LAKEPORT– Ronald Greiner identified Thomas Loyd Dudney as one of the two men who shot, beat and hogtied him on Oct. 20, 2009 during Dudney”s jury trial at the Lake County Courthouse Wednesday.
Judge Arthur Mann presided. Attorney Doug Rhoades represented Dudney and deputy district attorney Art Grothe represented the Lake County District Attorney”s Office.
Dudney, 59, of Fulton, faces 11 felony charges, including attempted murder, mayhem, robbery and assault with a firearm, in connection with the 2009 incident in which Greiner was attacked at his Lakeport residence behind the Record-Bee building.
Greiner told the court Wednesday that he recognized one of his attackers as a man he knew by the nickname KTron and later pointed to Dudney when asked if KTron was present in the courtroom.
Greiner said he briefly met Dudney several times in spring 2009 through longtime friend Deborah James. The first two times were at a house off of Marlow Road in Santa Rosa, where Greiner and James had gone to obtain methamphetamine, Greiner said.
Greiner said he spent most of his life in Sonoma County and relocated to Lake County in early 2009 to remodel two houses for his boss. The second house was located on 10 acres of property off of South Main Street and behind the Record-Bee, he said.
Greiner said he began growing marijuana on the property in June 2009, planting around 10 plants of his own and offering to grow four or five of James”s plants. High winds and wet conditions that fall caused James”s plants, which were unsheltered and growing in a separate location from Greiner”s plants, to become at risk, Greiner said.
About one week before the attack, James came to Greiner”s Lakeport house and attempted to build a shelter around her plants, Greiner said. Then two days before the incident, James, Debra Due and two other people came to the property to remove Due”s equipment trailer, which she had stored there, Greiner said.
Greiner said he had pulled his marijuana plants in the meantime and they were hanging to dry in several rooms of his house. James went to check on her plants and told Greiner they were missing, he said.
An argument ensued after Due suggested Greiner give James some of his plants to make up for James”s lost plants, according to Greiner, who later said that Due became physical and threatened him, saying she would “send a couple big boys over” to Greiner”s house if he didn”t give James some of his plants.
Due testified Tuesday that an argument occurred and that she made a sarcastic remark to Greiner, asking him “what are you going to do when the big boys come for you?”
Greiner said he took the alleged threat seriously and later that day screwed shut all but one of the exterior entrance doors of the house, including the front door. He testified that he had no contact with James or Due between Oct. 17 and Oct. 20, 2009.
Greiner said that on the night of Oct. 19, 2009, he smoked marijuana and went to sleep on the single bed in the living room around 11:30 p.m. He said that at some point during the early hours of Oct. 20, 2009, “I got woke up when the front door got kicked in.”
Greiner said he jumped out of bed, saw two men near the door and was immediately shot twice, once in the shoulder and once in the chest. He testified that he saw Dudney, who he knew as KTron, fire the first shots with a pistol.
Greiner said there were no lights on in his house that night but that floodlights from a neighboring car lot illuminated the house enough that he could recognize the attackers.
Greiner then ran toward the kitchen door, was caught from behind and had a solid object held against his throat, according to his testimony. Greiner said he did not know which man held onto his neck, but that he dragged the person out of the house and was eventually tackled on the lawn.
Greiner said the other attacker then kicked him in the ribs, knocking the wind out of him. The two men proceeded to hogtie him with wire and apply several blows to the back of his head, causing him to lose consciousness, Greiner said.
Greiner said he drifted in and out of consciousness after the attack, though he couldn”t recognize times of day because his eyes were swollen shut. He said while awake, he experienced “just pain everywhere.”
At some point, a person touched him on the shoulder, identifying himself as a police officer, Greiner said. Greiner testified that he remembered officers trying to cut the wires loose but did not recall having any conversations with law enforcement before arriving at the hospital.
Greiner, whose face Wednesday showed little effect of the attack, said he could not remember how many medical procedures he endured or the specific extent of each injury.
He described some of the injuries and procedures, which included reconstructive surgery to his left orbital bone, multiple teeth being pulled, a fractured jaw, both ears being fully reattached, bullet wounds to the shoulder and torso, cuts on legs and scarring on the top lip.
Greiner said that it sometimes hurts when he chews, his left eye is occasionally blurry, he lost full feeling in his hands for more than one year and he now has some memory problems.
Greiner analyzed several police photographs of the scene taken on Oct. 20, 2009 and confirmed that marijuana plants he had hung throughout the house were missing.
Under cross-examination, Greiner said he was confident he recognized Dudney, or KTron, despite relying on ambient lighting. He also said he did not remember telling investigators that he recognized the second attacker.
Deputy Lyle Thomas of the Lake County Sheriff”s Office (LCSO) was the only other witness called Wednesday. Thomas, a detective at the time, said he participated in the Greiner-attack investigation.
Thomas said that in the days after the attack, he interviewed a Sonoma County woman named Brandi Morris, who provided “detailed” information about Dudney.
Later in the investigation, Thomas said he met with Morris again because she had obtained a copy of Thomas”s report of his interview with her, a document Thomas said was something Morris should not have had. Thomas said Morris seemed “very distraught” at the time.
Thomas testified that two other people, Cheryl Ann Reese and Joseph Deshetres, were each convicted of a misdemeanor charge of attempting to intimidate a witness as aides or abettors. Morris was that witness, Thomas said.
Reese, Deshetres and Dudney had each been charged with two felonies, including intimidating a witness. In June, the charges against Dudney in that case were dismissed, and Reese and Deshetres pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charge.
Thomas analyzed several photographs of Dudney taken while he was in custody in Sonoma County. Dudney had a brand mark on his chest of a diamond shape outline with “1%” inside as well as numerous tattoos, including “Misfits” on his left arm, Thomas said.
Rhoades was five minutes into his cross-examination when the trial concluded for the day. The trial will reconvene today at 9 a.m. in Department 2.
Contact Jeremy Walsh at jwalsh@record-bee.com or call him at 263-5636, ext. 37.
