A hearing was held Monday to determine whether parole should be revoked for Giovanni Ramirez, who is suspected in the beating of San Francisco Giants Bryan Stow outside Dodger Stadium.
The hearing, which involves an allegation of possession of a firearm by a felon, will be closed to the public and the media. It began on schedule in the 9 a.m. hour.
Ramirez was being held for allegedly being in possession of a gun and ammunition at the time of his arrest in the Stow investigation. The judge will be asked to decide whether that charge is enough to keep him in custody.
Attorneys for Ramirez maintain their client is innocent in Stow's beating, which has left him in a coma for nearly three months. Ramirez has not been charged in the Stow investigation.
If Ramirez wins the parole-revocation hearing, and he is not charged in the Stow case within 48 hours, he could be released.
Last week, attorneys for Ramirez went door-to-door in East Hollywood hoping to convince business owners not to destroy surveillance video from March 31. The legal team showed his photo and asked whether he looked familiar to business people and residents.
The photo showed Ramirez with close-cropped dark hair -- not a shaved head as he is seen in his booking photo. The shaved-head-look seemed to match the composite photo witnesses to the Stow beating described to police.
Lawyers for Ramirez claimed that surveillance video -- if Ramirez is on it -- may prove their point.
They said he stayed at the Comfort Inn in East Hollywood at the end of March. An investigator for the case brought a letter to the motel and three adjacent businesses asking them to preserve whatever images they might have of Ramirez from the evening of March 31.
