Another victory for DDA Roger Rees in a stabbing case

On June 3, 2015, in the case of the People of the State of California v. Mark Nero, the jury found the defendant guilty of assault with a deadly weapon, second degree robbery, and mayhem, for the stabbing of a local Eureka woman. The jury also found that the defendant personally inflicted great bodily injury on the victim and that he personally used a deadly weapon, a knife, in the commission of that crime.

The assault happened on November 28, 2014, in the area of 3rd and C Street in the City of Eureka. The defendant and the victim did not know each other. During the crime, the defendant stabbed the young woman in the face with a knife; she required nearly a dozen stitches to treat her injury. The entire incident was recorded on a neighbor’s video surveillance system and the video was presented to the jury at trial. Within minutes of the attack, medical personnel from City Ambulance were on scene to provide medical aid to the victim and officers from the Eureka Police Department arrived to arrest the defendant. The defendant has been in custody since that time.

Deputy District Attorney Roger C. Rees prosecuted the case with assistance from District Attorney Investigator Marvin Kirkpatrick and Victim/Witness Advocate Marybeth Bian. The defendant was represented at trial by Deputy Public Defender Casey Russo. The Honorable John Feeney, presided over the two-day jury trial.

The scheduled sentencing date is July 1, 2015. The maximum sentence for these crimes and special allegations is thirteen years in state prison, of which he must serve 85% before being paroled.