By Ayanna Gandhi
SACRAMENTO – Defendant Lorenzo Basped waived his rights—to a point—when he and two of his family members were caught speeding while in possession of a firearm on April 12, and this past Tuesday his preliminary hearing was held in Sacramento County Superior Court, Department 10.
During the preliminary, Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Gong informed the judge that on November 23, 2016, Basped was put on a five-year probation for a violation of Penal Code § 69, obstructing an officer. Therefore, when she charged him with his recent crime, possession of a firearm, he was still on probation.
Officer Thomas Maclean testified that he and partner spotted a speeding white Ford sedan going “well above the posted 35 miles an hour speed limit.” Maclean performed a traffic stop on 
the vehicle, and identified the passenger as Mark Oats, who when asked, admitted to being on active probation.
They then identified the driver as Lonny Basped. Lastly, Officer Delgado spoke to the passenger in the rear driver’s seat, who was later identified as Lorenzo Basped, who failed to say that he was on probation when asked.
The officers had the three men step out of the vehicle to perform record checks and a vehicle search. They found that both Oats and Lorenzo Basped were on active probation with Lorenzo being searchable.
Delgado found a loaded concealed carry handgun under the driver’s seat. When asked about the positioning of the handgun, Maclean said that the barrel was faced toward the engine, the slide toward the driver’s door, and the magazine toward the passenger door.
Based on that, the officers believed the backseat passenger, Lorenzo Basped, was the one to have discarded the handgun.
When the officers performed a record check on the handgun, they found that it was a stolen firearm from the City of Sacramento.
Afterward, Maclean spoke to the defendant Lorenzo Basped, read him his rights, and noted that he “seemed to understand them,” but then he waived his rights and answered questions at the scene.
According to the officer, the defendant told the officers that the driver, Lonny, was his brother, and Oats was his cousin. Lorenzo also informed the cops that the vehicle was his cousin’s rental and that he was unsure where they were headed, but was just “along for the ride.”
When asked, the defendant Basped told officers that he did not know about the firearm, but when asked to consent to a firearm residue test, Basped refused.
However, when DA Gong began to ask Maclean questions about Lonny Basped, the judge told her, “this is not Lonny’s trial. Move on.”
Assistant Public Defender Karen Watkins proceeded to cross-examine officer Thomas Maclean, ultimately getting him to admit that “looking at the positioning of the gun, it is possible that the driver put the handgun under the seat, but based on the exact position it is unlikely.”
Lorenzo Basped pleaded not guilty and the court arraigned him. Basped’s jury trial has been set for October 1, at 8:45 a.m. in Sacramento, Department 9.
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