LAKEPORT— Willy Tujays Timmons, 41, of Upper Lake, convicted last November of murdering his partner with a rock in 2017, was recently present by remote appearance and in custody.
Due to the Court being involved in another ongoing jury trial, the sentencing in this case has been continued to March 22, 2022 at 10 a.m. in Department 2.
Last month the defendant remained under medical quarantine at the jail, delaying a recent hearing when defense counsel, Thomas G. Feimer, requested a continuance.
The Court, pursuant to the request of the defendant, ordered the master calendar call hearing (to confirm parties are ready to proceed) be continued to March.
Timmons has been charged with murder, inflicting corporal injury with a prior conviction within seven years, causing permanent disability, and torture—along with two violations of probation, (battery on a non-cohabitating partner with a conviction on Sep. 12, 2016).
The charges stem from an incident in June of 2017 when Timmons was accused by the district attorney’s office of beating the mother of his children, Vanessa Niko, to death with a rock during an argument. The 35-year-old Habamatolel Pomo citizen succumbed to her wounds at the scene.
A jury trial convicted the defendant Nov. 17, 2021 of murder, inflicting corporal injury with prior (within seven years), causing permanent disability and torture.
The matter was referred to the Lake County Probation Department for a pre-sentencing report.
Mr. Feimer informed the court that the motion for a new trial was withdrawn by the defense.
During a settlement conference in July of last year, the defendant requested a Marsden Motion. The Court was cleared of everyone other than the Court staff. The Marsden Motion was conducted, granted and sealed.
After the Court was re-opened, Attorney Mitchell Zale Hauptman was relieved as defense counsel for the defendant and the Court appointed Thomas G. Feimer as counsel for the defendant.
A Marsden motion is a legal document, brought by a defendant and filed with the Court, seeking to fire the defendant’s court-appointed attorney. The Court considers and rules on the motion at a Marsden Hearing.
During a hearing in 2018, to determine if the death penalty would be sought for Timmons, deputy district attorney John Langan announced that the Lake County District Attorney’s Office would not be pursuing the matter as a death penalty case.
The defendant remains in custody.
