley and the Nelder Grove.
Central California Women's Facility (CCWF) is an American women's California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation state prison located in Chowchilla, California. It is across the road from Valley State Prison. CCWF is the second largest female correctional facility in the United States, and houses the only State of California death row for women.
The Merced Sun-Star is a daily broadsheet newspaper printed in Merced, California, in the United States. It has circulation of 7,926 copies. The newspaper is published every day except for Sundays.
The 1978 California gubernatorial election occurred on November 7, 1978. The Democratic incumbent, Jerry Brown, defeated the Republican nominee Attorney General Evelle J. Younger and independent candidate Ed Clark in a landslide.
Minturn is an unincorporated community in Madera County, California. It is located on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad and California State Route 99 1.5 miles (2 km) north-northwest of Chowchilla, at an elevation of 236 feet. Minturn is near the Geographic Center of California, between Madera and Merced.
Myron Donovan Crocker was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California and the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California.
Joshua Eric Lynn was the Chief Trial Deputy of Santa Barbara County, Santa Barbara, California from 2008 to 2010. He was the lead prosecuting attorney in the trial of Jesse James Hollywood, who was convicted and sentenced to life in prison on February 5, 2010. He was terminated after his loss in an election in 2010.
Dohassen Gault-Williams, better known as Das Williams, is an American politician who currently serves as County Supervisor on the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors. He represents the First District, which encompasses Carpinteria, most of Santa Barbara, and parts of the Los Padres National Forest. In 2024, Williams was defeated for re-election in a bid for his third term by Carpinteria City Councilman Roy Lee by a 49%-51% margin.
Gourgen Mkrtich Yanikian was an Armenian genocide survivor. He is best known for the assassination of two Turkish consular officials, Consul General Mehmet Baydar and Consul Bahadır Demir. The event took place in Santa Barbara, California in 1973.
The 2018 California Secretary of State election was held on November 6, 2018, to elect the California Secretary of State. Incumbent Democratic Secretary Alex Padilla won re-election to a second term.
Andreas Borgeas is an American attorney, politician, and academic who served as a member of the California State Senate from the 8th district, which included parts of the Central Valley and the Sierra Nevada. Prior to being elected to the state Senate, he was a member of the Fresno County Board of Supervisors. He represented all or portions of Amador, Calaveras, Fresno, Inyo, Madera, Mariposa, Mono, Sacramento, Stanislaus, Tulare, and Tuolumne counties.
Jose Guerrero is an American serial killer and rapist who abducted and killed three women and attempted to kill a fourth between 1995 and 1998 in Madera, California. The murders remained unsolved for nearly six years until DNA implicated Guerrero after he was jailed for a DUI. He was later found guilty and given the death penalty in 2009.
