Rana murder case may go federal; defense attorney proclaims client's innocence, blames co-defendant for 2008 slaying

◼ Rana murder case may go federal; defense attorney proclaims client's innocence, blames co-defendant for 2008 slaying - TS

Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos indicated last week that the U.S. Attorney's Office is interested in taking over the cases of Ryan Christopher Carroll and Robert Lanham Lee, both of whom stand accused of murdering a 35-year-old San Francisco man. On Tuesday, Carroll's attorney Kathleen Bryson told the Times-Standard that Gallegos has broken off plea bargain negotiations in the case.

”I just got an email saying he's been advised the feds are coming in to take the case,” Bryson said. “He will not work toward a resolution because he said the feds are coming.”

...Gallegos indicated he planned on trying Carroll and Lee together once Lee was returned to California, but said Friday he was unsure what the U.S. Attorney's Office would do if it takes on the case.

Bryson -- speaking publicly about the case for the first time -- proclaimed her client's innocence and said Lee killed Rana.

”My guy didn't fight extradition (from Washington) because he's innocent,” she said. “He's eager to clear his name, and the evidence shows it was Robert Lee that did it.”

Bryson said it was Lee who shot Rana twice with a rifle, adding that he then forced her client at gunpoint to take Rana's car and set fire to it near Big Lagoon. Lee ultimately left Carroll in Washington, Bryson said, but threatened to kill him if he told anyone what happened on that dirt road in Southern Humboldt....

Investigators said they never believed Carroll acted alone and kept working the case. According to Humboldt County Sheriff's Sgt. Wayne Hanson, investigators caught a break about one year ago when Carroll's car was found in the Garberville area spray-painted black. Finding the car, Hanson said, led to new witnesses and new evidence that linked Lee to the killing.