Judge delays arraignment for Scarber family

By Marc Benjamin - The Fresno Bee

Wednesday, Mar. 20, 2013 | 10:55 PM Modified Thu, Mar 21, 2013 06:13 PM

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A Fresno County judge delayed for two weeks an arraignment for Kyle Scarber, his wife, Gail, and her daughter, Crystal Reynoso, who have been charged with helping son Spencer Scarber escape to Mexico.

The delay was sought because Gail Scarber, 51, and Reynoso, 33, have not hired lawyers, said Marshall Hodgkins, Kyle Scarber's lawyer.

They are accused of three felony counts for planning and assisting in the escape of 20-year-old Spencer Scarber days before he was convicted of rape in a Fresno County courtroom.

In addition, Gail Scarber is charged with two more felony counts, including forgery and creating a false birth certificate, according to a criminal complaint filed this week in Fresno County Superior Court.

Kyle Scarber, 49, assistant chief for the Fresno-area California Highway Patrol office, also is charged with filing a false police report, a misdemeanor, the complaint said. He declared his son missing and feared he was kidnapped from the family's Squaw Valley home on Dec. 12.

All three remain free on bail.

Judge Jon Skiles set their arraignments for April 3.

The reporter can be reached at (559) 441-6166, mbenjamin@fresnobee.com or @beebenjamin on Twitter.

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Lawyer Charles Magill said Wednesday that he and his wife, Laura Guzman Magill, will defend Gail Scarber and Crystal Reynoso, who are accused of helping Spencer Scarber escape to Mexico before the end of his rape trial and conviction in December.

Magill also filed a motion this week to become Spencer Scarber's lawyer to handle a motion for retrial. He will return to court April 12 -- the date of Spencer Scarber's sentencing -- and ask Judge Edward Sarkisian to name him as replacement for Scarber's lawyer, Antonio Alvarez.

Earlier this month, Alvarez filed a motion to be replaced, saying he and Scarber had difficulty working together, but Sarkisian refused to replace him.
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