LAKEPORT — Jurors in the toddler-killing trial heard less than 45 minutes of testimony Thursday morning because the judge ultimately postponed the proceedings until next week to let the lawyers address procedural issues in the interim.
Clearlake Oaks residents Paul William Braden, 21, and Orlando Joseph Lopez Jr., 24, face 15 felonies, including murder, and more than 30 special allegations in connection with a late-night shooting June 18 in Clearlake.
Authorities allege the two men shot into a crowd of people gathered for a barbecue, killing Skyler Rapp, 4, and injuring five others.
Braden and Lopez, who have denied wrongdoing, are standing trial in the same courtroom but have separate lawyers and different juries.
The prosecution alleges that on the night of June 18, the two men left a party at the home Lopez”s brother lived in with a then-girlfriend and drove with a third man to another part of Clearlake where the fatal shooting occurred.
One person reportedly at that party was the lone witness called to the stand Thursday at the Lake County Courthouse.
Dennis Fry, 18, testified for about 30 minutes under direct questioning from Lake County District Attorney Don Anderson.
Then Braden”s attorney, Doug Rhoades, conducted cross-examination for roughly 10 minutes before asking Fry about an alleged burglary conviction.
After Fry said he couldn”t recall being convicted, Anderson asked Judge Doris L. Shockley for a sidebar conversation with both defense attorneys.
The judge removed the jurors from the courtroom following a brief private discussion with the counselors.
Anderson, Rhoades and Stephen Carter (Lopez”s lawyer) then spent about an hour talking with Shockley out of the juries” presence about issues related to the possible prior records of Fry and 31 potential witnesses.
Some criminal convictions can be used to impeach a person”s testimony in court.
Shockley said she expected the attorneys would have met before the trial to decide whether they agreed about specific witnesses” prior records being introduced for impeachment purposes.
Any disagreement would have to be resolved during motion hearings in open court, the judge added.
Shockley said the lawyers should take the time to have those discussions before the trial proceeded further. “I”m not bringing a jury back until this is done,” she said.
The jurors returned to the courtroom at about 11:20 a.m., were immediately excused for the day and were ordered to return at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
Lake County trials are typically in session Wednesdays through Fridays, but Shockley requested this Friday off to attend a judicial seminar.
Any agreements or outstanding legal issues about the prior records will be addressed on the record but out of the juries” presence at 9 a.m. Wednesday.
Fry is expected to retake the stand at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday in Department 1.
During his testimony Thursday, he said he arrived at the party around 5:30 or 6 p.m. on June 18. Braden and Lopez were already there, he added.
Sometime within the next hour, Braden and Lopez were “yelling at the phone” while arguing with someone on the other line, according to Fry, who said he didn”t know who the other person was.
The prosecution alleges the person on the other line was a woman related to Rapp.
Fry testified Braden and Lopez then “just disappeared” from the party at about 7 p.m. and returned around 8 p.m. with Braden carrying a shotgun wrapped in a sweater.
Fry said after he saw the firearm, he pretended he was sick so he could leave the party “because I just didn”t want to be around the shotgun.”
He said he and some others said goodbye to Braden and Lopez, who were both in the garage, while Braden appeared to saw off the butt of the shotgun.
Fry”s timelines (including when he arrived, when Braden and Lopez left and returned, and when he exited the gathering) differed from the series of events described by Ashli Athas, the host of the party who testified earlier in the trial.
Contact Jeremy Walsh at jwalsh@record-bee.com or call him at 263-5636, ext. 37.
