SOLEDAD — The Board of Parole Hearings Tuesday denied parole for convicted felon Dewey Ringling Hansen, 67.
Richard Hinchcliff, chief deputy district attorney for Lake County, attended the lifer hearing at CTF-State Prison in Soledad, to argue against Hansen”s release.
Andrew S. Blum, who was the Lake County Chief Deputy District Attorney at the time and is currently a Superior Court judge, prosecuted Hansen in 1993.
Hansen pleaded guilty to the attempted second-degree murder of John Phillips who was a reserve officer for the Clearlake Police Department (CPD). Hansen, who also admitted to enhancements for use of a gun and committing a felony while on bail, was sentenced to 23 years to life. His minimum eligible parole date is May 7.
Before shooting Phillips, Hansen had suffered two prior convictions for armed robbery and one conviction for possession of methamphetamine. He had served prior prison terms on all three cases.
On the day of the shooting Hansen had an arrest warrant pending for a third armed robbery that allegedly occurred on July 26, 1992 in Suisun City. Hansen also had a 30-year history of chronic methamphetamine, heroin and alcohol use. Hansen claimed to have injected three-quarters grams of methamphetamine just prior to the shooting.
According to investigation reports by the CPD and sentencing reports by the Probation Department, then-Lt. Bob Chalk, who later became Clearlake”s Police Chief, and Phillips went to an address on 29th Street in Clearlake to talk to the residents in an effort to locate Hansen. They did not believe Hansen was at that residence.
While Chalk spoke with the occupants in the front of the residence, Phillips went to a back bedroom that had a light on. Inside the room he found a closet with the door closed. Phillips started to open the closet door, not knowing that Hansen was hiding inside after seeing the officers arrive.
As Phillips began opening the closet door, Hansen fired two shots with a stolen .25-caliber handgun, hitting Phillips once in the head at point blank range. It was later determined that the bullet grazed Phillips head and did no permanent physical damage.
Phillips, who was knocked to the ground when shot, fired his gun into the closet, hitting Hansen twice. One shot struck Hansen above his left eye, causing him to permanently lose his left eye. Hansen received medical treatment and survived.
At his sentencing April 30, 1993, Hansen claimed the shooting was out of character for him and he possessed the gun for self defense.
At the three-hour parole hearing Tuesday, Hinchcliff asked the board to deny Hansen parole on the ground that he still presented an unreasonable risk of danger to the public if released.
Although Hansen claimed to be remorseful at the hearing and claimed to accept responsibility for the shooting, as recently as December 2010 he reportedly said Phillips shot first and caused Hansen”s gun to discharge. The board commissioners agreed that Hansen still poses an unreasonable risk of danger to the public and denied parole for at least five years. Hansen”s next parole hearing will be in 2017.
