Victim of January assault dies

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By Christian Burkin

Record Staff Writer

May 28, 2010 12:00 AM

STOCKTON - A man found beaten unconscious in January in the backyard of a south Stockton home died Tuesday.

Officer Pete Smith, a spokesman for the Stockton Police Department, said the death of 43-year-old Joseph Sandoval had not yet been ruled a homicide. Investigators were still waiting for the Coroner's Office to link the exact cause of death to the beating.

"We have to have a definitive nexus between his death and his injuries," Smith said.

Sandoval was found around 11:30 a.m. Jan. 24, lying on the ground in the backyard of a home in the 1400 block of South American Street. He was taken to San Joaquin General Hospital, where doctors found he was bleeding internally. Investigators found what they thought was a crime scene in a standalone building in the backyard.

The white clapboard home was condemned as a public hazard by the city on Jan. 25, according to documents still posted near its front door Thursday morning. The home stands out among its neighbors, which are generally well-kept. Araceli Gonzalez, who lives nearby, said it was once one of the nicest on the block.

"And now it's basically a crack house," she said. "Everyone on Charter Way knows that house is empty."

The home's windows and doors were boarded over with plywood, except for one window in the back, which appeared to have been pried open. Beneath that window, a man was taking a nap. He awoke and prepared to move on, insisting he had only stopped for a moment. He said he knew Sandoval, but not well.

"I just knew him from the streets," he said. He declined to give his own name.

Contact reporter Christian Burkin at (209) 546-8279 or cburkin@recordnet.com. Visit his blog at recordnet.com/burkinblog.

Contact The Jacot Law Firm at 888-823-4883.