Lake County Superior Court Judge Arthur H. Mann has set Feb. 6, 2007, as the starting date for a jury trial for Renato Hughes Jr., charged with the deaths of two of his companions in a failed attempt to steal marijuana from a Clearlake Park man.
However, Chief Deputy District Attorney Jon Hopkins says that he fully expects Hughes” attorney, Stuart Hanlon of San Francisco, to file a motion for a change of venue at a trial readiness conference well in advance of that date.
The 21-year-old Hughes, also of San Francisco, is accused of two counts of murder in the shooting deaths of Christian Foster, 22, of San Francisco and Rashad Williams, 21, of Pittsburg as they allegedly fled from the home of Shannon Edmonds on Dec. 7, 2005.
Although Edmonds actually shot the two men, Hughes is being held for their deaths under a clause in the law that holds accomplices responsible for deaths occuring in the commission of a felonious act that is likely to provoke a lethal response.
Foster and Williams died after an alleged invasion of Edmonds” home where Edmonds claims they demanded marijuana he kept there for medical purposes.
Hopkins has said he has believed all along after Hanlon replaced Stephen Carter as Hughes” attorney in late March that Hanlon will ask for a change of venue and anticipates the motion will be presented on Dec. 4, the date of a trial readiness conference.
“He (Hanlon) is going to have the people of Lake County surveyed in the interim period (before Dec. 4). He may have some witnesses to call. It may be a longer motion that would have to be heard later that week, depending on the court”s availability, but that”s the date we”ve scheduled for that and any other motion he wants to raise,” Hopkins said following Mann”s scheduling of the trial on Monday.
Hanlon was not present in court. He was represented by an attorney from his firm who identified himself as Andrew Boland, but said he could not comment on the case.
Hopkins was dubious about the likelihood for success of Hanlon”s anticipated effort to move the trial from Lake County.
“I don”t think the elements that the law requires (for a change of venue) are met,” he said. “One of the factors the Supreme Court has set is whether it”s a small community. That holds true here, but some of the other elements are not met at all in my opinion.”
Scenarios that could force a venue change, he said, include those in which a victim is a highly respected member of the community and therefore gets more than the customary focus of its attention, or in which the crime for which the accused is standing trial is heinous, bizarre or spectacular (i.e. the Scott Peterson trial).
“The real test is whether the people in Lake County have their minds so made up that they can”t be fair,” Hopkins added. “I don”t find that at all.”
From communications written under the Hanlon law firm letterhead and documents that have included comments from prominent black individuals questioning why Hughes is being charged, it appears possible that race could be presented as a reason to move the trial. Edmonds is white and Hughes is black, as were Foster and Williams.
But, on this issue, too, Hopkins was skeptical.
“There are cases in which racial issues could lead to making the case an inflammatory one in which members of the community could not be fair,” he acknowledged, “but I don”t think race played a part in the young men”s selection of the home in which they were going to try to rip off marijuana. I don”t think the response of the homeowner (Edmonds) was based on race, and certainly none of the issues in the case are based on race.
“He (Hanlon) may try to argue that,” Hopkins conceded, “but I don”t think there”s enough of a basis that it would end up being a reason for the court to grant a change-of-venue motion.”
Additionally, Hopkins commented on forensic evidence he intends to present during the trial and said that the Department of Justice (DOJ) lab testing of clothing, blood, weapons and other materials is “pretty much concluded.”
Hanlon, he said, has indicated his intent to have some of the DNA evidence re-tested by a private laboratory.
“If he gets that testing finished and the change of venue motion is denied, at present we”re on course to begin a jury trial on Feb. 6,” Hopkins asserted.
Contact John Lindblom at jlwordsmith@mchsi.com.
