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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
Renato Hughes, 23, will go on trial beginning Wednesday, June 11, in Martinez, District Attorney Jon Hopkins reported.
Jury selection wrapped up Friday, said Hopkins.
The minute the jury was selected, a young woman raised her hand and asked to be excused because a medical condition she has was being exacerbated by the proceedings, said Hopkins.
The judge granted the request, said Hopkins, which required he and defense attorney Stuart Hanlon to choose a new juror from among four alternates.
Opening statements are scheduled to begin Wednesday morning, said Hopkins.
He anticipates the trial wrapping up in the latter part of July.
Hughes is being tried for the murders of his two friends, Christian Foster and Rashad Williams, who were shot to death after allegedly breaking into Shannon Edmonds' Clearlake Park home on the morning of Dec. 7, 2005.
The case against Hughes alleges he and his two companions beat Edmonds, his girlfriend and her son severely as they tried to steal marijuana Edmonds claimed to have a medical prescription to use.
Edmonds reportedly shot Foster and Williams as they ran from the home, but Hughes is being tried for their deaths under the provocative act legal theory because he allegedly took part in a crime that could result in a lethal response – the shooting of his two companions.
The jury seated Friday actually is the second jury to be selected in the Hughes case.
Last Nov. 15, after a three-week jury selection in Lake County was completed and the jury seated, Judge William McKinstry, a retired Alameda County judge assigned to the case, granted Hanlon's change of venue motion. In his decision McKinstry cited the number of jurors excused for various reasons.
In January, Lake County Superior Court Judge Arthur Mann ruled the trial would move to Contra Costa after Hanlon and Hopkins mutually agreed to the venue.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
Christopher Griego, 31, of Tracy filed a lawsuit in Sonoma County Superior Court on Jan. 2 in which he alleged he was sexually abused as a child. However, in that initial filing he did not specifically name anyone, referring only to a “John Doe,” according to court documents.
On May 5, his attorney – Richard Simons of Hayward – filed an amended complaint naming the diocese and Lakeport priest Father Ted Oswald.
The diocese's attorney, Dan Galvin of Santa Rosa, said Griego is seeking just over $2.5 million in total damages – from psychological and emotional damages, to current and future medical expenses and earnings losses.
Galvin said the complaint was just recently served on the diocese, which plans to file a response.
Griego's suit alleges he was the victim of sexual abuse from 1988 to 1995 – during which time he was a Lakeport parishioner and an altar boy – and that the diocese failed to protect him.
The amended complaint states that in 2006 Griego discovered that his “psychological injuries and illnesses” resulted from childhood sexual abuse, but his allegations do not include specific incidents.
A number listed in the phone book for Griego was not in service. Simons didn't return a call seeking comment on Thursday.
Court records show the case is set to have a hearing on Aug. 14.
On Sunday, at the end of morning mass at Saint Mary Immaculate Church in Lakeport, Oswald told his parish about the accusations and said he would be taking a leave of absence, as Lake County News has reported.
Dierdre Frontczak, the diocese's spokesperson, said Oswald was placed on administrative leave as of Monday, which is standard procedure when such an allegation is made.
Oswald requested, and was granted, administrative leaves of absence from his chaplain posts at the Lakeport Police Department and the Lake County Sheriff's Office, officials in those agencies confirmed.
Saint Mary Immaculate's priest since 1988, Oswald told Lake County News this week that he is innocent and that he wants his day in civil court to resolve the matter. He said he hopes to return to his parish and go back to work.
Oswald also has reported that parishioners and friends continue to offer their support and encouragement.
Galvin said cases such as this typically come down to the alleged victim's word versus that of the alleged perpetrator.
“In this situation, the plaintiff claims he was sexually abused,” said Galvin. “The priest denies vehemently it ever happened.”
He added, “Credibility is, typically, the key in these cases.”
How long the case could take to resolve is hard to say, said Galvin. Civil discovery will look into the background of the individuals involved, and depositions could take months to complete.
Many such cases end up in mediation before they get to trial, Galvin said.
It's also not guaranteed that the case will make it through. “We have had several of these cases thrown out by the trial court based on statute of limitations defenses,” Galvin said.
However, Galvin will be up against a tough opponent in Simons.
The biography listed for him on the Web site for his firm – Furtado, Jaspovice and Simons – reports he has extensive experience representing clients who bring sexual abuse cases. He was co-counsel for more than 125 victims in Northern California cases where child sex abuse was alleged against priests or other clergy, and assisted in bringing in more than $150 million in settlements and awards.
Griego never reported his abuse allegations to the Lakeport Police Department, officials there confirmed this week. Lakeport Police has asked the District Attorney's Office to conduct an independent investigation into the allegations, which is in progress.
David Clohessy, national director of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, based in St. Louis, said he didn't consider it unusual for Griego's case to have begun in the civil courts and not the criminal system.
