Man pleads not guilty to shooting charge

Deepa Bharath

NEWPORT BEACH -- The man accused of shooting a 49-year-old Newport

Beach resident several times in broad daylight on May 18 pleaded not

guilty to the murder charge Monday.

Ramadan Dokovic, 42, of Downey entered his plea at the Harbor Justice

Center on Monday morning.

According to the police and witnesses, Dokovic shot Miroslav Maric as

the two sat in a black Mercedes Benz convertible parked at a Jack in the

Box restaurant at the corner of 17th Street and Tustin Avenue in Costa

Mesa.

People at the shopping center who saw the shooting said Dokovic was

calm and relaxed during the incident and made no attempt to evade arrest.

According to several witnesses, Dokovic casually shot Maric several times

and then smoked a cigarette.

No information is available yet on the motive behind the alleged crime

or the relationship between the two men.

Police have declined to talk about the case or provide any more

information. Officials say detectives are investigating the case and that

releasing any further information could jeopardize their work.

The case has had several bizarre twists, capped off when officials

released conflicting reports about Maric’s time of death. Hospital

officials at the Western Medical Center in Santa Ana said Maric was

pronounced dead at 3:30 p.m. May 22, but the Orange County coroner had

entered the time of his death as 11:15 a.m. May 21.

A preliminary hearing on the case is set for Aug. 29 at Harbor Justice

Center.