State's high court halts decision on moving trial

[Sequoia]

in Lake County slayings

The state Supreme Court has halted a Lake County murder trial while it decides whether to hear a request to have the case relocated to a more ethnically diverse county. "I've never heard of the Supreme Court jumping in at this level," said Mendocino County Bar Association President Tom Mason. The unusual court order was issued last week, one day before jury selection was expected to begin in the double-murder trial of Renato Hughes Jr.

Hughes, 22, is charged in the deaths of two childhood friends who were shot and killed while fleeing the scene of an alleged home-invasion robbery in Clearlake in December 2005.

Hughes did not fire a weapon during the confrontation. He is charged with the murders under a law that holds alleged accomplices liable for one another's deaths when they participate in inherently dangerous crimes.

Allegations of racism have plagued the case from the beginning because the victims, both black and from an urban area, were shot and killed by a white homeowner, who was not charged. Hughes' attorney says his client, also black, cannot get a fair trial in Lake County because only 2 percent of its population is black.

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http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070515/NEWS/705150350/1033/NEWS01

What sort of law is that? This reminds me of the Jim Crow days.

[Solo_in_MD]

1. What law are you refereing to?

Hughes did not fire a weapon during the confrontation. He is charged with the murders under a law that holds alleged accomplices liable for one another's deaths when they participate in inherently dangerous crimes. is also known as the felony murder rule. Been around for a long time with no clear racist intent.

The claim that he can not get a fair trial since he is an urban black youth in a rural mostly white county is a indeed racist, but its not surprising its being tried. Other sources have said its a slam dunk without jury nullification.

[Sequoia]

2. Okay, but it seems wrong.