MARTINEZ ? A jury trial date was set Friday morning in the Renato Hughes Jr. murder case. The trial is set to begin with jury selection on May 27 before Contra Costa County Superior Court Judge Barbara Zuniga.
The case went before Contra Costa Superior Court Judge Terence L. Bruiniers for its first court appearance in Contra Costa County. The court selected that county after a change of venue out of Lake County was granted in November 2007. Both attorneys met informally Friday morning with Zuniga to discuss plans and preparations for case, according to Hopkins.
Former San Francisco resident Renato Hughes, 23, is charged under the Provocative Act doctrine for the deaths of two companions, who were both 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.
Retired Superior Court Judge William A. McKinstry granted the change after a jury was seated in Lake County Superior Court following a nearly three-week selection process that involved interviewing potential jurors regarding racial bias and knowledge of the case. Hughes” San Francisco defense attorney Stuart Hanlon said that individual questioning of potential jurors ? sequestered voire dire ? was what lengthened the selection process in Lake County.
“What we did in Lake County was unusual, where one person at a time is questioned on certain issues. We did it because of the media and because of the possible racial issue. We probably won”t even have a questionnaire, I don”t know, it”s up to the judge. I think we can have a jury within three or four days,” Hanlon said.
Hanlon continued, “Jury selection should be a lot quicker because there”s no media (in Contra Costa County), which was a large part of our individual voire dire. A lot of media happens in Lake County, and that affected the jury pool there. We”re unlikely to have any individual voire dire, and that should speed it along.”
Lake County District Attorney Jon Hopkins will continue to prosecute the case. Hopkins expressed concerns when he initially learned in January that Contra Costa was being considered as a court venue.
“My concerns were that Contra Costa was right in the Bay Area media, and there was an awful lot of publicity in the Bay Area media. The other issue was that Hanlon”s group of demonstrators ? some of them came from Richmond. They were demonstrating on the courthouse steps while the jury was being selected. I was concerned that there would be more of that in Contra Costa than there was in Lakeport,” Hopkins said Friday.
Hopkins continued, “Now that I”ve looked at it and thought about it, and now that I”ve had more than five minutes to consider it, I have decided that if the judge gave us the latitude to question jurors, we will be able to resolve those concerns.”
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