How to resolve AdBlock issue? 
News
Charles Thomas Jones was returned to prison after Judge Andrew Blum denied a second attempt to suppress evidence, according to Deputy District Attorney Susan Krones.
Jones was represented by J. David Markham who took over the case after the death of Jones’ previous attorney, Stephen Tulanian.
Jones originally was sentenced on Nov. 16, 2007, to 10 years in prison for a felony charges of transportation of methamphetamine and possession of methamphetamine) on a separate date, Krones said.
Jones also had a prior strike conviction as well as a prior prison term that resulted in a total prison term of 10 years, she said.
Krones said the First Appellate District Court remanded the case back to Lake County for a new motion to suppress evidence hearing. The hearing was held before the Judge Blum on April 27 and May 3.
During the hearing Sonoma County Deputy Greg Piccinini, previously with the Clearlake Police Department, testified that on Feb. 26, 2006, he saw Jones fail to make a complete stop at a stop sign, Krones said. As a result, he initiated a traffic stop that eventually led to the recovery of 40 grams of methamphetamine concealed on Jones’ person.
In making his ruling Judge Blum indicated that he found Deputy Piccinini’s testimony as to what he saw very credible. On the other hand, he was not persuaded by Jones’ testimony, nor that of the witnesses Jones produced.
Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews , on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf , on Tumblr at http://lakeconews.tumblr.com/ and on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .
“Carbon monoxide is a silent killer, each year claiming the lives of an average of 480 people,” said acting State Fire Marshal Tonya Hoover. “And sending more than 20,000 people to emergency rooms across the nation.”
Carbon monoxide, or CO, is a colorless, odorless gas that is produced from heaters, fireplaces, furnaces and many types of appliances and cooking devices.
The best way for homeowners to stay protected from carbon monoxide is to have a carbon monoxide detector installed on every floor and outside each sleeping area, Cal Fire said.
A recent study found that nearly nine in 10 California households did not have a carbon monoxide detector.
“Having a carbon monoxide detector is a small investment that really can help save your life and the lives of your family,” said Chief Hoover.
To help educate homeowners about the new law and to encourage them to install a carbon monoxide detector, Cal Fire/Office of the State Fire Marshal is teaming up with fire departments across the state, the Home Safety Council, First Alert and Lowe’s to host “CO Saturday” on June 4.
“CO Saturday” will be a special day-long safety celebration to teach families how to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning.
Though previous laws only required newly-constructed homes to have carbon monoxide alarms, the state’s new Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Prevention Act (Senate Bill 183) requires owners of all existing single-family homes with an attached garage or a fossil fuel source to install carbon monoxide alarm devices within the home by July 1, 2011.
Owners of multifamily leased or rental dwellings, such as apartment buildings, have until Jan. 1, 2013,
to comply with the law.
For more information on how to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning visit the Cal Fire Web site at www.fire.ca.gov.
For more information on “CO Saturday,” please visit www.homesafetycouncil.org.
Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews , on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf , on Tumblr at http://lakeconews.tumblr.com/ and on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .
Thomas Lee Carter, 59, of Upper Lake has reached a plea agreement with the US Attorney's Office, according to federal court documents.
Case documents show that on May 9, Carter made an appearance before Judge Jeffrey S. White in the U.S. District Court's Northern District of California in San Francisco.
There, Carter was placed on the witness stand and entered a guilty plea to one count of distributing or possessing with intent to distribute marijuana. The court accepted the plea and ordered the filing of a plea agreement.
According to federal documents, that charge carries a five-year minimum and 40-year maximum prison sentence and a $2 million fine. Supervised release terms range between a minimum of four years and a lifetime maximum.
Carter's federal public defender, Geoffrey Hansen, did not return calls seeking comment.
Sentencing has been scheduled for Oct. 6 in San Francisco.
In advance of the October sentencing date, the court ordered that Carter's case go to the US Probation Office for a presentencing report.
