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David Garlow Deason, 69, is accused of the December 2004 murder of his girlfriend, 48-year-old Marie Parlet.
His trial began before Superior Court Judge Arthur Mann in Department 3 on Jan. 6 following jury selection that began in mid-December, said Deputy District Attorney John Langan.
The prosecution alleges that Deason shot Parlet once in the chest and once in the chest from a distance of 18 inches while standing outside of their Lower Lake home. The two had reportedly argued earlier in the day, after which Deason left their residence and went drinking.
Deason was convicted of the murder in February 2006 and sentenced to 50 years to life in state prison, as Lake County News has reported.
But an appellate court threw out the conviction in December 2007, ruling that the court had erred in excluding evidence of Deason's alleged high level of intoxication – 0.27 blood alcohol content, more than three times the legal limit, according to court records.
On Wednesday, Langan called to the stand Burt Hirahara, a latent print supervisor with the California Department of Justice, who discussed examining the .38 pistol allegedly used in the murder.
Hirahara explained that “latent” prints are those which are left by a chance touch.
Langan handed him a white box containing the .38, which Hirahara confirmed was the handgun he had examined.
He said he had found no prints on the weapon. Langan asked if that could have been because the person using it was wearing gloves, wiped it down or had very dry hands, which are not conducive to leaving prints. Hirahara suggested any of those scenarios could be the case.
During cross examination, defense attorney Doug Rhoades asked Hirahara if he would expect to get a print off of a checked surface, such as that found on a handgun's handle. Not always, Hirahara replied.
What about the trigger? Rhoades asked. Hirahara said they could sometimes find partial prints in that location.
As to a conducive area for a print to be found, Rhoades asked Hirahara if the metal on the handgun frame would hold prints, and Hirahara said yes.
Rhoades argued that “everything is speculation” about why there is no print on the weapon – including the suggestions that it had been wiped down or that someone had used gloves.
He also asked if the gun was loaded or unloaded when Hirahara received it. Hirahara looked at his notes and indicated he had no information about ammunition.
Next on the stand was Terry Fickies, a retired senior criminologist with the California Department of Justice, who specialized in firearms and tool marks. He also did firearms examinations – commonly known as ballistics.
The .38 handgun in evidence was subjected to three test fires, he said, in order to look at the particular markings that the weapon left on the bullets it fired.
Fickies said in his examination of the test fires and the expended bullet casings from the crime scene, he was not able to find sufficient corresponding characteristics to make a conclusion about whether they came from the same weapon.
“Those bullets could have been fired from this weapon or any other weapon with similar class characteristics,” he said.
He added that the bullets in question were made of lead, and harder to match up when it comes to identifying markings.
Fickies added that certain types of weapons may not leave marks on bullets. “It's just the luck of the draw.”
After an hour-and-a-half-long break to allow for the next witness to arrive, court reconvened after 11 a.m.
The last witness of the morning was 31-year-old Charline Parlet, Marie Parlet's daughter.
Charline Parlet had been in a Santa Rosa treatment program and was released on Dec. 6, 2004, the day her mother was shot.
As Langan began questioning her about the events of that day, Charline Parlet began to weep, recalling how her mother was there at 6 a.m. that day to pick her up and take her home.
Remembering the day caused Parlet to break down, covering her face with her hands and saying, “I can't do this, you guys – I can't.”
Judge Mann called a 10-minute recess and had the jury removed from the courtroom. Parlet told the prosecution and her Victim-Witness advocate that she couldn't sit on the stand and look at Deason because she was so angry.
Deason – dressed casually in a pullover sweater and dark slacks – sat looking down at the defense table.
Mann excused Parlet and brought the jury back in to excuse them until Jan. 21. He informed the jury that a stipulation of Parlet's previous testimony will be prepared and read at that time, which will mean she will not have to return to the stand.
