The Renato Hughes murder trial is facing another possible move in its new Contra Costa County venue, according to the attorneys on the case.
Hughes, a former San Francisco resident, 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 doctrine holds co-conspirators responsible in the commission of a felony if the action was likely to provoke deadly resistance.
“We are going to introduce a motion to either change the trial”s internal venue in the county from Martinez to Richmond, or alternatively increase the number of prospective jurors called from the Richmond and Pittsburgh parts of the county,” Defense Attorney Stuart Hanlon said.
Retired Superior Court Judge William A. McKinstry granted a change of court venue from Lake County to Contra Costa County in November 2007 after a jury was seated in Lake County Superior Court.
The change followed a nearly three-week selection process that involved interviewing potential jurors regarding racial bias and knowledge of the case.
Hanlon said of the court venues that were considered, all but one had a higher black population than the state average.
“We take that to mean the AOC (California Administrative Office of the Courts) meant to go to a county that had a fairly large African American population. We thought Contra Costa had a population that fit that criteria,” Hanlon said.
“I don”t think there”s any legal basis for it, and he (Hanlon) continues to misstate the basis for which the change of venue was granted,” Lake County District Attorney Jon Hopkins said. Hopkins is prosecuting Hughes.
Contra Costa County is 9.5 percent black, higher than the state average of 6.7 percent. Hanlon said that percent does not accurately reflect the likelihood of black jurors sitting on the Hughes case. Hughes himself is black.
“There have been court of appeals cases that have constitutionally attacked cases where jury pools don”t reflect the African American population in the county. The reason is that the majority of black people live in Richmond or Pittsburgh, neither of which has public transportation accessible to Martinez. So people just never show up,” Hanlon said.
He continued, “We don”t have to show why the county is not diverse, we just have to say we would not have gone there, we would not have agreed if we had known that it was really only four percent based on the reality.”
The hearing is scheduled for May 2.
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