Monday, February 23, 2009

Yohan Lopez found guilty on all counts


☛ TS Lopez found guilty on all counts in first degree murder case
A jury this morning found 31-year-old Yohan Lopez guilty of first degree murder in the 1998 slaying of 18-year-old Ryan Matthew Dunn, along with the special allegations of lying in wait and causing death by using a firearm.
Dunn was shot outside a Eureka video store. Lopez and Dunn reportedly had several confrontations before the shooting.
Lopez was also convicted of separate counts of possession of methamphetamine and possession of methamphetamine with the intent to sell.

Efren Delgadillo, Lopez' cousin, was also implicated in the shooting. Delgadillo is believed to have died in a car fire in Mexico several years ago. Lopez was returned to Humboldt County in November 2007 after being arrested on a DUI charge in Stanislaus County.

Yohan Lopez' brother, Santiago Lopez, was caught within weeks of the shooting and sentenced to two years in prison for being an accessory to murder.

Yohan Lopez was returned to the Humboldt County jail while he awaits sentencing...

...(Public Defender Jonathan) McCrone said he anticipates filing an appeal immediately....


Score 1 for Klein.

17 comments:

  1. There you go. In other words, the verdicts were just about as good as it gets for the prosecution.

    Well done, Mr. Klein.

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  2. The good thing about TFT is that it doesn't matter if he is on drugs or whether he has a gun. When it is kill or be killed, you might as well kill.

    It's certainly better than having the police clean up your body for disposal later on.
    Dems will disagree, of course. Dems want you to die, in order for them to keep their hands clean. That's convenient, for them.

    You know rose, one of my word verifs came out to be "subtly". But I am not very subtle, eh?

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  3. It's funny how those word captchas often seem to go along with the topic, Ymarsakar - KT has a series of posts on some of the funnier ones here

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  4. Tolkien_fan73? Using county computers isn't exactly legal is it?

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  5. Anonymous: If your comment is meant to suggest that I post my comments from Humboldt County computers, or even that I work for the County, you're wrong.

    Now back to the subject. Do you agree or disagree that the Lopez verdicts were about as good as it gets for the prosecution?

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  6. Are you just in an argumentative mood? Of course a win is good.

    Putting away bad guys is what it is all about.

    Do you want a compliment for not employing the lie detector gambit?

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  7. What exactly are you getting at Tolkien fan? I expect that the DA's office like every other office in the county ought to do the job it is paid to do. I expect any and all of the lawyers there to get convictions especially with eyewitnesses who saw the shooting and other witnesses who the gangster admitted the killing to. If that can't be done with that type of evidence, then we are all in deep shit. So, I guess I can join in with Rose and the other posters and say thank you Mr. Klien for doing the job you are paid to do. What I can't figure out is why you think that the public has to thank its employees for doing their jobs. Unless of course you real name is....

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  8. Anonymous: Like you, I expect that the DA's office ought to do the job it is paid to do. However, I don't assume that there will always be a conviction, even in a case with an eyewitness. My opinion as a lawyer is that the skills of the prosecutor do make a difference. It is also true that incompetence frustrates convictions. So it goes both ways. A prosecutor's skill might help win the case, just as his mistakes might lose it. Which is why, in a forum like this that is critical of Mr. Gallegos (whom I've never met, by the way), I believe it is important to give credit where credit is due. I commend those who recognize success, and who have done so here. In my opinion, it makes no sense to fault the DA when there is a loss, but give no credit when there is a win. We can and should expect competence and excellence in the officials we elect, but not perfection. That is an impossible standard for any agency to meet. That is why I say, Well done, Mr. Klein. You are incorrect to believe that I "think that the public has to thank its employees for doing their jobs." Do you agree with me that success should be recognized? That is what I am "getting at".

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  9. Tolkein - if you are a lawyer in this community why blog anonymously? I don't think I believe you when you say you have never met the DA. That isn't credible.