Langan told Lake County News that he expects to rest his case after reading the stipulation to the jury next week. At that point, Rhoades likely will begin presenting his defense of Deason.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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Game Warden Loren Freeman said he received a report earlier this month of a bull elk that had been killed, possibly in the Clearlake Oaks area.
Freeman said a couple and their daughter were at a Clearlake Oaks gas station on a Sunday afternoon when the daughter spotted a large elk in the back of a Ford F-250 pickup, covered with a blue tarp.
The girl didn't mention the elk to her parents until some time later. Freeman said he got the report about five days after the alleged sighting.
So far, Freeman said he has been unable to substantiate the case.
According to Fish and Game hunting regulations for 2008-09, hunting in Lake County for tule elk in the Cache Creek area may only take place in October, with a limit of one elk per person. Only five tags total are allowed for that area. Elk in the Lake Pillsbury area are protected and may not be hunted.
The Cache Creek herd has been a target of poachers in recent years. In August 2007, three bull elk were found killed along Cache Creek in southern Lake County, as Lake County News has reported.
Freeman said he wants to pursue the investigation on this recent alleged poaching case if he can get more information from the public.
He asks that anyone who saw a Ford F-250 pickup with a blue tarp covering a large object, driven by a white male between the ages of 30 and 35 in the Clearlake Oaks area, call the toll-free CalTIP number, 888-DFG-CALTIP (888-334-2258).
The number is used to report poaching and polluting cases, and is good 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Officials ask that those using the tip line give the fullest possible account of the incident including the name, address, age and description of the suspect, vehicle description, direction of travel, license number, type of violation and when and where it occurred.
Tips may be made anonymously, however, rewards of up to $1,000 have been paid to callers who supply information that leads to an arrest.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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Mendocino County Superior Court Judge sentenced Gerardo Soto-Gonzales, 33, to one felony count of arson to forest land for setting fires on Aug. 22, 2008, that burned more than 45 acres, according to a report from the Mendocino County District Attorney's Office.
Two additional, identical arson counts against Soto-Gonzalez were dropped, although the court was allowed to consider them, according to officials.
Soto-Gonzalez, a Mexican national who has a Clearlake address, was represented by attorney Philip De Jong, who did not return a call seeking comment on the case.
The prosecution, led by Deputy District Attorney Damon Gardner, alleged that on Aug. 22, 2008, Cal Fire helicopter pilots spotted Soto-Gonzalez setting the fires in the Mendocino National Forest, northwest of Lake Pillsbury near Big Signal Peak.
US Forest Service and Cal Fire responded to the area to fight a wildland blaze that became known as the “Island Fire,” located on private property within the forest, according to the prosecution.
Cal Fire helicopter pilots dropped off fire crew members and made trips to get water to fight the fire, officials reported.
As they were making trips for water, the pilots noticed a smaller fire upwind from the original fire. The district attorney's report said the pilots switched their priority to the second fire where, once over it, they spotted Soto-Gonzalez, who was wearing camoflage.
On another trip to fill the helicopter's bucket with water, pilots discovered three more fires were burning close to the second fire. The report noted that as the pilots flew over the westernmost fire they again saw Soto-Gonzalez.
He reportedly was running west from the last fire and then was seen kneeling down by a brush pile and setting it on fire, according to the district attorney.
Soto-Gonzalez was reportedly forced down by the helicopter's rotor wash and that allowed the pilots to positively identify him.
The situation resulted in the fire crew that the helicopter dropped off having to be removed from the area for their safety because the newly set fires began to surround them, according to the prosecution.
Gardner told Lake County News on Thursday that a Cal Fire officer arrested Soto-Gonzalez on a forest road adjacent to the fire area, a lighter in his possession. Once on custody Soto-Gonzalez confessed to starting the fires.
Soto-Gonzalez gave some reasons for his actions, “but it's only speculation” as to why he set the fires, said Gardner.
A marijuana growing operation was reportedly located nearby.
