By Rena Abdusalam
WOODLAND, CA – In a preliminary hearing for the accused Monday in Yolo County Superior Court, he was charged with threatening a crime with intent to terrorize, assault likely to produce great bodily injury and multiple enhancements in an alleged attack on his roommate’s boyfriend.
“Like I said, I had no problems with this man. He’s a pretty mellow person. I [saw] him coming at me and I thought that this was a joke. I didn’t think he was serious, but apparently he was because he started swinging at me,” said the victim.
The victim testified he was attacked by the accused in the trailer of the victim’s girlfriend June 26, 2022.
Hearing a voice yell “I’m going to kill you,” the victim turned around to the accused, who the victim swore was swinging two knives in his hand and coming toward him, saying he was going to stick him with a knife.
In response, the victim said he used a dolly to protect himself and was not injured. After the attack, he saw the accused’s blood stained on items in the house, stating that he realized the accused got hurt.
Deputy District Attorney Alex O. Kian asked the victim if he felt frightened, to which he said, “Yes.” The victim insisted there was no previous argument that could’ve caused the attack.
During cross-examination, Deputy Public Defender Martha Sequeira asked about the day before the attack when the victim, the victim’s girlfriend, and the accused all decided to visit their storage facility at 3 a.m. to move items into another unit. 
The accused left early despite the three mile walk back, grumbling about how they should’ve given him a ride, said the PD, who then noted the victim’s criminal history, which included a variety of felonies and arrests, ranging from domestic violence to failing to register as a sex offender.
PD Sequeira also asked the victim how far the accused was when he started to attack. The victim estimated about three feet, and PD Sequeira argued that if the accused was within three feet of the victim, how did he have time to use the dolly for protection, despite being close to an exit, and did not get injured.
When police Officer Maria Perez was called to the stand, PD Sequeira asked her a series of questions regarding details of the attack.
Perez confirmed the three of them visited the storage unit late at night and how the accused asked the two multiple times to go home, since he had work at 9 a.m. The victim, the officer was told, didn’t want to give him a ride, and the accused ended up upset, walking the three miles back to the trailer.
According to the accused’s conversation with the officer, he called the victim mean and said he is not good for the victim’s girlfriend.
The officer also confirmed the victim is considered homeless and that nothing legally binds him to his girlfriend’s trailer, unlike the accused.
On the morning of the incident, the accused saw the victim in the trailer, stating he wanted to protect the victim’s girlfriend from the victim. The accused told the victim to get out while pointing the knives he had toward the floor. When the victim used the dolly, the knives cut his finger. He then asked the victim to leave again until going back into his room.
PD Sequeira asked the officer if she questioned the girlfriend for any violence between the couple. The officer said she learned about the domestic violence later.
The victim’s girlfriend told Officer Perez she was near the car when she heard yelling from the trailer. In his testimony, the victim said his girlfriend was talking to her sister near the trailer.
The girlfriend also said that she did not see the accused hold any knives or see anything physical between the two. The only thing she saw was the dolly being thrown.
When talking to the both of them, Officer Perez was told the accused confessed his love for the victim’s girlfriend days prior. The victim’s girlfriend also found the alleged knives in the accused’s room, despite saying she didn’t see any knives used.
The other roommates were in their rooms sleeping when the alleged attack went on. They heard yelling but didn’t hear what the accused allegedly said to the victim specifically.
During the prelim argument, PD Sequeira continued to question the credibility of the victim’s testimony through the arguments made, implying there could be domestic violence toward the victim’s girlfriend.
“Clearly, he is a multiple felon, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he isn’t credible,” says Judge Tom Dyer.
The next hearing will be held on Aug. 23.
