SAN DIEGO - The teenage son of former California Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez acted in self-defense in a confrontation that left a college student dead of a stab wound, his lawyer said Thursday after his client and three other men pleaded not guilty to murder and other charges. Esteban Nunez's lawyer, Brad Patton, did not elaborate on his self-defense claim but told a judge, "I believe there are clear defenses in this case."

Prosecutor Jill DiCarlo said Esteban Nunez vowed to attack someone "from the back" as he and his friends stewed about getting kicked out of a fraternity party early Oct. 4 in San Diego. In court documents, authorities quote Nunez saying, "Yeah, I got one of them," after the subsequent fight that killed Luis Santos, 22, and wounded three of his friends.

The defendants are charged with murder, assault with a deadly weapon and vandalism. Superior Court Judge David Szumowski set bail at $2 million for Nunez, Rafael Garcia and Leshanor Thomas, all 19. He denied bail to Ryan Jett, 22, because he is on probation for possession of ammunition.

Fabian Nunez, 41, his wife, Maria, and their daughter, Teresa, stood before a bank of television cameras as Patton made a brief statement outside court blasting prosecutors for making the case "a bit of spectacle." Fabian Nunez, who was one of the state's most powerful politicians before stepping down as speaker this year, declined to comment.

Paul Pfingst, Garcia's attorney, told reporters his client "is not a murderer." Attorneys for the other two defendants did not speak with reporters.

The defendants, all from the Sacramento area, could face maximum sentences of life in prison if convicted of murder.

Investigators said in court documents that Esteban Nunez and his friends belong to a "close-knit group of friends who call themselves 'THC' aka 'The Hazard Crew,'" who flash hand signs and sport tattoos with symbols of hazardous materials.

Police investigated what they called a possible "gang nexus" in the attack. But Paul Levikow, a spokesman for the San Diego County district attorney's office, said prosecutors will not allege the stabbings were committed to promote a gang, a potential special circumstance that could result in tougher penalties.

Investigators have not recovered the knives used to kill Santos, a San Diego Mesa College student, in the driveway of San Diego State University's Peterson Gym. Santos died at the scene from a stab wound that "sliced through the bottom of his heart," according to court documents.

Two other people who were with Santos suffered stab wounds, and a third underwent surgery after being punched in the eye, said DiCarlo, the prosecutor.

An arrest warrant affidavit offers witness accounts and other details of the crime.

Police suspect Nunez and his friends drove from Sacramento to San Diego to party. After getting kicked out of a party, they fueled their rage with a bottle of rum and two six-packs of beer at the apartment of Garcia's cousin, Briana Perez, according to court documents.

Perez quoted the men saying, "Let's go burn down their house" and "Let's show them how we do it in Sac-Town." The documents don't specify which men made the statements, although they say Nunez and Garcia did most of the talking.

Prosecutors allege the men slashed a trailer's tires before the melee, which occurred after the group left the apartment, according to the affidavit.

Thomas allegedly told investigators later that one of the victims said, "I think I got stabbed," and that Nunez said, "Yeah, I got one of them."

A friend of Nunez's, John Murray, told investigators that he joined the man hours later at a Sacramento riverbank frequented by transients. He said Nunez carried a plastic bag, and Jett had a cup filled with gasoline as they prepared to destroy evidence, according to the affidavit.

"They had a hat and a shirt they burned, and they had their knives in a bag," Murray is quoted as saying. "I walked back to my car and said, 'You guys do what you have to do.'"

Fabian Nunez is the longest-serving speaker in California's era of legislative term limits. The Los Angeles Democrat cultivated a close relationship with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that led to their agreement on a landmark law to greatly reduce greenhouse gas emissions in California.

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