The fire investigation determined there were three spots where a lighter had been used to set the fires, which burned 45.2 acres at a suppression cost of more than $175,000.
Soto-Gonzalez has remained in jail since his August arrest, said Gardner. During the trial the defense mentioned that Soto-Gonzalez has an immigration hold against him.
Although his legal status in the country is a question, Gardner said Soto-Gonzalez will serve his prison time and then be processed by the federal government for the immigration issue as soon as he is released.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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The protest, scheduled to being at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, will be held at the casino's entrance on Highway 20, between Nice and Upper Lake.
Community members of all ethnic backgrounds are invited to the event, which the organizers says is meant to highlight the need for civil and human rights protections for American Indians.
Last month, the Robinson Rancheria Citizens Business Council voted to disenroll several dozen tribal members, as Lake County News has reported. At least 60 people had been up for disenrollment, although not all of those individuals lost their membership.
Tribal Chair Tracey Avila previously told Lake County News that the people whose names were removed from the tribe's membership rolls had been in question for some time, and that the council was conducting a housekeeping effort to finally have those names removed.
Among those organizing the protest on behalf of disenrolled families are EJ Crandell, whose election as tribal chair last summer was decertified by the tribe's election committee, and Mark and Carla Maslin.
Carla Maslin's entire 76-member family was disenrolled from the Redding Rancheria in 2004. Her family, along with other disenrolled tribal members from around the state, founded the American Indian Rights and Resources Organization – AIRRO for short – of which Maslin is board chair.
The protest organizers issued a statement this week saying that the tribal council has “created an atmosphere that oppresses their people from expressing opposing viewpoints, disregarded tribal traditions and laws to deny members their tribal identity and inherent rights.”
Those up for disenrollment already have reportedly lost regular payments tribal members are entitled to from its casino, as well as access services such as health care and education.
The Quitiquit family, with about three dozen members who were notified they are being disenrolled, reported that several members also recently were terminated from jobs with the tribe in recent weeks following the disenrollment action.
Avila said previously that the tribe only dismissed people from jobs for performance-related issues.
The tribal council's disenrollment decision has to be approved by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which has jurisdiction over the matter because of clauses in the tribe's constitution.
Those who were notified of their disenrollment have appealed the decision to the bureau, which is reportedly still in the process of arriving at a decision.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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Dr. Kelly A. Arthur, 41, of Santa Rosa was pulled over by California Highway Patrol Officer Rob Hearn at approximately 5:20 p.m. Tuesday at Highway 29 and Armstrong Drive in Middletown, according to CHP Officer Josh Dye.
Arthur, who was traveling with a male companion, allegedly had driven her 2001 Mercedes through a crosswalk and nearly hit a pedestrian, which led to Hearn's stop, Dye said.
During the stop Hearn detected the odor of alcohol and conducted a field sobriety test on Arthur, arresting her shortly afterward for driving under the influence, said Dye. It's also alleged that Arthur had a small amount of marijuana in her possession.
Arthur was booked into the Lake County Jail shortly before 9 p.m. Tuesday on felony charges of possession of narcotics, and misdemeanor DUI and use of a controlled substance.
An additional felony charge of bringing drugs into the jail was added after Hearn found her in possession of Vicodin without a prescription, Dye said.
Bail for all charges totaled $28,000, according to jail booking records.
Capt. James Bauman of the Lake County Sheriff's Office said Arthur bailed out of jail just before 3 a.m. Wednesday.
Arthur was in court on Tuesday morning to give testimony in the murder trial of David Garlow Deason, 69, who is accused of shooting his girlfriend, 48-year-old Marie Parlet, to death in December of 2004.
Deason previously was convicted of the murder, but that conviction was overturned by an appellate court in December of 2007, as Lake County News has reported.
Arthur is a staff pathologist for the Fairfield-based Forensic Medical Group Inc., which performs autopsies for several Northern California counties, and serves Lake on an “as needed” basis, according to the company's Web site. The company provides autopsies and autopsies for the Kaiser system, and also provides medicolegal consulting for criminal and civil court cases.
