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Sara Rief worked with Stuart Hanlon to defend 23-year-old Renato Hughes Jr., who was charged with the deaths of friends Rashad Williams and Christian Foster on Dec. 7, 2005, allegedly because the three were part of a violent break-in.
District Attorney Jon Hopkins alleged that the three men were part of a “crime team” whose violent actions during an attempt to steal medical marijuana from homeowner Shannon Edmonds resulted in death.
Even though it was Edmonds who pulled the trigger, Hughes' alleged participation in the break-in triggered prosecution under the provocative act theory for the deaths which, the theory holds, he allegedly helped cause.
Last Friday, Hughes was acquitted of the murder charges, as well as robbery and attempted murder, although he also was found guilty of burglary and assault with a firearm because the jury considered him to be aiding and abetting the crime. Another charge relating to assault causing great bodily injury resulted in a hung jury.
“We obviously are ecstatic at the outcome,” said Rief.
Hughes, she added, has been waiting a long time for the not guilty verdict.
Had be been convicted of the two homicides, Hughes was facing life without possibility of parole, said Rief.
District Attorney Jon Hopkins said Monday that Hughes was looking at about eight years in prison plus a strike for the burglary based on the convictions.
Sentencing in the case will take place on Sept. 9 in Martinez in Judge Barbara Zuniga's courtroom, where the trial was moved after a judge granted a change of venue motion.
Hughes already has served more than two and a half years in jail since being arrested following the deaths. If Zuniga gives him the maximum eight-year sentence he's only looking at a year and a half in prison at most, said Rief.
However, Rief noted that according to sentencing guidelines the judge would have to cite extraordinary circumstances to sentence Hughes to the maximum term.
Rief said Hughes is ready to appeal the two charges of which he was convicted.
Hopkins had said Monday that he considered the two guilty verdicts on the more minor charges a rejection by the jury of Hughes' claim that he wasn't involved in the crime.
To an extent, Rief agreed, although she said the jury “obviously thought his involvement was very minimal.”
In questioning jurors for about an hour Monday, Rief said they had some trouble with Hughes' comments on the stand, and found some of his answers somewhat evasive.
“The convictions do show that they did not believe the entirety of what he said,” she noted.
The jury, she said, did a very good job with a very confusing case. She said the provocative act law has been around since the mid 1960s, but there isn't a lot of case law on it. Nevertheless, the all-female jury worked diligently to move through the difficult trial.
“Listening to them, they were really careful in their deliberations,” she said.
She said Hopkins indicated to the jury on Monday that he did not think he would attempt to retry Hughes on the lesser charge. If convicted it would only mean another year and a half in prison, said Rief.
With Hughes' trial over, attention has been turning to Edmonds, who shot Williams and Foster as they ran from his home. Rief said the National Association for the Advance of Colored People is looking at ways to get a case filed against Edmonds.
Likewise, she and Hanlon have felt from the beginning that Edmonds should be considered for charges. She cited his chasing after the men and shooting Foster while he was on the ground, and said by doing so he was taking justice into his own hands.
“We do feel that the wrong person was charged in this case,” she said.
Seeing Edmonds charged in Lake County isn't likely, said Hopkins.
Hopkins said he and the defense had a tremendous disagreement about what the evidence showed with regard to Edmonds' actions and the shots fired.
Hopkins said the jury agreed with his interpretation of the physical evidence that the fatal shot to Christian Foster came while he was ducking down to go out a sliding glass door.
When Hopkins' predecessor, Gary Luck, was still district attorney, he carefully considered whether or not to charge Edmonds.
“His conclusion that I agree with is that we would not be able to get a unanimous jury to find beyond a reasonable doubt that Shannon Edmonds did not fear for his safety and the safety of his family,” said Hopkins.
He explained that just before the shootings occurred, Dale Lafferty, the then-17-year-old son of Edmonds' girlfriend Lori Tyler, had just been viciously beaten by a baseball bat, an act that left him with permanent brain damage. Seeing the teen so badly hurt caused Edmonds to “lose it,” Hopkins said.