People alleged to have been abused by an authority figure are likely to distrust other authority figures – such as police and other law enforcement, according to Clohessy, who said he is an abuse victim.
When cases such as this go through the civil process, Galvin asserted that the plaintiffs are looking for money.
Clohessy acknowledged that there have been some false accusations made against clergy members – with money a motivation for some – but said if a person's goal is to scam the court system, sexual abuse is the wrong claim to make, because church officials hire defense attorneys who “fight brutally and ruthlessly” to beat the cases in court.
Frontczak said Oswald went before the diocese's review board, where he maintained his innocence and denied Griego's allegations.
The review board assists in investigating initial reports and accusations against clergy, said Frontczak.
Griego also has been invited to the board, but Frontczak said she doesn't know if he will appear. Very often individuals bringing abuse allegations don't want to meet with the board, she added.
Clohessy said his group urges people making abuse allegations to think “long and hard” before going to church authorities, because the group believes the church will not act in the victims' best interest.
He said he finds it troubling that, in cases like Oswald's, people rally to a clergy member's cause rather than waiting to see what will be determined in court.
That reaction by church and community members, he maintained, will discourage other alleged abuse victims from coming forward.
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
Richard Dowdle, 53, was once again denied parole by the Board of Prison Terms, according to Chief Deputy District Attorney Richard Hinchcliff, who attended the parole hearing to argue against Dowdle’s release.
The parole hearing was held on June 2 at Corcoran State Prison, located 240 miles southeast of Sacramento.
In August 1990 Judge Robert C. Crone sentenced Dowdle to life plus five years for the attempted murder of his girlfriend, Hinchcliff said. Current Superior Court Judge Richard Martin was the deputy district attorney who prosecuted Dowdle.
In January 1990, Dowdle was released from the Hill Road Jail in Lakeport after serving time on a domestic violence offense against his girlfriend, according to Hinchcliff.
When he returned to their residence on Emerald Drive in Kelseyville that day, Hinchcliff said Dowdle discovered that his girlfriend had moved her 17-year-old son and a friend of his into the residence to help pay rent.
Hinchcliff said Dowdle, who worked in The Geysers steam field as a driller and was a cross-dresser, was upset that there were “intruders” in the house. He stated that being a “roughneck” he would be too embarrassed to wear female clothing in front of the “intruders.”
Dowdle became angry and confronted the victim while she was in the bedroom with their baby daughter, and punched her, Hinchcliff explained. Dowdle then went into the kitchen, retrieved a butcher knife, and stabbed his girlfriend several times in the shoulder and abdomen. Her son helped her escape from the house.
When deputy sheriff’s arrived and entered the residence, they found that Dowdle had used the knife to cut his own throat and disembowel himself, according to Hinchcliff.
Hinchcliff said Dowdle initially became eligible for parole in May of 2000.
This was Dowdle’s fifth parole hearing since 1998, said Hinchcliff, who also attended the previous hearings to argue against parole.
Although Dowdle has obtained his GED and remained disciplinary free in prison, and may some day be granted parole, the parole commissioners agreed with Hinchcliff that Dowdle had not done enough in prison to address his alcohol abuse problem, his anger control problems or his psychiatric problems. They also found he had no concrete parole plans if he were released, and he still presents a substantial risk of danger to women if released from prison.
Hinchcliff said Dowdle's next parole hearing will take place in two years.
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
Chief Deputy James Bauman of the Lake County Sheriff's reported that over the past Memorial Day weekend, the Lake County “Avoid the Three” DUI Task Force conducted a driving under the influence/driver's license checkpoint in the city of Clearlake and special saturation patrols in and around the cities of Clearlake and Lakeport.
The task force's objective, Bauman reported, is to detect and remove intoxicated or impaired drivers from Lake County streets and highways.
The checkpoint and saturation patrols were conducted by members of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, the Lakeport and Clearlake Police Departments, and the California Highway Patrol, said Bauman.
Eleven officers operated the DUI checkpoint on May 23 from 8 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. in the city of Clearlake, Bauman reported.
Of the 391 vehicles screened during the checkpoint, he said two arrests were made for DUI, 10 arrests were made for other misdemeanor violations, 15 citations were issued and nine vehicles were impounded.
The DUI task force conducted five saturation patrols in and around the cities of Lakeport and Clearlake from May 24 through May 26, according to Bauman. The increased patrols resulted in a total of 149 vehicle stops in which 25 field sobriety tests were conducted, nine DUI arrests were made, 17 other misdemeanor or felony arrests were made and seven vehicles were impounded.
The DUI Task Force is planning additional checkpoints and saturation patrols for the upcoming Independence Day weekend in July, and the Labor Day weekend in August, Bauman reported.
Funding for the “Avoid” program is provided through a grant managed by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office and provided by the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Safety Administration.
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