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LAKEPORT – After a day of nitpicking newspaper coverage by the defense and nibbling at its findings by the prosecution on Wednesday, there was still no decision regarding a change of venue motion for the trial of Renato Hughes, a young black San Francisco man charged with murder by accomplice of two of his companions in an alleged burglary.
On Wednesday, the hearing of the motion filed by Hughes' attorney Stuart Hanlon concluded 13 hours of testimony with the likelihood that Lake County Superior Court Judge Arthur Mann will render his decision when the hearing resumes Friday morning.
Hanlon and his key expert in the hearing, Craig Haney, spent most of Wednesday going over 72 articles from assorted publications regarding the case, which stems from the alleged forced 4 a.m. entry into the Clearlake Park home of Shannon Edmonds on Dec. 7, 2005.
Hughes' companions, Rashad Williams and Christian Foster, also black, were fatally shot down by Edmonds after the alleged break-in, where the men were allegedly attempting to steal marijuana that Edmonds claims he uses for medicinal purposes.
Hughes, however, is charged with causing their deaths under the provisions of a law that holds the perpetrator of a felony responsible if the felony results in a lethal response.
Hanlon concluded his final argument in the hearing Wednesday afternoon and District Attorney Jon Hopkins was all but finished with his presentation when Mann ended the proceedings.
Hanlon reasserted his position against trying the case in Lake County because of pretrial publicity and the county's racial demographics.
According to research Hanlon has presented, only a little over 2 percent of the county's population is black.
In his final comments, Hanlon told Mann, "The only way you can find (that Hughes) will get a fair trial here is by disregarding the testimony of Mr. (Bryan A.) Stevenson and Mr. Haney. No one is calling this county racist; we're saying he can't get a fair trial."
Stevenson, the executive director of an Alabama civil rights group, and Haney have supported Hanlon's claim that a representative jury cannot be selected for Hughes in Lake County.
"It is speculation on his (Hanlon's) part to make it an emotional issue rather than a judicial one," Hopkins countered. He added that he didn't believe Mann's decision could be decided "simply on numbers."
Hanlon and Haney presented statistics showing that blacks comprise 6 percent of the state's population and pointed out that only nine of the state's 58 counties exceed the state percentage, most notably San Francisco County (13.7 percent), where Hughes lives.
Hopkins questioned if Hanlon and Haney believe that all trials for crimes which blacks are charged with should be tried in those nine counties that exceed the state average in order to get a fair trial.
Hanlon, meanwhile, castigated Hopkins for responding publicly to a document and comments issued by the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, a civil rights organization in support of Hughes.
Among other things, Hopkins called civil rights-oriented charges by the Baker group a "smokes screen" and he questioned why a well-meaning organization such as this one would comment when he said it didn't know all the facts.
Hanlon said that Hopkins' comments "polarized the community" and by contributing to advance publicity the district attorney was giving "the perception of a problem."
Neither Hanlon nor Hopkins made mention of a document on the letterhead of Hanlon's law firm that surfaced early in the case.
Presumably circulated to raise funds for Hanlon to take over Hughes' defense from Steven Carter, the document asserted that Hughes was being "railroaded" by the Lake County justice system.
Hanlon claimed that he had no knowledge of the document at the time.
Haney occupied the witness stand for easily half of the 13 hours the hearing has taken up so far.
Throughout his time on the stand his theme was the word "allege," which he cited as missing from many of the 72 newspaper articles and other news documents in the case.
Hopkins, however, pared the documents down to 14 by eliminating duplications and sources that prospective jurors in Lake County would never see, such as the Willits News, a law profession publication and comments made on an FM radio station.
Hanlon criticized Hopkins also for failing to bring his own experts to the hearing to refute the findings of Stevenson and Haney.
"The burden's on the defendant," reasoned Hopkins. "I don't think it's my burden to bring in experts.”
E-mail John Lindblom at
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The U.S. Geological Survey reported that the first, and largest, temblor took place at 2:47 a.m.
