LAKEPORT — Testimony in the dual-jury trial of two men accused of murdering a toddler last spring began Wednesday at the Lake County Courthouse.
Paul William Braden, 21, and Orlando Joseph Lopez Jr., 24, face 15 felonies, including one for murder and five counts of attempted murder, for allegedly shooting into a crowd gathered at a home on June 18, killing Skyler Rapp, 4, and injuring five others.
Braden and Lopez entered the courtroom shortly after 11 a.m. Separate juries and alternate jurors were chosen for each defendant, all of whom were present in the courtroom.
Because of the difficulty in arranging the two juries and the alternates in the courtroom, the trial began later than expected. Judge Doris L. Shockley presided.
Lake County District Attorney Don Anderson called his first witness, Janet Leonor, who owns a mobile home on 16th Avenue in Clearlake where a party was reportedly held June 18 that Lopez and Braden attended. Leonor”s granddaughter, Ashli Athas, also lived there and was in a relationship at the time with Leonardo Lopez, Orlando Lopez”s brother.
Leonor said some friends of Athas arrived at the residence on June 18 around 5 or 6 p.m. She said there were about eight to 10 people that arrived and she did not know who they all were. She said the partygoers played “beer pong.”
Leonor testified Lopez arrived sometime in the early evening. Leonor said she wasn”t sure if she saw Braden, only a “tall and bald-headed” man who reportedly resembled Braden.
Anderson focused his questioning on Leonor”s detached garage, where it is alleged Braden used a saw to cut off the stock of a shotgun.
Leonor said she saw four men, including Lopez and the tall, bald-headed man, inside the garage near the workbench but she could not see what they were doing.
Leonor said she asked the partygoers to leave following the incident in the garage, which she said occurred around 9:30 or 10 p.m. She said she was in the garage the next morning and noticed some tools were out of place, including two different saws that were removed from the wall above the workbench. She said she also noticed a black bolt on the ground that had been cut off.
Anderson entered into evidence two saws that Leonor identified as belonging to her, as well as a photograph of duct tape on a table in Leonor”s backyard and the bolt that Leonor said she found.
Under cross-examination, Lopez”s lawyer, Stephen Carter, asked Leonor if she recalled seeing any residue on the workbench or tools. She said she saw some shavings near a vice located on the workbench. She said she was not sure if they were wood shavings or a composite material.
Leonor said she did not remember seeing Lopez at the party when she asked everyone to leave. She said she saw no weapons at the party and had no weapons in her home.
The second witness called was Athas, Leonor”s granddaughter.
She testified she knew Lopez well because she was dating his brother at the time, calling Lopez her “brother-in-law.” She said she also knew Braden as an acquaintance who she would hang out with when she lived in Clearlake Oaks.
When asked, she identified both Braden and Lopez. She said Braden looked different in the courtroom, saying “he has hair” now and was bald at the time of the incident.
Athas said Lopez arrived at the residence on 16th Avenue in the early afternoon on June 18, with Braden arriving sometime around 2 or 3 p.m.
Athas said during that evening she was aware of a phone argument between Braden, her aunt Crystal Pearls and Ross Sparks, the boyfriend of Rapp”s mother. Athas said she heard Pearls “freaking out” on the phone. She said Braden responded, “I”m not going to argue with a female on the phone.”
Athas said Braden was calm but seemed angry. She said this occurred around 4 p.m. Braden left with Lopez shortly after the two phone calls occurred, she said.
Athas said they returned around 40 minutes later and Braden was holding something wrapped up in a sweatshirt under his arm. She said he unwrapped a shotgun a few minutes after coming back and showed it to people at the party. Braden then mentioned he wanted to saw the butt off the shotgun, she said.
Athas said Braden later began playing with the gun, putting shells into the chamber and cocking it, then removing them. Athas said Braden began making comments about using the gun.
” I”m bored, let”s go shoot somebody,”” Athas testified Braden said. ” I didn”t bring this shotgun to Clearlake for nothing. Let”s go use it.””
She said her grandmother asked everyone to leave around 10 p.m.
Around 10:20 p.m., Athas said she was looking out her bedroom window and saw Kevin Stone arrive in a dark SUV. She said she didn”t know Stone personally but had seen him around and knew he was a friend of Braden and Lopez.
She said he stopped in the street in front of the residence and Lopez and Braden then walked up to the car. She said Braden was clutching the gun, wrapped up in the sweatshirt. She said she didn”t see them get into the SUV and didn”t hear it drive off.
Athas said she received a phone call from her dad minutes after the shooting, informing her Leonardo Lopez”s name was being mentioned on the police scanner as being involved in a shooting. She said Leonardo Lopez was taken down to the Clearlake Police Department (CPD) the next day for questioning. While he was gone, she said he left his cellphone and Braden called. She said she answered and informed him her cousin (Rapp) was killed. She testified Braden said, “Oh God, I”m so sorry” a few times before she hung up on him.
Athas admitted to making up a story initially to CPD investigators because she had heard a lot of rumors about Braden”s family and was scared. She originally told investigators that both Braden and Lopez had not been at the party that night.
Braden”s attorney, Doug Rhoades, cross-examined Athas about her testimony at the October preliminary hearing. At that hearing, Athas testified there was no drinking going on at the June 18 party. Athas said she had forgotten and talked with other partygoers who helped her remember.
“So much (expletive) has happened since then that I didn”t remember drinking,” she said.
Rhoades asked Athas about the alleged phone argument between Braden, Sparks and Pearls. She said she did not hear Sparks on the phone, only that everyone at the party was mentioning Braden was talking to him.
Athas” testimony was suspended at around 4 p.m. She will come back to the stand today at 9 a.m. before the next witness is called.
Kevin N. Hume can be reached at kevin.n.hume@gmail.com or call directly 263-5636 ext. 14.
