Court Watch

Yolo County Judge Tim Fall was removed from presiding over the Daniel Marsh case. Mr. Marsh, 16,…

by Antoinnette Borbon The state’s case against co-defendants, David Bristow and Danny Stearman, continued Monday with another…

By Kaiti Curry Kevin Ellis, a man recently convicted of molesting two preadolescent boys, may be facing…

by Antoinnette Borbon

A Madison man was found not guilty on all counts, along with enhancements, in what would be one of the shortest deliberations I have seen yet. He was a Vallejo man who had moved to Madison at the beginning of this year. The defendant stated he had just returned from a trip with his fiancé on the night of July 8.

Cornell, the defendant, stated he had been staying with the elderly couple, parents of his housemate, who he referred to as Mom and Pops. Cornell said his PG&E had been turned off and the couple was kind enough to allow him to stay at their nearby house for a few days; they were also the parents of Steven Bertram, the alleged victim.

Last week tragedy struck the small town of Winters when William Gardner allegedly gunned down his ex-grilfriend in downtown Winters, in broad daylight, just days after being released from custody at the Yolo County jail, where he had been held on charges that he stalked and threatened the victim in this case, Leslie Pinkston.

Her friend, Katie Winkler, wrote this week that Ms. Pinkston was “terrorized by an abusive ex-boyfriend. Harassed, stalked and threatened via social media, through email, phone and in person, Leslie tried to prevent and stop this behavior on her own and with the help of family and friends. She changed her number, she moved, she stayed under the radar, all in an effort to keep herself and her daughter safe.”

by Antoinnette Borbon

After nearly three days of deliberation in the multi-defendant case, jurors told Judge David Rosenberg they could not reach a decision. The jury foreman was asked by Rosenberg whether, if they had more time to deliberate, they could reach a decision, but only one of twelve said yes.

But what we would learn from what they struggled with signaled a pause. Defense Attorney Jeff Raven explained to the family of one of the defendants, Jose Jimenez, that the jurors felt intimidated by the groups of family present during trial.

By Kaiti Curry

Kevin Ellis, who was found guilty of molesting two young boys and failing to register as a sex offender in October, may be in luck.  The 55-year-old man could have been sentenced to multiple life imprisonment sentences by Judge Mock on November 22, but instead the case has been continued while a mistrial issue is being investigated.

One of the jurors allegedly spoke to his or her neighbor about the case while actively involved in Ellis’s trial.  This is unfortunate, and is grounds for a mistrial.

by Antoinnette Borbon

As the morning began, all four defense attorneys asked Judge Rosenberg to consider an [Penal Code section] 1118 motion to dismiss charges against the four young men accused of second degree robbery and assault on a Woodland man.

The prosecutor had added a gang enhancement to two of the counts against all four young men. But, despite an exhaustive effort by Attorney Jeff Raven, the motion was denied. Judge Rosenberg felt there was sufficient evidence to allow a jury to decide on the charges, and ruled against the 1118 motion.

by Antoinnette Borbon

The multi-defendant trial involving four young men in what is being said, by the Yolo County Gang Task Force, to be a gang-related crime has taken on more challenging testimony by alleged victim Scott Nichols and his girlfriend Donna Beatty this past week.

On Friday we heard testimony from the girlfriend of Nichols, who has appeared to have little recollection of what she told police on the night of June 19th. She claimed she was “a mad woman!” and under the influence of drugs and alcohol. She stated she never told police she could identify the attackers positively. But, in testimony given by both Officers Lara and Lutrell, it was said she identified one young male by his Mongolian-style hairdo, tattoos and large necklace.

On June 30, outside a Woodland 7-Eleven store, there was a confrontation between 28-year-old Kristal Sutton and 58-year-old Alisa Horner, where Ms. Sutton ultimately ran over Ms. Horner and fled the scene.  A few days later, Ms. Horner would die and Ms. Sutton would be taken into custody.

Outraged at what they perceived to be relatively light charges of a felony hit and run resulting in death, rather than a vehicular homicide or murder, the family of Ms. Horner would come to the Vanguard Court Watch Council Meeting in Woodland in late July, that was attended by both Sheriff Ed Prieto and Woodland Police Chief Dan Bellini.

by Catherine McKnight

The further jury trial resumed on Thursday morning in the multi-defendant case involving an alleged attack and robbery at the 7-Eleven in Woodland. Deputy District Attorney Robin Johnson presented her first witness in the case, the alleged victim, Christopher Scott Nichols.

She began her direct examination by asking Mr. Nichols a string of questions on his three previous felony convictions, which include possession of methamphetamine, selling methamphetamine, and spousal abuse. He is also in custody right now due to a failure to appear for the spousal abuse case.