Judge's decision in South Lake Tahoe courtroom calls California law unconstitutional

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - One could feel the air let out of a South Lake Tahoe courtroom as visiting Judge Gary Mullen read his decision to the five defendants, their five lawyers and family members in attendance, one that tossed out their request to drop murder charges against all of the suspects in the robbery and murder in 2016 of Dennis Wright.

Judge Mullen declared California Senate Bill 1437 unconstitutional. The bill was signed by then-California Governor Jerry Brown in September 2018 and changed the liability for accomplices to felony murder.

The El Dorado County District Attorney's Office said it was an unauthorized legislative amendment of two previous voter initiatives, Proposition 7 and Proposition 115, and Mullen agreed.

The five current defendants, Dion Jermaine Vaccaro, Domenic Seanlee Randolph, Tevarez Richard Lopez, Andrew Datre Adams, and Harvest Cyle Davidson, have been held in the El Dorado County Jails in both South Lake Tahoe and Placerville since being arrested after the January 30, 2016 murder of Wright.

After Mullen's ruling, the defendants remain charged with murder and robbery.

In 1978, former California State Assemblyman and Senator, and El Dorado County resident, John Briggs, created Proposition 7, also known as the Death Penalty Act. It was a ballot measure approved by voters that same year. Proposition 7 increased the penalties for first-degree murder and second-degree murder, expanded the list of special circumstances requiring a death sentence or life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, and revised existing law relating to mitigating or aggravating circumstances. In that, multiple people could be charged for felony murder even if not responsible for pulling the trigger.

The new law, SB 1437, requires prosecutors to prove there was an intent to kill, the defendant was a major participant in the killing and behaved in a way that showed a reckless disregard for life.

Mullen ruled that only voters could change a voter initiative. He said, even if SB 1437 was an amendment to the previous voter-approved Proposition 7, it didn't meet the required two-thirds vote by both the State Senate and Assembly prior to the Governor signing it.

Wright, who was 40 at the time, was shot and killed in the parking lot of the Beverly Lodge after bringing 100 pounds of pot to town to sell in a prearranged transaction.

One by one the South Lake Tahoe Police Department, with help from other agencies, arrested seven suspects in California, New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma over several months, all as suspects the robbery and murder of Wright. Besides the names above, also arrested were Tristan Batten, who has since pleaded guilty, and Vanessa Muzio, who was 18 at the time, who pleaded guilty to being an accessory to murder.

Batten, who pleaded guilty to an amended criminal complaint in 2016, was also in court with his lawyer, awaiting the judge's decision. He changed his not-guilty plea to guilty to four felonies surrounding Wright's murder and robbery. His guilty plea could have possibly let the other suspects off the hook under SB 1437, but his actual plea is sealed and contents unknown.

Mullen said SB 1437 "takes away from the punitive provisions of Proposition 7 for first and second-degree murder by amending rule and doctrine as it relates to murder to more equitably punish, limit subsequent sentencing, and reduce lengthy sentences."

As he was reading his decision, Judge Mullen outlined each role the five defendants allegedly had in the murder of Wright. These claims will come out when the trial finally begins, which is not scheduled at this time. Of the five, the driver of the vehicle that brought two people to South Lake Tahoe with the alleged intent to steal from Wright did not pull the trigger. The judge said the driver knew the victim and pointed him out to the eventual shooters. Another defendant arranged and rearranged the sale of the 100 pounds of marijuana, leading to all five having a part in the murder, he said.

It is likely the ruling will end up in the State Supreme Court as other jurisdictions have had conflicting rulings on SB 1437 as it pertains to current trials and previous convictions.

The defendants were to appear next in Judge Suzanne Kingsbury's courtroom in June but that court date no longer appears on the calendar. It is unknown when they will appear next but South Tahoe Now will be there, as we have with all of the previous court dates on the matter since 2016.