    My money is that you are Klien or Schwartz. Your other posts give you away brother. I am sorry, I don't agree with you that we should reward people for doing the job that they are paid to do. I am just thankful that for once the DA's office didn't screw the pooch.

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  10. >>> "I don't agree with you that we should reward people for doing the job that they are paid to do."

    A view like that shows that public servants truly have thankless jobs.

    >>> "if you are a lawyer in this community . . ."

    I said I was a lawyer. I never said I was in this community.

    >>> "I don't think I believe you when you say you have never met the DA."

    In the space of a day, Anonymous, you have insinuated that I lack integrity (by suggesting that I'm a County employee misusing County equipment) and deliberately misrepresented my positions. Now you are calling me a liar. And not because I've attacked you, but apparently because you find my observations so offensive.

    I guess this is what passes for blogging, but it doesn't seem like very meaningful conversation. In fact, conversation seems out of the question under those circumstances. So carry on and have fun with whatever you were doing before I entered this thread.

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  11. It's fair to say that the attorneys in the DA's Office - historically - have not been thanked for their service.

    In fact - all the attorneys, Deputy District Attorneys - who have been "lost, fired or driven off" received no parting thanks whatsoever.

    No thanks for their years of dedicated service, for working overtime for no extra pay, for going the extra mile and creating programs like SART, like CAST, like Victim Witness... no parting notice by the Board Of Supervisors...

    It came as quite a shock to them at first. And it's the reason those who left will never return to this County.

    In fact, they got quite the opposite, because they were cannon fodder for Salzman's/Sterling-Nichols dirty tricks machine, the two masters of personal destruction.(And there are signs they are gearing up to do it again.)

    Don't start talking about wanting appreciation because you won a case in stead of pleading it out.

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  12. Thanks for saying it so succinctly and to the point Rose.

    And Tolkein, you said "My opinion as a lawyer" not a former lawyer or retired lawyer, but a lawyer.

    and just as an aside, only Klein would get his chain rattled because someone spelled it as "Klien" instead of "Klien." Ever read Hamlet Arnie? Try Hamlet, Act 3, scene 2, line 230 (line accuracy may differ in varying versions of the play).

    "The lady doth protest too much, methinks."

    But to be clear here, misusing County equipment is wrong and lacks integrity. Telling someone that you are someone different than who you are is lying. Now, we have that out of the way

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  13. Amateur sleuths like Anonymous who jump to conclusions about other posters are the only reason to read this blog, cyber slapstick comedy. Tolkien fan said he was an attorney but never said he was in this community, never said he was retired, and never said he was using a computer at work, for the county or otherwise.

    Thank you for a job well done, Mr. Klein.

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  14. I do know Mr. K, I do know Mr. DA.,
    I don't like either one, I am a lawyer.

    The fact is this time Mr. K got a clean sweep. He deserves a broom at the masthead and a hearty well done. Those of you who think no one should get a well done for doing the jobs they are paid for
    probably don't work very hard, aren't supervisors, or have very
    unhappy employees and co-workers.

    The question remains, why don't we see more such results. Once, such an outcome could have been expected. Now, it is the exception.

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  15. The question remains, why don't we see more such results.

    It's fate's way of telling us that the age of trusting in others to protect your safety is turning into a New Age.

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  16. 8:53, I think a lot of us in this community agree. We once expected these results and took them for granted. You never saw the monumental losses or the bizarre plea bargains and dismissals. We have very slowly and painfully become aware of just how broken our criminal justice system is by Gags' getting rid of so many respected and competent lawyers. Now when we see somebody winning anything over there we are dumbfounded. I believe in giving folks an attaboy when they do good. But I feel like the public servants serve us and not the reverse. I am now just thankful that this case didn't get fucked up like so many other cases are. I am grateful that the Mr. Dunn's family has some closure. I am also sick to my stomach that such success is seldom found in that trainwreck we call the Humboldt County District Attorneys Office. But most of all I humbly apologize to all the nameless lawyers who fled that office and are practicing in other counties. We never knew we had it so good until we lost it all.

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