OCEANSIDE — A 33-year-old man will have to stand trial for beating a Camp Pendleton Marine’s wife during a Halloween party last year; however, a judge dismissed his co-defendant’s case Feb. 10. After two days of testimony, Judge Joel Pressman found enough evidence to support a single count of assault against Javier Miguel Gomez, while Jesse John Duena, who was also charged with assault relating to the stabbing of a Marine at the party, had his case dismissed due to a shaky identification by the victim and other witnesses. Prosecutors allege Gomez and another man crashed an Oceanside house party on Parker Street last Halloween. When the party got out of control around midnight and the hosts, Britney Sixta and her husband Daniel Sixta, a Camp Pendleton Marine, asked people to leave is when the physical altercations happened. Britney Sixta testified she got into an altercation with Gomez after she found him urinating in her driveway. She said as she confronted him, he punched her and then they started trading blows. Britney Sixta said she believes she was punched more than five times in the face by the defendant. During her fight, Michael Brooks, who also resided at the home, was stabbed by another male, according to witness testimony. Brooks, also a Camp Pendleton Marine, testified he suffered a collapsed lung and spent six days in the hospital, but has since recovered. In an interview following the hearing, Deputy District Attorney Anne Richardson said Brooks’ identification was based on a single tattoo that he didn’t see very well. Also, outside the courtroom just prior to his testimony, another witness told Brooks that it was Duena who stabbed him, Richardson said. If convicted, Gomez faces significant prison time because of his two strike priors, which can substantially lengthen his prison sentence, the prosecutor said. He has pleaded not guilty to the charge. Gomez’s next scheduled court appearance is a March 9 readiness conference.
