Prosecutors filed involuntary manslaughter charges Thursday against a 62-year-old Los Gatos man after the body of a man he’s accused of shooting was found in a vehicle near San Jose State University’s tennis courts over the weekend.
Yuhara’s lawyer said he will argue his client was trying to defend his property and himself when he fired shots at 47-year-old Daniel Winslow.
Court documents show Winslow and a friend were retrieving a stolen truck from Yuhara’s property in the hills above Los Gatos. Yuhara had reported the mysterious truck at his home the day before.
The Santa Clara County district attorney says Winslow and the friend were trying to start the truck when Yuhara confronted them with a gun.
Court papers show the two men then drove a getaway Jeep toward Yuhara before speeding away. That’s when a shot rang out.
“As Mr. Yuhara stated to police, he was shooting to send a message to the driver not to return,” District Attorney Brian Welch said.
Hours later, neighbors found Winslow’s body inside the abandoned Jeep at San Jose State. The driver was gone.
Now, the search is on for that third man, who the DA says drove the getaway car.
“We’d like to talk to the driver,” Welch said.
The district attorney doesn’t believe Yuhara was trying to kill anyone, hence the manslaughter charges.
“I think it’s a tragic situation for everybody involved,” said Riccardo Ippolito, Yuhara’s attorney. “There was a person who was killed. There’s my client with no criminal history, and now he’s incarcerated.”
Yuhara faces a maximum of 15 years in prison. He could get as little as probation, if convicted.
Yuhara is out of jail on $75,000 bail.
