Fast-food murder trial closes with guilty verdict

Deepa Bharath

SANTA ANA - A jury on Wednesday convicted a Downey man of first-degree

murder, saying he publicly shot and killed a Newport Beach resident a

year ago in the parking lot of a Costa Mesa fast-food restaurant.

The grisly shooting killed 49-year-old Miroslav Maric on the afternoon

of May 18, 2001, in a crowded parking lot of a Jack in the Box restaurant

at the intersection of Tustin Avenue and 17th Street. The incident was

witnessed by several people.

Ramadan Dokovic, 42, faces 25 years to life in prison, as well as

additional penalties for using a weapon. It took the 12-member jury,

consisting of 11 women and one man, more than three days to reach a

verdict.

The case was as much a challenge for the detectives who investigated

it as it was for the attorneys involved because, as it turned out, the

shooting was connected with a credit card fraud ring operated in the

Newport-Mesa area by Dokovic’s nephew, Mike Dokovic. The FBI has issued

arrest warrants for both Mike Dokovic and his brother, Amo Dokovic, in

connection with the fraud ring.

Ramadan Dokovic told police in taped interviews that he and Mike

Dokovic moved to New York from their native Yugoslavia 10 years ago. In the tapes that were played as part of the evidence during the trial,

Ramadan Dokovic said he cooperated with federal agents and helped them

arrest Mike Dokovic for bank fraud.

In return, Ramadan Dokovic received probation and then relocated to

California, while Mike Dokovic got jail time and was deported. But

attorneys said Mike Dokovic returned to the United States and found his

niche in Newport Beach, where he operated a successful credit card scam.

Ramadan Dokovic told detectives on tape that he was trying to retrieve

Rolex watches for Costa Mesa jeweler Glenn Verdult, who promised him

$20,000 in return. Verdult was called to testify during the trial but

pleaded the 5th Amendment and has since said Dokovic’s statements to the

police about him were not true. He declined further comment.

The defense has argued that Dokovic shot Maric in self-defense. Public

Defender Dolores Yost told the jury that Dokovic was dealing with a

dangerous crime ring and that he had to make a choice between life and

death.

Yost, who was out of state Wednesday for a seminar, could not be

reached for comment.

Prosecutor Matt Murphy said he believed the “jury made the right

decision.”

“This guy was clearly committing a robbery,” he said. “I’m glad the

jury saw that.”

Murphy said the case was unusual because “the complexities of the

fraud were very intricate and difficult to figure out.”

“They were very sophisticated in the way they committed those crimes,”

he said.

Murphy also praised the Costa Mesa Police Department, calling its

investigation of the incident “the most thorough I’ve ever seen.”

The convoluted nature of the case made it a tough one, said Costa Mesa

Police Det. Sgt. Jack Archer.

“The involvement of the crime ring led us to several different

avenues,” he said. “But we tried to work through that and tried to remain

focused on the homicide and not get derailed by all that other

information.”

Dokovic is scheduled to be sentenced on June 28.

* Deepa Bharath covers public safety and courts. She may be reached at

(949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at o7 [email protected] .