SAN QUENTIN — California Court of Appeal First Appellate District upheld the Aug. 2008 conviction of Renato Hughes, Jr. last week. Hughes was convicted of assault with a firearm and burglary related to a home invasion robbery that occurred in the Clearlake Park area on Dec. 7, 2005. The jury also found true a special allegation that a principal was armed with a shotgun during commission of the burglary.
Hughes is currently serving an eight year sentence in state prison.
“In my opinion, they are correct in upholding this conviction,” Lake County District Attorney Jon Hopkins, who prosecuted the case, said.
Hughes originally faced charges of murder for the deaths of Rashad Williams, 21, of Pittsburg/Clearlake and Christian Foster, 22, of San Francisco, who were shot and killed by homeowner Shannon Edmonds. Hughes was charged with their deaths under the provocative act law, which holds someone responsible if they participate in a crime likely to result in death.
In May 2008 a jury found Hughes not guilty of the two counts of murder, a count three charge of the attempted murder of Dale Lafferty, Edmond”s teenage stepson who was severely beaten in the home invasion incident; and a count four charge of robbery of Edmonds. Hughes was found guilty of assault with a firearm and burglary and the jury also found true the special allegation that a principal was armed with a shotgun during commission of the burglary.
Hughes was seeking appeal on two issues. Firstly, he sought review of a pre-trial order pursuant to which the trial court found that there was no discoverable material in the personnel records of a Clearlake police officer, who collected and transported blood evidence. Hughes contended that the officer planted evidence because he was racial bias.
The Court of Appeals has found that the trial court provided a very detailed description and analysis of the documents in the officer”s files and therefore the transcript is adequate for purposes of its review. The Court of Appeals has found that the trial court did not abuse its discretion by concluding that the officer”s personnel files did not contain discoverable material.
Secondly, Hughes contended that the sentencing court erred by imposing an upper term sentence for the burglary conviction. The court imposed an upper term for burglary because it concluded that there was great violence during the 2005 burglary.
The Court of Appeals affirmed judgment and sentence on Jan. 27.
Contact South County reporter Denise Rockenstein at drockenstein@clearlakeobserver.com or call her directly at 994-6444, ext. 11.
