LAKEPORT — A jury of 12 Lake County residents Tuesday convicted Thomas Loyd Dudney of 10 felony counts, and found all special allegations to be true, for his involvement in an Oct. 20, 2009 incident in which a Lakeport man was shot, tortured and hogtied.
“The jury was very attentive and thorough in their job. They were extremely dedicated and a pleasure to deal with,” deputy district attorney Art Grothe said.
Judge Arthur H. Mann presided. Grothe represented the Lake County District Attorney”s Office and attorney Doug Rhoades represented 60-year-old Dudney.
The jury returned guilty verdicts for first-degree attempted murder, mayhem, torture, first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary with another person, assault with a firearm, assault with a blunt force object, assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury, battery with serious bodily injury and active participation in a criminal street gang.
The special allegations included that five of the crimes were committed with the infliction of great bodily injury, that Dudney discharged a firearm and caused great bodily injury when committing four of the crimes, and that nine of the crimes were committed for the benefit of a criminal street gang, The Misfits Motorcycle Club.
The prosecution alleged that Dudney and an unidentified second person attacked Ronald Greiner at the Lakeport man”s house behind the Record-Bee building during the early morning hours of Oct. 20, 2009.
Greiner, who testified Feb. 9, said he recognized one of the two 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 saw Dudney fire two gunshots that hit him.
A former Record-Bee employee testified that he called law enforcement around 9 a.m. on Oct. 20, 2009 after hearing screams coming behind the Record-Bee parking lot. Responding officers testified that Greiner”s wrists and ankles had been hogtied using a combination of baling wire and twine.
The trauma program manager at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital testified that Greiner”s injuries included gunshot wounds to the chest and leg, cuts to the legs, arms, head and face, severely swollen eyes, nasal fractures, three broken ribs and collapsed lungs on each side of the chest.
The prosecution also alleged that Dudney and the second attacker stole marijuana that Greiner had hanging in the house. Grothe argued that all of the crimes were done for the enhancement of The Misfits motorcycle gang.
The jury heard that Dudney was arrested on the afternoon of Oct. 20, 2009 in a coordinated effort between the Lake County Sheriff”s Office and Sonoma County law enforcement.
The prosecution called more than 20 witness during the better part of six court days. The majority of witnesses were investigators from a wide range of local and state law enforcement agencies.
“These agencies showed great cooperation and coordination in this investigation and were instrumental in the resolution of this matter,” Grothe said.
Rhoades called two witnesses while presenting defense evidence for roughly one hour during portions of two court days.
Rhoades attempted to discredit Greiner”s identification of Dudney because of lighting conditions during the attack. Greiner testified that the main light source originated from outside the house, saying that floodlights from a nearby car lot illuminated the inside of the house enough for him to recognize Dudney.
Rhoades called the gang enhancement allegation a “red herring” during his closing argument, saying the evidence presented during the trial did not show that the crimes were committed on behalf of The Misfits. The jury deliberated for about 90 minutes Thursday, all day Friday and nearly four hours Tuesday before reaching its verdicts. The court clerk read the jury”s findings beginning just after 3 p.m. Tuesday.
Mann then ruled, out of the jury”s presence, that alleged prior convictions of Dudney had not been proven and stipulated that Dudney will have no felony strikes against him for sentencing purposes. Mann thanked and excused jury members around 3:30 p.m., concluding their service that began the final week of January.
Mann scheduled Dudney”s sentencing hearing for April 4 at
8:15 a.m. in a courtroom to be announced. “The range of sentencing options include up to life, plus 20 or more years,” Grothe said.
Contact Jeremy Walsh at jwalsh@record-bee.com or call him at 263-5636, ext. 37.
