Benjamin Carter's wife leaves the courtroom when Carter is denied probation; Carter sentenced to 6 years in state prison

This afternoon in Courtroom 6, Judge Christopher Wilson sentenced Benjamin Carter to the upper term imposed for Count 2 which is three years and that time is doubled because of his prior strike.

Carter had 599 days in custody and with good conduct credit he got credit for 611 days. He was denied probation since unusual circumstances did not exist and he is also ineligible to serve the sentence at the local jail facility.

His wife walked out of the courtroom when Judge Wilson said Carter was denied probation and she did not hear the sentence.

"The circumstances of aggravation outweigh the circumstances of mitigation," said Judge Wilson.

Judge Wilson reminded Carter again that as a felon he is prohibited for lifetime from possessing a firearm.

The probation report included a letter from the Zachary Chapman's mother.

No other media was in court.

Jul 28, 2015

Benjamin Carter found guilty, sentencing on September 4, another win for DDA Roger Rees

Yesterday Benjamin Carter was found guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Sentencing is on September 4 at 1:30 in Courtroom 6.

There is a special allegation to the count charged P 667 b (i). This will add three years to Carter's sentence. That code applies when someone has been convicted previously of one or more serious/violent felonies.

Only two jurors stayed behind to talk to the attorneys.

DA's press release :

On July 27, 2015, in the case of the People of the State of California v. Benjamin Carter, the jury found the defendant guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm. The defendant admitted a special allegation that he had previously been convicted of a strike under California's Three Strikes law. 

The charge arose from incidents that occurred on April 16, 2014.  On that day, the defendant obtained a shotgun from Zackery Chapman. Later, Mr. Chapman attempted to get the shotgun back from the defendant; Mr. Chapman was armed with a pistol when he arrived at the defendant Carter's location in Southern Humboldt. Mr. Chapman pointed the pistol at several people, including the defendant, who was holding the shotgun.  The defendant fired one shot at Mr. Chapman, killing him. Although the defendant was initially charged with murder, it was ultimately determined that the shooting was justified.

In addition to three civilian witnesses, Investigator Cheryl Franco of the Humboldt County Sheriff's Department testified at the trial.

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 Michael Acosta, a local defense attorney. The Honorable Christopher Wilson, Judge, presided over the six-day trial in Humboldt Superior Court.

The scheduled sentencing date is September 4, 2015. The maximum sentence for this crime and special allegation is six years in state prison. Because the defendant has a prior strike, he must serve 80% of his sentence before being paroled.