Lake County News was unable to contact the company for comment before close of business Wednesday, but left messages for company principals.
Deputy District Attorney John Langan said Arthur gave testimony in the Deason case beginning at 9 a.m. on Tuesday and ending around 11 a.m.
Langan said Arthur had preformed the autopsy on Parlet in 2004. Because this is a retrial, Arthur essentially was repeating previous testimony, not coming to new conclusions, said Langan. He didn't indicate any ramifications for the Deason case arising from Arthur's arrest.
While Arthur is only facing charges at this point, the possible impact of the situation on her credibility as a professional witness is a concern for local attorneys.
Stephen Carter heads Lake Legal Defense Services, which holds the Lake County public defender's contract. He said Arthur regularly testifies in local criminal trials.
If Arthur were to be convicted, particularly of the felony charges, Carter said it likely wouldn't cause concerns for past testimony, but it could become a credibility issue going forward.
“It might be something that the prosecution then has to disclose for future cases,” he said.
The situation also could create a conflict of interest for local authorities, faced with prosecuting an individual who has been an important witness in numerous cases, he said. In that situation, the California Attorney General's Office could be called in to handle the case.
Arthur's booking sheet says she is due in court on the charges in March.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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Abram Louis Sassenberg, 27, was arrested following the chase, which ended about 10 miles inside the Lake County border, according to CHP Officer John Waggoner of the Williams area CHP office. Also arrested was a passenger in the vehicle, 29-year-old Joshua George Pine if Diamond Springs.
Waggoner said a CHP officer doing speed enforcement on I-5 near Williams saw Sassenberg's 1990 Plymouth Acclaim at about 8 a.m. traveling northbound at speeds the officer clocked at close to 90 miles per hour using radar.
The officer turned around in the center divide to pursue Sassenberg, who allegedly exited I-5 onto the Highway 20 offramp, where he ran a stop sign and continued west toward Lake County, said Waggoner.
Despite the pursuing officer putting on his lights and siren, Sassenberg allegedly continued on, driving at speeds of more than 90 miles per hour. Waggoner said Sassenberg was driving wrecklessly, passing other vehicles on blind curves and double yellow lines.
Sassenberg had three passengers with him in the car – two females and Pine, said Waggoner. “All three passengers were actually trying to get the driver to stop.”
As the pursuit continued into Lake County, it became clear something was wrong with Sassenberg's Plymouth. Waggoner said the vehicle began smoking and losing oil, and appeared to have lost the function of its transmission.
About 10 miles inside of Lake County Sassenberg pulled off onto a dirt road that led to a private residence, said Waggoner.
Sassenberg stopped the car and allegedly fled on foot, said Waggoner. The three passengers stayed with the car.
As the Williams CHP officer pulled up where Sassenberg had stopped his car, an unmarked Lake County Sheriff's vehicle driven by a sheriff's detective pulled up behind him, helping detain the three subjects in the car without incident, said Waggoner.
Capt. Jim Bauman of the Lake County Sheriff's Office and Officer Josh Dye of the Clear Lake CHP office confirmed that their agencies assisted with the arrests, but that the Williams CHP office was the lead agency.
As additional local CHP and sheriff's units arrived, they conducted a search for Sassenberg. Waggoner said Sassenberg was found lying in the ground, hiding in some bushes not far from his car.
The two women, Sassenberg and Pine were taken back to the Williams CHP office. Waggoner said the two women eventually were released.
Currently is on parole, Sassenberg has a Department of Corrections warrant for failure to appear, “which is the reason he fled,” said Waggoner.
Sassenberg was arrested on a parole hold and a charge of evading arrest. Pine also is on parole and was arrested on a parole hold, Waggoner said.
Both Sassenberg and Pine remain in the Colusa County Jail without bail, Waggoner said.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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