LAKEPORT — A Lake County jury found Paul William Braden guilty of first-degree murder and 14 other felonies Wednesday for the shooting death of a Clearlake toddler more than one year ago.
The verdict came two days after the one-year anniversary of the fatal shooting and five days after a separate jury found Braden”s co-defendant, Orlando Joseph Lopez Jr., guilty on all charges.
Braden, who denied wrongdoing, remained seated and looked down as the clerk announced the verdict.
“I think that justice is finally done,” said Lake County District Attorney Don Anderson, who prosecuted the dual-jury trial.
Anderson presented evidence during the course of three months attempting to show that Braden, 22, and Lopez, 24, fired shotguns at a group of people having a late-night party on June 18, 2011 in Clearlake, killing Skyler Rapp, 4, and injuring five others.
The prosecution claimed tensions rose that day between both defendants and some of the partygoers.
All five living shooting victims described their injuries to jurors.
“I never thought I”d ever feel any kind of relief after this, and I feel a little bit better. My son has justice,” Desiree Kirby, Rapp”s mother, said after hearing the Braden verdict.
Kirby, who sustained dozens of pellet wounds, was among the nearly 50 people who turned out at the Lake County Courthouse Wednesday afternoon to hear the verdict.
In addition to murder, the jury of seven men and five women found Braden guilty of five counts of attempted murder, six counts of assault with a firearm, two counts of mayhem and one count of shooting at an inhabited dwelling.
The jurors also determined that all of the more than 30 special allegations were true.
During the trial, several witnesses testified about seeing Braden hold and alter a shotgun earlier on the day of the shooting. Kevin Stone, a former co-defendant who reached a plea agreement last fall, told jurors he watched Braden fire shots at the scene.
A county jail inmate also testified that Braden boasted about the crime while in custody.
Defense counsel Doug Rhoades declined to comment after the proceedings Wednesday.
The Braden jury reached a verdict after deliberating for more than five hours during Tuesday and Wednesday. The Lopez jury deliberated for about four hours before reaching a decision Friday.
Judge Doris L. Shockley set Braden”s sentencing for Aug. 9. Lopez is scheduled to be sentenced two days earlier.
The Braden verdict, which took about 30 minutes to read aloud, brought to an end a trial that was in session sporadically for nearly five months.
“It”s just been horrible. My nerves have been shot. I can”t sleep at night,” Kirby said when asked about the trial”s duration.
The first jury pools arrived at the Lake County Courthouse in late January and testimony began on Feb. 29.
The proceedings faced a slew of delays, including attorney and juror illnesses, court holidays and furloughs, and procedural issues.
Almost daily, the trial encountered a late start, early finish and extended breaks. Trial days occurred Wednesday through Friday — the normal schedule for jury trials in Lake County.
“It was long, but we had two very good jury panels that paid attention and they were very attentive to all the details,” Anderson said of the trial, which was his first as a prosecutor.
The county court completed 13 other jury trials in the time since jury selection started for Braden and Lopez, according to the Jury Commissioner”s Office.
