Surprise during South Lake Tahoe murder trial

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - In a surprise move on Thursday during the murder trial of Dion Jermaine Vacarro in South Lake Tahoe, the man who had previously pleaded guilty in the same case in exchange for a lighter sentence changed his mind.

Thursday was day three of Vacarro's trial. The defendant is one of six people accused in the January 30, 2016 murder of Dennis Wright, Jr. at the Beverly Lodge in South Lake Tahoe. A seventh defendant, Vanessa Muzio, previously pleaded guilty to being an accessory to murder.

The jury has heard that Wright brought 100 pounds of marijuana to South Lake Tahoe to sell to a prearranged buyer at the motel. As the buyer backed out and Wright was packing up the unsold pot, he was shot twice, once in the thigh and once in the chest, and died of his injuries. The investigation by South Lake Tahoe police detectives led them around the country to arrest all of the suspects with Batten being arrested in Vallejo on February 16, 2016, just 17 days after the murder of Wright.

On November 22, 2016, the then 18-year-old Tristan Batten of Vallejo, Calif., withdrew his previous plea of not guilty and pleaded guilty to an amended criminal complaint that included four felonies surrounding Wright's murder and robbery. As a result of the guilty plea, Batten was becoming a witness in the case against the others and facing far fewer years in prison than the 25 years to life he'd face without the plea, most likely time served.

That all changed Thursday as Batten refused to answer all of Deputy District Attorney Casey Mandrell's questions and, instead, spent his time in the witness box pleading the fifth (on the grounds he might incriminate himself).

Batten's agreement with the court had been sealed since his 2016 plea. He had agreed to "testify truthfully and fully" during all court appearances, including Vaccaro's trial. Since he refused to go by the terms of his plea, that all changed.

When asking Batten if he was being forced to change his plea, Batten told Judge Suzanne Kingsbury "no" and that he was changing it due to "personal reasons." She told him he was violating his contract as being a cooperating witness and he would no longer get the greatly-reduced jail time. The judge wanted to make sure Batten understood the consequences of the plea change - time credits for good behavior were no longer available, he would be facing 25 years to life in prison, he would no longer be housed in jail locally and would be sent to state prison, and he'd be branded as a snitch in prison even if not actually cooperating with the court.

Batten said he understood the consequences.

The jury was not present as much of this unfolded.

When they returned to the courtroom, Mandrell declared Batten a "hostile witness" as he refused to answer questions as originally agreed on in the plea agreement.

Mandrell asked for a judgment against Batten as soon as possible. Judge Kingsbury scheduled his next court date for March 6 at 1:30 p.m. for sentencing.