How to resolve AdBlock issue? 
News
Judge Frank C. Damrell Jr. of the U.S. District Court for California's Eastern District made the ruling March 17 in the case of Gerald Frank Stanley, 63, whose appeal was made on his behalf by federal defenders.
Stanley was convicted of the Aug. 11, 1980 murder of his wife, Cynthia Rogers Stanley, in Nice, according to case records.
Damrell ordered proceedings to begin within 30 days of his ruling on whether or not a new competency hearing – nearly a quarter-century later – should be held.
District Attorney Jon Hopkins said he intends to appear in Butte County Superior Court – where Stanley's trial was moved due to pretrial publicity – on Thursday morning.
There, Hopkins will ask Judge Sandra McLean to set a hearing on the feasibility of holding a retrospective competency hearing in the case.
Stanley reportedly shot his wife with a sniper rifle while she was at her father's resort in Nice, according to Lake County News research into the case. Stanley then fled the scene, with authorities launching one of the largest manhunts in county history in an attempt to find him. Stanley later was arrested at his mother's Anderson home.
Robert Crone, then the Lake County District Attorney, prosecuted the case, which was reported to have cost the state $1 million, research of the case revealed. Crone and his prosecution team lived in Butte County for nearly a year while the trial was under way.
On Feb. 7, 1984, Stanley was sentenced to die in the gas chamber, according to State Department of Corrections documents. He has remained on San Quentin's death row since then.
Hopkins emphasized that Stanley's guilt is not in question, and he's not going to be released. In fact, Damrell upheld the finding of guilt in the Stanley case, as has the California Supreme Court, court records show.
“The guilt stands,” said Hopkins.
If the competency trial is held again and Stanley is ruled incompetent, he would no longer be subject to the death penalty and instead would be sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, Hopkins said.
One of the factors cited in Damrell's ruling was juror misconduct in the trial's competency phase, court documents show.
At the beginning of the Stanley trial's penalty phase – in which jurors were to consider whether he was to receive the death sentence – doubts about Stanley's competency were raised, Hopkins explained.
That resulted in a three-month break in the proceedings while a competency trial took place, and Stanley was ruled mentally competent to stand trial, Hopkins said.
Later, however, it was found that one of the jurors in that trial allegedly was guilty of misconduct because she failed to state that she had been a violence victim, said Hopkins. That was a concern because it could have affected her ability to make an impartial decision.
Damrell's ruling also pointed to a statement by an expert witness in the case that Stanley was incompetent as of 1981, which contradicted that witness' previous testimony.
The issue now, said Hopkins, is a complicated one.
“We have to engage in the process of deciding his competency 25 years ago,” he said.
Such proceedings are not unheard of, said Hopkins, although they're rare. He pointed to other, similar cases in other federal circuit courts where retrospective competency hearings have been ordered. “There is some precedent.”
In addition to pursuing the request for a hearing on the feasibility of a retrospective hearing, Hopkins also asked to have Stanley brought from death row to the Butte County Jail in Oroville, a duty that fell to Butte County Sheriff Perry Reniff's office. Stanley is expected to remain in custody in Oroville during the proceedings.
Hopkins also plans to file a motion to have Stanley's case brought back to Lake County if it's decided to go through with a new competency trial.
Originally, the defense was granted a change of venue due to pretrial publicity. However, Hopkins believes he can successfully argue that enough time has passed that the case is no longer well known locally, and a competency proceeding could find an unbiased pool of jurors.
Stanley's federal appeal is not being carried out at his request, according to previous statements Stanley has made to this reporter.
Several years ago Stanley began trying to have the appeals process stopped with the help of Jack Leavitt, a Hayward-based attorney, according to interviews with both men.
Stanley stated that due to his failing health he was seeking an execution date and, if one was granted, he had offered to disclose the location of the body of Diana Lynn Ramel, a woman with whom he was romantically involved and who disappeared in February 1980. He has stated he did not kill her.
He did, however, murder his first wife, Kathleen Rhiley, in 1975 as she was taking their children to school in Concord, according to Lake County News research. Stanley served four and a half years for that crime.
At one point Stanley also was believed to have been involved in the murder of a young Redding woman, Sheryl Ranee Wright, who was last seen the day before Cynthia Rogers was shot, according to case research.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
{mos_sb_discuss:2}
The blackout began shortly before 4 p.m., said JD Guidi, a spokesman for Pacific Gas and Electric Co.
Approximately 5,030 customers along Clear Lake's eastern side were affected, Guidi explained.
Power was fully restored to all customers by 8:14 p.m., he added.
Guidi said the outage was caused by equipment failure.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
{mos_sb_discuss:2}
SOUTH LAKE COUNTY – Lake County fire units responded to a tanker fire Tuesday that closed down Highway 20 for several hours.
The tanker truck, carrying 7,500 gallons of kerosene, caught fire at about 9:30 a.m. one mile west of Mitchell Flat and several miles into Colusa County, according to the California Highway Patrol.
A CHP report issued late Tuesday explained that Dennis R. Moody, 59, of Willits was driving the 2007 Peterbilt tank truck pulling a silver tank trailer at or near the 55 mile per hour speed limit when the drive-line broke, causing it to bounce below the undercarriage.
The drive-line bounced into the tank, causing it to puncture, according to the CHP report.
A spark was then ignited by the loose drive-line, causing a fire to break out in the undercarriage. CHP said the fire spread to the tanks and ignited the kerosene in them.