The quake was recorded at a depth of 1.2 miles, and was centered one mile east northeast of The Geysers, according to the USGS.
About 10 minutes later, a 1.8 magnitude quake followed, the USGS reported, followed by three more small quakes, ranging in size from 1.5 to 1.9 in magnitude, over the next two and a half hours, all centered at The Geysers.
So far this week there have been 15 small earthquakes recorded in Lake County, according to the USGS, most of them centered in or around The Geysers area.
The second-largest quake of the week, at a magnitude of 2.9, took place Sunday morning just after 8 a.m. at a depth of 1.3 miles three miles east southeast of The Geysers and three miles from Anderson Springs, the USGS reported.
A 1.8 magnitude quake was recorded by the USGS on Tuesday at 2:27 a.m. at a depth of seven miles, and centered eight miles from Hidden Valley Lake.
Two quakes hit near Lake Pillsbury on Tuesday, a 2.3 magnitude at 5:27 a.m. and a 2.5 at 2:50 p.m.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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NICE – A Monday traffic stop led to a Southern California man's arrest on various drug charges, including possession of LSD.
Lt. Patrick McMahon of the Lake County Sheriff's Office reported Tuesday that Deputy Mike Brown stopped a vehicle driven by Jeffrey B. Myers, 27, of Bellflower at 11:50 p.m. Monday.
Brown stopped Myers for a mechanical violation, and for weaving on Highway 20 near Lakeshore Boulevard in Nice, McMahon reported.
When Brown contacted Myers, he detected the odor of marijuana coming from inside the vehicle, said McMahon. Myers told Brown that he was returning home to the Los Angeles area after a visit to Arcata in Humboldt County.
While investigating the odor of marijuana, McMahon said Brown recovered a glass bottle of LSD from the Myers' jacket pocket.
The bottle contained approximately 20 milliliters of suspected LSD in liquid form. McMahon said a subsequent search of the vehicle led to the seizure of almost 1 pound of psilocybin mushrooms, 8 ounces of marijuana, 32 grams of hash (concentrated cannabis) and one gram of Dimethyltryptamine or “DMT,” a hallucinogen.
Most of the items were recovered from the trunk of the vehicle, McMahon noted.
Brown subsequently arrested Myers, McMahon reported.
Myers's booking sheet shows that he faces one misdemeanor and five felony charges, including possessing and transporting a controlled substance for sale, possession of LSD and possession of concentrated cannabis.
He remains in the Lake County Jail on $66,000 bail.
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Residents in Lakeport, along with others areas in Lake County, started their day with falling snow, frozen sidewalks and hazardous road conditions.
While rain was predominant throughout the day, the NWS has issued a winter storm warning for Lake County and a hazardous weather outlook for inland Mendocino County that will last overnight and into Wednesday afternoon.
The NWS predicts that 2 inches of snow will fall to nearly 1,000 feet overnight - with overnight temperaturess in the mid 20s to low 30s.
During the next 24 hours to 36 hours, the NWS believes the hazardous weather across Northern California will continue, with significant snowfall totals possible above 1,500 feet - with nearly a foot of snow possible below 4,000 feet.
Twenty-four to 30 inches of snow may fall over the higher elevations by Wednesday afternoon, according to the NWS.
Six to 10 inches of snow are forecast above 4,000 feet, with 2 to 6 inches possible above 2,000 feet in Lake County and above 1,500 feet in inland Mendocino County overnight.
Strong winds are also possible with localized gusts up to 45 mph which may cause white-out conditions overnight and into tomorrow.
On Wednesday, snow levels are expected to stay in the 2,000-foot range, with high temperatures in the mid-40s at lower elevations.
A winter storm warning means significant amounts of snow, sleet and ice are expected or will occur, according to the NWS, making travel very hazardous or impossible.
E-mail Terre Logsdon at
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- Written by: Lake County News Reports