THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT
DIVISION FIVE
THE PEOPLE,
Plaintiff and Respondent,
v.
BODHI TREE,
Defendant and Appellant.
A143390
(Humboldt County
Super. Ct. No. CR1302250)
Rhett August was shot and injured one evening when he answered the doorbell at
his Eureka home. A few nights later, Alan “Sunshine” Marcet and his girlfriend
Christina Schwarz were shot and fatally wounded in their makeshift bed in the living
room of a home where they were staying in Arcata. A jury determined that appellant
Bodhi Tree was the shooter on both occasions and convicted him of two counts of second
degree murder and one count of premeditated attempted murder, along with findings that
as to each offense, he had personally discharged a firearm causing great bodily injury or
death. (Pen. Code, §§ 187, subd. (a), 664, 12022.53.) The court imposed consecutive
terms of 15 years to life for the second degree murder counts, a consecutive life term for
the attempted premeditated murder count, and consecutive firearm enhancements of 25
years to life for each of those counts, for a total prison term of 105 years to life plus life.1
1 Appellant was charged with two counts of first degree murder with a multiple
murder special circumstance allegation, which applies when a defendant who has been
found guilty of first degree murder “has been convicted of more than one offense of
murder in the first or second degree.” (Pen. Code, §190.2, subd. (a)(3).) Because
For complete ruling:
Thank you to WatchPaul for all the links of my coverage of this case:
http://watchpaul.blogspot.com/2014/06/bodhi-tree-updates.html?m=1
The trial judge was Judge Dale Reinholtsen. The prosecutor was former Deputy District Attorney Elan Firpo. Bodhi Tree was represented by Deputy Public Defenders Heidi Holmquist and Casey Russo.