When Moody noticed the mechanical problem and saw the fire, the CHP report said he immediately pulled over to the right shoulder.
Moody left the vehicle and went to a safe area while awaiting the arrival of emergency personnel, CHP reported. He did not suffer any injuries.
Northshore Battalion Chief Pat Brown reported that his district sent one water tender and a battalion chief to the blaze as part of its mutual aide agreement with Williams Fire Department.
Williams sent two engines, two water tenders, a rescue unit and two chief officers, Brown reported.
Also responding was Lake County Fire Protection District with a water tender and Cal Fire with an engine, according to Brown.
Brown said the tanker was fully involved when the fire units arrival. The truck's aluminum tanks had split open, which he said such tanks are designed to do so an explosion won't result.
Firefighters decided to let the fire burn itself out due to the size, said Brown.
The fire burned a half-acre of grass, but Brown said the biggest concern was the environment, including a small stream just downhill.
Firefighters were successful in keeping the waterway clear because they let the fire burn down before applying about 15 gallons of foam, said Brown.
The roadway was completely closed until 12:30 p.m., when CHP opened the eastbound lane to one-way traffic control.
Caltrans advised that they would be on scene conducting cleanup until about 9 p.m., and advised drivers to expect delays due to continuing traffic control.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
{mos_sb_discuss:2}
LAKE COUNTY – Officials are reporting that traffic is beginning to move after it was closed down along the Highway 20 corridor into Colusa County due to a truck fire.
The California Highway Patrol reported a big rig tanker on fire shortly before 10 a.m. on Highway 20 one mile west of Mitchell Flats and several miles into the boundaries of Colusa County.
CHP reported that the truck, which was giving off heavy smoke, was completely blocking the highway after the fire began. At least three CHP units were on scene.
Just after 11 a.m. the Chico Dispatch Center reported that the truck – a double tanker carrying 75,000 gallons of kerosene – was “still an active burn” and that it was going to be allowed to burn out.
At shortly before 1 p.m. CHP reported one lane of traffic has been reopened.
Previous to that, traffic was being either turned around or rerouted onto southbound Highway 16 when possible.
Updates will be provided as more information becomes available.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
{mos_sb_discuss:2}
Thirty-one-year-old James Robert Pagan was arrested Friday for allegedly stabbing a 10-year-old girl to death and injuring another 14-year-old girl, as Lake County News has reported.
Pagan was reportedly being held in the Lake County Jail on $1 million bail. He did not appear in the inmate search on the sheriff's Web site Monday; however, the site has not been recording new bookings since late last week.
Authorities have not officially confirmed the two victims' identities, which sources told Lake County News were the children of a local physician.
Sheriff's deputies originally arrested Pagan on charges of murder, attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon, according to a sheriff's office statement on Saturday.
Lt. Dave Garzoli of the sheriff's investigations branch released additional information later Saturday that reported another charge – willful cruelty to a child – had been added.
Before his Friday arrest Pagan appears to have had little contact with local authorities.
In a search of Lake County Superior Court records, Pagan's name only showed up once – for a May 2007 traffic citation.
A search of criminal records in other counties where Pagan is believed to have lived previously also turned up no evidence of him having issues with the law as an adult.
As of Monday afternoon, a criminal filing against Pagan for the stabbing case had not been logged in the Superior Court records system.
Regarding the circumstances of this recent case, no further information has been forthcoming from investigators.
A sheriff's office statement on Saturday said further information would be available on Monday, but nothing more has so far been released.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
{mos_sb_discuss:2}
LAKE COUNTY – Lake County's February unemployment rate was an improvement over January's, according to the latest report from the Employment Development Department.
The preliminary February 2008 unemployment rate was 9.6 percent, down 0.9 percent from the revised January rate of 10.5 percent, but 0.2 percent above the year-ago, February 2007 rate of 9.4 percent, according to Dennis Mullins, of the EDD's North Coast Region Labor Market Information Division.
At 9.6 percent, Lake ranked 36 among the State’s 58 counties, Mullins noted. Some surrounding county rates included 7.0 percent for Mendocino, and 4.9 percent for Sonoma.
Marin and San Mateo had the lowest rate in the State at 3.9 percent and Colusa had the highest with 18.9 percent, according to Mullins. The comparable California and U.S. rates were 6.1 and 5.2 percent respectively.
Total industry employment increased 920 jobs (6.8 percent) between February 2007 and February 2008, ending the year-over period with 14,530 jobs, Mullins' report noted.
Mullins said year-over job growth occurred in farm; manufacturing; trade, transportation and utilities; information; private educational and health services; other services; and government.
Year-over job losses occurred in natural resources, mining and construction; professional and business services; and leisure and hospitality, he added.
The industry sector with no change over the year was financial activities, Mullins reported.
The government sector led industry gainers adding 770 jobs over the year, according to Mullins. Farm and private educational and health services were up 200 and 110 respectively. Trade, transportation and utilities increased 40; manufacturing was up 30; information and other services gained 10 jobs each.
Natural resources, mining and construction led decliners dropping 110 jobs over the year, Mullins said. Professional and business services and leisure and hospitality were down 90 and 50 respectively.
Mullins said that EDD encourages those who are filing for unemployment insurance benefits to do so on-line through its Web site at www.edd.ca.gov. Online claim filing is the fastest, most convenient way to apply for unemployment benefits, and is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
{mos_sb_discuss:2}
