After going through three courts in the case of the People vs. Renato Hughes, defense attorney Stuart Hanlon learned Wednesday that his request for a change of venue from Lake County was denied in California Supreme Court.
Hughes is charged with the shooting deaths of his two companions, Christian Foster, 22, of San Francisco, and Rashad Williams, 21, of Pittsburg in an alleged robbery gone bad at the Clearlake Park home of Shannon Edmonds on Dec. 2, 2005.
What makes the case unusual, and controversial, is that Hughes did not wield the Browning automatic pistol that killed his companions. Although Edmonds actually pulled the trigger, Hughes is being held for their deaths under a clause in the law that holds co-perpetrators if a felonious act responsible of the act is likely to provoke lethal resistance.
Lake County Superior Court Judge Arthur H. Mann denied Hanlon”s request for a change of venue in a March 2 ruling after Hanlon put forth an argument that Lake County is not the ideal racial climate for his client to receive a fair trial.
“I”m concerned that the burden of finding a fair jury is on us and not on the government as it should be,” said Hanlon in a Thursday interview. “The people are assuming he”s guilty. We”re going to do a lot of work in reversing that so the law of presumption of innocence applies,” he said.
Hanlon and District Attorney Jon Hopkins, who is prosecuting the case, both said the next step is to set a trial date. Although not yet confirmed, the tentative court date for the setting of a trial date is June 14 at 10 a.m. in Dept. 1 of the Lake County Courthouse in Lakeport.
“The ruling by Judge Mann, and the observation of the Court of Appeals, was that we would reassess the issue of whether a fair jury can be found in Lake County during jury selection,” said Hopkins.
Both parties are working to develop a questionnaire to screen potential jurors. Hopkins said the purpose of the questionnaire would be to “address their (potential jurors”) knowledge of the case and whether they”ve made up their minds or formed an opinion about the case.” Questions regarding prejudice would be included, he said.
“When we discover somebody that has something to say that might affect the other potential jurors, then we will have an individual questioning session with that juror out of the presence of the others. The questionnaire would help identify those that most readily appear to need further individual questioning,” Hopkins explained.
Retired Alameda Superior Court Judge William A. McKinstry was appointed by the Judicial Council to preside over the trial, and he will ultimately decide if the questionnaire is “more trouble than it”s worth,” said Hopkins, depending on whether the prosecution and defense can agree on its structure.
“There are a lot of good people in Lake County, and we”re going to do our best to find them,” said Hanlon. “If during the process of questioning jurors, we believe there is a problem with getting a fair jury, we”ll renew our motion for a change of venue,” he added.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com.
