DDA Roger Rees prosecuted the case. Conflict Counsel's Marek Reavis represented Ferrer.
Judge John Feeney sentenced Ferrer to the maximum term of 11 years for voluntary manslaughter plus 1 year for special allegation of using a weapon.
The term is consecutive and Ferrer will be on parole/post supervision release for 3 years after his release.
Judge Feeney's tentative decision was his final decision. After his tentative decision, he heard from Mr. Reavis, then DDA Rees, then Doug's family and then Ferrer before he made his final ruling.
When he mentioned his tentative decision was to sentence Ferrer to 12 years, Judge Feeney said there were no unusual circumstances to grant probation and that he did not believe probation was in the interest of public safety. Judge Feeney also said the fact that Ferrer fled the scene and disposed of the weapon and that he initially lied to law enforcement about his involvement were all factors in his decision.
While making his final ruling, Judge Feeney said, "This is truly a tragic case for Mr. Anderson's family and it is truly a tragic situation for Mr. Ferrer and his family. I cannot in good conscience find unusual circumstances (to grant probation." Then saying from the triad of choices for appropriate commitment for voluntary manslaughter, while he did not agree with everything that the probation officer wrote, for example, Judge Feeney felt Ferrer had an insignificant criminal record, he saids the mitigating circumstances were outweighed by the aggravating factors such as great violence, high violence and crulety, that Douglas Anderson was particularly vulnerable, there were three individuals against one and Ferrer presented " a serious danger to society."
Ferrer has to pay $3,152.19 in restitution to Patricia Henderson, $3,600 restitution fine, another restitution fine of $3,600 that will be stayed unless he violates parole/post supervision release. Ferrer got credit for 559 actual days in prison and only 83 days of good time credit totalling 642 days.
Only Mad River Union and myself were present in court today for sentencing which started a little after 4 p.m. and ended around 6 p.m. today.
May 18, 2015
Ferrer guilty of manslaughter and special allegation
Ferrer guilty of voluntary manslaughter and special allegation of use of a deadly weapon while committing the crime.
Ferrer hugged his attorney after the not guilty verdict of second degree murder was read.
Sentencing June 15 at 2 p.m. in Courtroom 1.
For voluntary manslaughter Ferrer can get up maximum 11 years. Lower term 3 and mid term is 6 years. Special allegation is an additional 1 year.
The DA's press release has the total sentence added up: The sentence for the crime of voluntary manslaughter with a deadly weapon has the following range: a mitigated term of four years, a middle term of seven years, and an aggravated term of twelve years in prison.
There has been extensive daily coverage of the jury trial on this blog.
In the link below are definitions of the murder, second degree murder, voluntary and involuntary manslaughter:
http://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2015/05/ferrer-jury-to-start-deliberating.html
Ferrer hugged his attorney after the not guilty verdict of second degree murder was read.
Sentencing June 15 at 2 p.m. in Courtroom 1.
For voluntary manslaughter Ferrer can get up maximum 11 years. Lower term 3 and mid term is 6 years. Special allegation is an additional 1 year.
The DA's press release has the total sentence added up: The sentence for the crime of voluntary manslaughter with a deadly weapon has the following range: a mitigated term of four years, a middle term of seven years, and an aggravated term of twelve years in prison.
There has been extensive daily coverage of the jury trial on this blog.
In the link below are definitions of the murder, second degree murder, voluntary and involuntary manslaughter:
http://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2015/05/ferrer-jury-to-start-deliberating.html
This is the DA's press release on Ferrer:
There is daily coverage of the Ferrer trial and extensive coverage from last year on the preliminary hearing, the original plea deal being thrown out and the saga that eventually led to the second trial under the new administration.
Remember Ms. Firpo's statement on the rejected plea deal:
ReplyDeleteIn a best case jury trial scenario, Mr. Ferrer would have been found guilty of voluntary manslaughter. He would have been sentenced to a term of three years in prison (because he has no prior record), of which he would have served 85%, or approximately 2 years and 6 months. A plea agreement was reached to ensure that Mr. Ferrer would serve the maximum term for involuntary manslaughter allowed by law: 4 years, which, owing to the Governor’s Realignment Program, he will serve 2 years in county jail.
In other words, a best-case-scenario result at jury trial would have resulted in an additional 6 months of custody time for Mr. Ferrer.
Well, Mr. Rees proved her wrong. He worked hard and got a good result in what was clearly a difficult case. Ms. Firpo's statement was not an explanation, it was an excuse to explain her shirking. It is not anything that a real prosecutor would say. Humboldt now has a real prosecutor in office, and people like Mr. Rees to do their jobs the right way.
Remember a prosecutor who works at will is supervised by his or her boss. Yes, DDA Rees did an excellent job. His boss is current DA Maggie Fleming.
DeleteElan Firpo's boss was former DA Paul Gallegos. On this very blog, I have reported on his throwing his DDAs under the bus like DDA Curtis for plea deals he approved.