On July 25, Santa Barbara County Judge John McGregor declared a mistrial in the trial of 27-year-old Sterling Ranft, a Lompoc man who is accused of attempted murder.
According to Adrian Galvan, Ranft’s court-appointed attorney, the jury was hung twice on whether to convict Ranft of trying to kill 29-year-old Michael Hernandez in what Galvan is saying was self defense.
The first time, the jury deliberated for several days. But when one of the jurors indicated to the bailiff that a fellow juror had been drinking prior to deliberations, Galvan said, McGregor removed the juror for misconduct and replaced him with an alternate. He ordered them to re-deliberate.
They came back a second time, hung 8-4 to convict after deliberating for only six hours, according to Galvan. In California, a unanimous verdict is required to acquit or convict. But the decision wasn’t for the charge of attempted murder, instead it was to convict for attempted manslaughter, since Deputy District Attorney Stephanie Savrnoch used an imperfect self-defense argument against Ranft, Galvan explained.
During the trial, Savrnoch attempted to persuade the jury that Ranft’s self-defense was not reasonable. Ranft shot Hernandez with a hollow-point shotgun slug, with the bullet passing through and shattering Hernandez’s thigh.
Ranft claimed Hernandez came at him with a knife in hand in the darkness of the early morning hours on March 11. A photo taken at the scene by police officers shortly after the shooting showed a folded red pocketknife close to Hernandez’s hand.
Ranft remains in jail on a $1.5 million bond. Galvan said he put in a motion to reduce bail amount and motion to dismiss for Thursday, Aug. 4, though he doesn’t believe it’ll be heard on that day.
Galvan believes Ranft will be tried again and will remain in jail up until that time, adding that he believes McGregor probably won’t dismiss because he wants a verdict.
The last day for the trial to occur is Sept. 26, when an entirely new jury will be summoned.
“It’s not a cut and dry case,” Galvan told the Sun. “I don’t think Sterling was surprised by a hung jury.”
Savrnoch didn’t return inquiries made by the Sun before press time.
Here are some other noteworthy North County cases with hearing dates coming up:
The trials for Arturo Granados, Gregorio Augustin, Bryan Rios, and Joseph Morales are set for 8:30 a.m. on Oct. 28 in Department 7. All four are accused of killing 37-year-old Javier Limon, whose body was found riddled with bullets in a ditch near Guadalupe on August 11, 2014.
Lavell Calvin White and Ali Abdul Mohammed—two former Allan Hancock College (AHC) basketball players—appear in court on Aug. 15 at 8:30 a.m. in Department 7. Both White and Mohammed are accused of shooting former AHC student Terence Richardson to death in December 2014.
On Sept. 9, soap opera actress Jensen Buchanan, will appear in court starting at 8:30 a.m. in Department 9. The star from “The Young and the Restless” is accused of driving under the influence and crashing her car into another motorist on May 18 along Highway 154. Buchanan’s blood-alcohol level was .34—more than four times the legal limit—at the time of her arrest, according to court records.
This article appears in Aug 4-11, 2016.
