LAKE COUNTY — Deciding which court will hear the Renato Hughes, Jr. murder trial continues to be a focus of proceedings in the Lake County Superior Court. The prosecution and defense received word this week that the Judicial Council of California, Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) contacted six counties.
Former San Francisco resident Renato Hughes, 23, is charged under the Provocative Act doctrine for the deaths of two companions, who were shot in the back Dec. 7, 2005 as they fled the Clearlake Park home of Shannon Edmonds. The clause holds co-conspirators responsible in the commission of a felony if the action was likely to provoke deadly resistance. A change of venue for the murder trial was granted Nov. 15, 2007 after Hughes” San Francisco defense attorney Stuart Hanlon”s second request.
Superior Court Judge Arthur Mann said in a Dec. 14, 2007 court date that the two counties being considered to hear the trial were Los Angeles and San Diego. The choices and reasons are defined in an AOC memo dated Dec. 14 and date stamped Dec. 19, when it arrived at the Lake County District Attorney”s Office.
“Los Angeles is excellent, but I don”t know if I can do it because of my living situation with my son,” Hughes” San Francisco defense attorney Stuart Hanlon said Thursday. “I don”t know if I can stay in the trial if it”s in L.A. I”m very confident that in any of those counties he (Hughes) will get acquitted; there”s not the racial sameness that there is in Lake County.”
“I”m disappointed that the AOC did not even check with Sacramento, because it fits all the requirements,” Lake County District Attorney Jon Hopkins said. “Frankly, I”m amazed that the AOC would look at Alameda and San Francisco because of the higher degree of publicity.”
The counties contacted were Alameda, Fresno, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco and San Joaquin. Of those, the Los Angeles and San Diego courts can accommodate the change of venue, according to the AOC. Factors considered in determining the best venue choices include “a diverse ethnic population,” transportation, court availability, security, “ability to accommodate the media,” and the availability of court staff, according to the memo.
Brad Campbell, supervising analyst for the assigned judges program at the AOC, media coverage and ethnic diversity in the community where the trial will be heard are factors that will be weighed in a McGown hearing. That proceeding will allow the defense and prosecution to make arguments for a particular court; Judge Mann will ultimately decide.
“We were told to told right up front that the court was looking for an ethnically diverse population and looking to make certain that there was no undue media coverage in the area,” Campbell said. “We want to get it calendared as quickly as possible. It”s far more important to get a court that can provide a fair trial. Sometimes that”s in sync, sometimes it”s not.”
Campbell said he will contact more courts in the Bay area and “one or two others” after Mann requested that he do so in a phone conversation this week. The matter is scheduled back in court on Jan. 4, 2007.
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