AND - Another plea agreement

Defendant pleads no contest to plea
by Kara Machado, 7/2/2007

On the day he was to start trial proceedings, an Arcata man pleaded no contest to a plea agreement that dropped an attempted murder charge.

Based on Monday’s negotiated plea agreement, a judge will not be able to sentence Blake Gregory Moreland, 21, to more than seven years in state prison, said Humboldt County Deputy District Attorney Arnie Klein — the minimum Moreland could potentially face, Klein said, is probation.... Moreland pleaded no contest Monday morning to a plea agreement of assault with a deadly weapon — a .380-caliber handgun — and admitted a special allegation that he personally used a handgun in the commission of a crime, Klein said... A special allegation increases the time a defendant faces at sentencing.

...Past reports indicate Moreland was charged with attempted murder, assault with a firearm, discharging a firearm out of a vehicle and negligent discharge of a firearm... According to previous reports, Moreland and a male victim were driving in separate vehicles in the Manila area when, at one point, Moreland shot at the victim — who had a woman, a 17-year-old girl and a 2-year-old child as passengers in his vehicle.