LAKEPORT — Testimony in the toddler-killing trial was halted abruptly Thursday following an objection from one defendant”s lawyer while a police officer was on the stand describing what the other defendant allegedly told him.
According to Clearlake Police Department (CPD) sergeant Tim Celli, Orlando Joseph Lopez Jr. “essentially” admitted to being at the shooting scene but denied pulling the trigger.
The sergeant was testifying at the Lake County Courthouse Thursday morning during the dual-jury trial of Lopez, 24, and Paul William Braden, 22, who are charged with 15 felonies in connection with a fatal shooting in Clearlake last year.
The prosecution alleges the men fired shotguns into a group of people gathered for a late-night barbecue on June 18, killing Skyler Rapp, 4, and injuring five others.
Celli then testified that Lopez “essentially told me” he was a passenger in a car with Braden as a passenger and Kevin Stone at the wheel. Stone had been a co-defendant in the case but reached a plea agreement last fall.
Braden”s attorney, Doug Rhoades, immediately objected to the sergeant”s comments, and Judge Doris L. Shockley then excused the jurors early for lunch so the parties could discuss issues out of their presence.
Braden and Lopez deny any wrongdoing, pleading not guilty to the felonies (which include murder and five counts of attempted murder). The two men are standing trial in the same courtroom but have different attorneys and separate juries.
Rhoades cited the case of People v. Aranda as a basis for his objection.
In Aranda, the California Supreme Court reversed judgments against a co-defendant found guilty by a jury following a joint trial during which a police officer testified the other co-defendant confessed that both men committed the crime.
The 1965 decision stated in part, “it is reasonably probable that a result more favorable to Aranda would have been reached had (the co-defendant”s) confession been excluded. The error therefore resulted in a miscarriage of justice.”
Aranda violations during trial can result in mistrials.
Rhoades did not submit a formal motion during a short hearing Thursday morning or after the parties returned from lunch.
Defense counsel Stephen Carter, who represents Lopez, told the judge after lunch that he also objected, citing Aranda, alleging violation of pretrial agreements and claiming the prosecutor”s question was improper.
Lake County District Attorney Don Anderson is prosecuting his first trial since his term began more than a year ago, following nearly two decades as a local private lawyer.
The attorneys are expected to submit written briefs about the issues next week and a hearing is scheduled for Wednesday at 9 a.m. in Department 1. The jurors returned briefly after lunch, and Shockley ordered them to return Wednesday at 10 a.m.
Earlier this month, Carter asked the court to declare a mistrial, alleging Anderson committed prosecutorial error during an objection in which the DA called the defense counsel”s question “an artful way of getting around a hearsay objection.”
Carter”s mistrial motion on behalf of Lopez was resolved a week later by way of a stipulated admonition — a statement Shockley later read to the jurors.
