Renato Hughes will be tried in Lake County for the deaths of his companions, according to a ruling handed down Friday morning by Judge Arthur Mann. Jury trial is set to begin May 1.
Lake County District Attorney Jon Hopkins said he “vigorously opposed the change of venue motion,” and that he is “not surprised by any ruling.”
In his final ruling, Judge Mann said jury selection can begin and if that process shows the defendant cannot get a fair trial, the motion for change of venue can be renewed.
Hughes, 21, of San Francisco, is being charged with the deaths of his companions, Christian Foster, 22, of San Francisco, and Rashad Williams, 21, of Pittsburg, which occurred during an alleged attempted robbery on Dec. 7, 2005.
Williams and Foster died from bullets fired from a weapon by Shannon Edmonds as they ran from Edmonds” home after an alleged forced entry and attempt to obtain marijuana the Clearlake Park resident says he uses for medicinal reasons.
Hughes is being prosecuted for the deaths of Williams and Foster under a provision of the law that holds a person involved in a felony act responsible for deaths resulting if the felony was likely to cause lethal resistance, in what is called the Provocative Act Doctrine.
Hopkins indicated that the issue of Edmonds” involvement in the shooting deaths of Rashad and Williams is an entirely separate issue one that the district attorney”s office is not addressing at this time.
Defense attorney Stuart Hanlon requested a transcript of the hearing Friday so that he can file a writ, which is similar to an appeal. That matter will go before an appeals court, which could put the case on hold by issuing a stay order of the proceedings.
Testimony that lasted just more than two days centered around expert witnesses Bryan Stevenson, director of the Equal Justice Initiative of Alabama in Montgomery, Ala., and a Professor of Law at New York University School of Law, who testified on the impact of race in the motion hearings, and Doctor Craig Haney, Professor of Psychology from UC Santa Cruz, who testified on the data collection survey that was performed.
Not all cases in which one assailant dies meet the Provocative Act Doctrine requirements for prosecution, according to Hopkins, who said he has been familiar with it for quite some time. “I was going to try a case involving some folks who were trying to steal marijuana,” said Hopkins. “His crime partner was shot to death by the homeowner. I made a decision it did not apply, however, because the defendant was not the person who provoked the lethal response from the homeowner; it was the crime partner who died that provoked that response.”
“I”ve seen an awful lot of violence in my years surrounding people trying to rip off marijuana or the proceeds from marijuana,” said Hopkins. “They”ve continued to be a problem for quite some time.”
Hopkins wouldn”t say whether or not he feels these types of crimes are “on the rise,” but did affirm that “If you have a situation where someone provokes a lethal response, they can be prosecuted under the Provocative Act Doctrine.”
“There are a whole variety of theories that murder can be prosecuted under,” said Hopkins.
Contact news editor Aura Thomas at athomas@record-bee.com.
Five factors figure into change of venue
In determining whether or not to grant the motion, Judge Mann analyzed the five factors laid out by the California Supreme Court in ruling on a change of venue.
* Nature and gravity of offense — This was a neutral factor in making the decision. Although the case alleges a multiple murder, racial overtones and a homeowner using deadly force to defend his property, this issue would be the same no matter where it was tried. These issues would be the same tried anywhere outside as inside Lake County.
* Nature and extent of the publicity — While it was shown that there was significant media coverage collected by the defense, some articles included in the count were duplications of coverage by different media agencies. In all, 72 items were collected, but only half of the people surveyed had read the newspaper, and only half of the people surveyed knew about the case.
The quality of news coverage also was addressed. Judge Mann said he felt the defense”s concern that stories did not use the word “alleged” did not make much difference to most readers and the defense”s complaint about using the term “home invasion robbery” was used to some extent but it was not significant in terms of being prejudicial. Mann found the news articles were “largely factual,” giving details that would be introduced to the jury no matter where the case was tried. In summary, this factor weighed slightly toward the defense”s request for a change of venue.
* Size of county — Lake County”s population at 65,000 people is small. The 2005 census shows that 2.3 percent of the population is African American. Judge Mann ruled that the defense experts, in designing the survey, did not take into account the diversity of Lake County with respect to the number of people who have moved here from other areas.
* Status of defendant — The defense”s claim was that Hughes was depicted as an outsider from San Francisco, but the survey didn”t reveal any animosity toward the defendant because of that.
Race was also a topic peppered throughout the lines of reasoning in the change of venue hearing. Stevenson made a point in his testimony that a young man of color matched most jurors” image of a burglar, therefore, the status of the defendant should require a change of venue. Mann said that he did not agree that this was the case in Lake County, because most jurors in Lake County would picture a burglar as being a young white male meth user.
Stevenson spoke about unconscious racial bias. Judge Mann recognized this factor could be present here and has to be dealt with during jury selection. Overall, he found this factor to be neutral on the status of the defendant.
* Popularity and prominence of victims — The publicity regarding Shannon Edmonds and his family did not demonstrate that he had any popularity or prominence in Lake County. Some of the publicity contained claims that he is an alleged medical marijuana user and drug user.