Edmonds himself also had been hit in the face with a shotgun. “The shotgun was out in the dark with these guys, getting away,” said Hopkins, with Edmonds not knowing if they would attack again.
“Somebody tell me how I'm going to convince a jury to convict him,” said Hopkins.
While many people have tried to cast the case in terms of race, Hopkins said he's heard from many others who believe Edmonds was defending his home and family.
“It's a convenient way to try and avoid the real issue in the case,” Hopkins said.
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Delia Smith, 34, died after being hit at about 10:40 p.m. Sunday as she walked along Highway 29 south of Doten Road near the Konocti Conservation Camp, the California Highway Patrol reported.
CHP Officer Adam Garcia said that it appears that Smith stepped into the traffic lane just before she was hit by a Kia SUV driving northbound.
He said CHP is trying to determine if Smith's moving into the traffic lane was intentional. Garcia added that a toxicology report also is pending.
Officer Randy Forslund is investigating the incident, Garcia said.
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Lake County’s residential curbside customers have been used to seeing three separate trucks collect garbage, recyclables and greenwaste. Just recently, some customers began calling to report that their garbage and recyclables are being dumped into the same garbage truck.
Jackie Armstrong of Waste Management explained that, what they can’t see, is that there’s a blade inside these new split-body trucks that the driver moves from one side to the other to keep the recycling separate from the garbage.
The garbage companies began looking at split-body trucks a couple of years ago when the state set new low emission standards requiring modification or replacement of older trucks in their fleets, Armstrong said. Last fall, spiraling fuel costs made the split-body trucks even more practical.
Another advantage of the split-body trucks is that there is one less truck on each route each week which reduces wear and tear on roadways, Armstrong reported.
The split-body trucks are in use on most, but not all, routes and the types of materials collected may vary from one route to the next, she added.
If you have questions about these new trucks of other waste management programs, please call the Recycling Hotline at 263-1980 or visit the county’s waste management Web site at www.recycling.co.lake.ca.us.
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Renato Hughes, 23, of San Francisco, was acquitted last Friday by an all-woman jury, who found he was not responsible for the deaths of friends Christian Foster, 22, and Rashad Williams, 21, on Dec. 7, 2005.
On Monday, Hughes' Martinez jury returned to complete deliberations on a charge of assault causing great bodily injury, said District Attorney Jon Hopkins.
The jury had apparently nearly decided last week to find Hughes guilty of the charge until one juror changed her mind overnight, said Hopkins. That juror remained unconvinced and so the jury was declared hung on the charge, 11-1.
Defense attorneys Stuart Hanlon and Sara Rief couldn't be reached for comment late Monday.
Hughes and his friends allegedly had broken into the Clearlake Park home of Shannon Edmonds to steal medical marijuana.
As a result, Hughes had been charged with the deaths of his friends under the provocative act – which allows people who allegedly participate in violent crimes that can result in a lethal response to be charged with murder for any deaths that occur – even though it was homeowner Shannon Edmonds who shot the two men. Edmonds has not been charged in the case.
Last week Hughes also was acquitted of robbery and attempted murder, as Lake County News has reported. He was, however, found guilty of burglary and assault for a firearm.
The trial – which began June 11 – was moved to Contra Costa County earlier this year following a decision by a judge last November to grant Hanlon's change of venue motion.
Hopkins said Hughes will return to Judge Barbara Zuniga's courtroom at 11 a.m. Sept. 9 for sentencing.
Hughes faces a maximum of eight years in prison, with the burglary counted as a strike, said Hopkins.
By the time he is sentenced, Hughes will have spent two years and nine months in jail, said Hopkins.
Based on the formula for time served, which takes the time actually spent in jail and adds 50 percent, Hughes will have credit for just over four years against his sentence, Hopkins said.
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