Carter had previously pleaded not guilty to two counts of distributing or possessing with intent to distribute marijuana plus a charge of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana. The latter charge carries a minimum 10-year sentence and $4 million fine.
Carter was arrested in August 2009 along with Brett Bassignani of Nice, who worked for Carter's contracting business.
Drug Enforcement Administration agents alleged Bassignani had agreed to sell 500 marijuana clones to two undercover agents and an informant in May 2006. The DEA had alleged Carter had been privy to the transaction.
The DEA also alleged that in August 2009 Carter had possessed with intent to distribute 100 or more marijuana plants.
The government would link the two men to several other people who were alleged to have been part of a marijuana distribution operation.
The other codefendants – all of them connected with medical marijuana dispensaries on the North Coast and in Southern California – included Scott and Diana Feil of Upper Lake and Redwood Valley; and Diana Feil's stepfather, Steven Swanson of Sebastopol. Later, yet another defendant, Mark Garcia of San Diego, was added to the case in a superseding indictment.
As part of the case, the federal government has sought millions of dollars in asset forfeiture from the group of defendants.
Court documents state that the defendants recently have reached a “global agreement” to resolve the case.
As a result, some of Carter's codefendants also have gone to court to change their pleas.
On May 26, Garcia went before Judge White and pleaded guilty to a count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute marijuana, with sentencing set for Oct. 27. The charge carries a minimum five-year sentence and $2 million fine.
On Wednesday, Swanson also went before Judge White to enter a change of plea, pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute marijuana, with case documents stating that prison time ranges between a 10-year minimum and lifetime maximum, and a $4 million fine, and a minimum five-year and maximum lifetime supervised release.
Swanson also pleaded guilty to tax evasion, which carries a five-year prison sentence, three years of supervised release and $100,000 fine plus costs of prosecution.
His judgment and sentencing is set for Nov. 3.
The Feils also have reportedly reached an agreement “in principle” with the proposed agreement still being finalized, according to a May 26 filing.
Scott Feil's attorney, Charles Lindner of Santa Monica, did not respond to a request for comment on the case.
The latest filings did not mention any scheduled dates or any plea agreements specifically related to Bassignani.
White approved an order continuing matters in the case until June 23 at the request of the defendants.
Carter remains out on $200,000 bond, secured by one of his Upper Lake properties, until his October sentencing.
Stipulations of his release require him to stay in the Northern District unless traveling for work or family reasons to the Eastern District, with advance notification to the supervising pretrial services officer required.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
UPPER LAKE, Calif. – A fundraiser will be held at this weekend's Wild West Day in Upper Lake to benefit a seriously ill local child.
Missy Hill is organizing a raffle in front of Nor Cal Moto & Speed Equipment on Main Street on Saturday, June 4, to benefit 4-year-old Jenni Rivera-Cervantes of Upper Lake.
The girl recently was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and due to her illness had to stop attending Upper Lake Head Start.
Her family takes her to Children's Hospital & Research Center Oakland for chemotherapy treatments.
Jenni is reportedly responding very well to chemotherapy, which she's scheduled to have for two years.
She loves Oreo cookies, Dora the Explorer and ponies.
Hill said she will be selling tickets from 9 a.m. until the drawing at 3 p.m. It's hoped that Jenni will be able to be there to draw the winning tickets.
Raffle prizes include one cord of oak/madrone firewood – free delivery in Upper Lake, Nice, Lucerne and north Lakeport – donated by the Hill family; one night's stay at the Tallman Hotel; and a $60 meat certificate from Lakeview Supermarket & Deli.
The proceeds will go into an account set up for Jenni at Westamerica Bank.
It's not too late to donate more items for the raffle.
For more information call Missy Hill at 707-349-3307.
Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews , on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf , on Tumblr at http://lakeconews.tumblr.com/ and on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .
The 3,000-square-foot lodge at Four Springs Retreat, located outside of Middletown, burned Monday night, as Lake County News has reported.
