LAKEPORT — Attorneys screened about 200 potential jurors for hardships Tuesday in the case against two Clearlake men facing murder charges.
Shannon Lee Edmonds and Melvin Dale Norton will return to court 8:15 a.m. today and Thursday in plain clothes and without shackles for more jury screening. Attorneys don”t expect trial arguments to start until Jan. 21 or Jan. 26.
Edmonds and Norton allegedly stabbed Shelby Ryan Uehling, 25, of Bozeman, Mont. to death early Sept. 22.
The Clearlake men are charged with murder, assault with a knife, assault with a club and assault likely to produce great bodily injury. Norton is also charged with accessory to murder. Special allegations accompany Edmonds” charges that great bodily injury was inflicted.
The charges carry a maximum sentence of life in prison without possibility of parole.
Uehling had been staying with friends in Clearlake for a few months before his death, according to the Lake County Coroner”s Office.
Clearlake police responded to a call near Old Highway 53 and Clement Drive where they found Uehling, Clearlake Police Chief Allan McClain said. An ambulance transported Uehling to St. Helena Hospital Clearlake where he was pronounced dead upon arrival.
“From the autopsy it indicated the man was severely beaten and he suffered a stab wound in the buttocks, lower back that punctured a lung and there was a three-inch laceration in the neck area that severed the carotid artery,” McClain said in an earlier interview.
The men remain in custody at the Lake County Jail with $1 million bail each.
One potential juror said he knew Uehling”s family and that it was difficult for him to stay in the room with Edmonds and Norton. After the court finished asking jurors about their hardships and the attorneys spoke with the judge, the bailiff escorted the potential juror out of the room.
Another potential juror said his mom was a good friend of Uehling. He and all the other jurors who claimed financial hardships were excused from jury duty.
Norton”s defense attorney, Stephen Carter, filed a motion that would not allow anyone in the court to use the word “victim” in reference to Uehling. Judge Arthur Mann denied the request and said if witnesses or attorneys use the word in a pejorative manner the court will discuss the issue again.
Mann approved a motion disallowing the use of “defendant” so attorneys and witnesses have to say either Edmonds” or Norton”s names, or “defendants” to refer to both of them.
Deputy District Attorney Art Grothe provided the defense attorneys with phone conversation discovery in a new format than he had initially filed.
Contact Katy Sweeny at ksweeny@record-bee.com or call her directly at 263-5636, ext. 37.
