Convicted by jury this past April of murder in the first degree, Caleb Dain Silver, age 28, was sentenced to 404 months (33 years, 8 months) to life in state prison on a series of crimes, the most serious of which being the murder conviction.
Before the sentencing hearing could take place, proceedings were held during today's morning session on the defendant's bid to set aside the verdicts and have a new trial. After reading the defendant's motion and the District Attorney's opposition papers, as well as hearing arguments from the attorneys for both sides, the Court ruled that the defense motion lacked merit and accordingly denied same.
During the afternoon court session, the Court, having reviewed the Adult Probation Department's background study and sentencing recommendation, accepted further arguments from the defense and prosecution as to what should be the appropriate sentence. The Court heard from the victim's daughter who presented a moving impact statement. In a final move reminiscent of the O.J. Simpson playbook, the defendant also personally addressed the Court, in part expressing his regret that Mr. Boardman's real killer was still on the loose.
The attorney who has handled the prosecution of this defendant from the original arraignment through today's sentencing hearing is Deputy DA Tim Stoen.
The law enforcement agencies that thoroughly investigated this case so that persuasive evidence could be presented to the jury were the Fort Bragg Police Department, the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office, the Mendocino Major Crimes Task Force, the California Highway Patrol, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office, the California Department of Justice forensic crime laboratories, and the District Attorney's own investigators.
The judge who presided over the three trials leading up to today and who presided over today's sentencing proceedings was Mendocino County Superior Court Judge John Behnke.
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