The building at the 55-year-old resort was valued at about $800,000, according to fire officials.
Cal Fire said that its investigator from the Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit concluded the inquiry into the cause and origin of the retreat's fire on Wednesday.
The investigation found that on midday Monday, the fire pit's ashes were improperly disposed of, with someone placing the ashes into a plastic bag, then placing the plastic bag into a cardboard box next to the structure.
Cal Fire Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit Chief Tim Streblow recalled the phrase “can your ashes” from when he began his career with the department. The slogan reminds residents to carry out proper ash debris disposal.
Hot coals, hidden in a pile of ashes, are well insulated and can stay hot for many days, officials said.
They said that ashes should never be emptied into a paper or plastic bag, cardboard box or similar container.
When disposing of ashes from a fireplace, wood stove, fire pit or barbecue, Cal Fire said ashes should be stored in a noncombustible metal container with an air tight seal. After adding ash to the bucket, pour water in the bucket to extinguish any hot coals. Place lid on container tightly.
In addition, they ash buckets should be stored in a safe location away from flammable materials – buildings and decks – just in case stray cinders escape.
“The department’s goal is to prevent fires and we ask residents for their help to bring us closer to success,” Streblow said.
Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews , on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf , on Tumblr at http://lakeconews.tumblr.com/ and on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .
On May 26, the Board of Parole Hearings denied parole for convicted murderer Timothy John Connors, 64.
Lake County Chief Deputy District Attorney Richard Hinchcliff, who prosecuted Connors in the case, attended the lifer hearing at the Mule Creek State Prison in Ione to argue against Connors’ release.
Connors, who was represented by defense attorney Judy Conard, was convicted of the second-degree murder of his girlfriend, Nina Estagin Rolih. He was sentenced by Lake County Superior Court Judge David Herrick to 16 years to life on Dec. 28, 1998.
His minimum eligible parole date was July 12, 2012, Hinchcliff reported.
On April 10, 1997, Clearlake Police Department received a 911 call that Rolih, who was living with Connors, had been hit and killed by a truck. When officers arrived at 3527 Monroe St. they found Rolih’s body under some debris and a blanket next to the roadway, according to case records.
Upon further investigation by Clearlake Police Investigator Ron Larsen, who is now retired, it was determined that Connors had cut Rolih’s throat with a butcher knife inside the residence, loaded her body in a garbage can, wheeled her down the driveway, dumped her at the end of the driveway, and partially covered the body.
Investigators also determined the murder took place a day and a half before Rolih's death was reported.
Connors gave investigators a detailed story about how some guys in a big black truck were racing up and down the street at night and hit Rolih, killing her.
After officers told Connors they did not believe the story, he claimed he acted in self defense and had to kill her when she attacked him in a drunken rage.
At trial, which lasted six weeks, Connors claimed self defense and further claimed that because of extreme intoxication at the time he could not have formed the intent to kill her.
The prosecution pointed out that he went to great lengths to hide the crime and set up a defense for someone who claimed not to know what they were doing.
At trial Hinchcliff also put on evidence of prior domestic violence, including evidence that Connors had previously threatened to kill Rolih and that he had stabbed her several times with a knife while intoxicated in 1996.
At the two-hour hearing May 26, Hinchcliff asked the Board of Prison Hearings to deny Connors parole on the ground that he still presented an unreasonable risk of danger to the public, especially females, if released, and failed to exhibit any remorse or accept responsibility for his conduct.
Connors has also had disciplinary problems while in prison and failed to address his chronic alcoholism or domestic violence problems, Hinchcliff said.
Hinchcliff also asked the commissioners for a lengthy parole denial for the reason that it would be unrealistic to expect Connors to be ready for parole at any time in the near future.
The Board of Parole Hearings agreed with that assessment and denied parole for the maximum allowable time of 15 years.
Connors’ next scheduled parole hearing will be in 2026.
Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews , on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf , on Tumblr at http://lakeconews.tumblr.com/ and on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .