LAKEPORT — Two Clearlake Oaks men accused of murdering a toddler and shooting five other people last spring appeared in court for their first day of trial Thursday, with the judge considering several motions and the parties discussing the logistics of the dual-jury proceedings.
Paul William Braden, 21, and Orlando Joseph Lopez, 24, pleaded not guilty to 15 felonies, including murder and five counts of attempted murder, and denied dozens of special allegations.
The charges stem from a June 18 incident during which authorities allege the two men opened fire on a crowd of people at a Clearlake home, killing Skyler Rapp, 4, and injuring others.
Braden and Lopez, who have remained in custody since June, have different lawyers and will have separate juries.
Visiting Judge Doris L. Shockley is set to preside over the entire trial, which Lake County District Attorney Don Anderson estimates could last longer than 10 weeks.
Shockley spent the early part of Thursday meeting privately with Anderson and defense attorneys Stephen Carter (who represents Lopez) and Doug Rhoades (who represents Braden) to discuss several pending motions, which primarily dealt with evidence admissibility and courtroom setup.
All four addressed many of the issues in open court later in the morning.
During the afternoon, the judge, the lawyers and court staff met again in private to discuss the logistics of the dual-jury trial.
The small size of the Lake County Superior Court facility creates the main problem.
Each courtroom has only one jury box, which means some jurors will likely be seated in the audience.
Additionally, each courtroom has only one jury room, and there is no separate jury assembly room at the Lakeport courthouse. The two juries should be kept in different areas when excused from the courtroom and they could not deliberate in the same space.
Another concern is furniture arrangement, because if one jury is in the audience, the attorneys” backs will be to those jurors based on the normal configuration.
Those issues, and others, were hashed out Thursday afternoon, and the trial is set to continue next week in Department 1 at the Lake County Courthouse, Carter said.
Jury selection is scheduled to begin Jan. 26 and could last four to six days, Anderson said.
Two pools of prospective jurors will arrive each day, with one group for one defendant in the mornings and a second for the other defendant in the afternoons.
The attorneys anticipate presenting evidence starting in early February.
Contact Jeremy Walsh at jwalsh@record-bee.com or call him at 263-5636, ext. 37.
