The following is a press release issued by the Mendocino County District Attorney’s Office:
A Mendocino County Superior Court jury returned from its deliberations Wednesday in Ukiah to announce that it would be unable to reach unanimous verdicts on the two misdemeanor DUI charges pending against the trial defendant.
Defendant Joshua Dickerson, age 26, of Hemet, had been charged by the Mendocino County DA back in 2017 with driving a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol and driving a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol .08 or greater, both as misdemeanors.
Following judicial inquiry of the foreperson confirming that further deliberations were unlikely to be fruitful, the Court declared a mistrial (“hung jury”). When then asked, the foreperson disclosed that the jury was split 11 for guilty to 1.
After the jury was excused, the defendant was ordered to return to court the next day (Thursday) for possible resolution of the DUI case, as well as resolution of a resisting arrest situation that occurred after the first and before the second day of the DUI trial. Following review of the applicable police reports, the DA had filed a new criminal complaint against the now in-custody defendant.
On Thursday, May 26th, the mistrial notwithstanding, the defendant admitted criminal responsibility for misdemeanor driving a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol in the old case, and also admitted criminal responsibility for misdemeanor resisting arrest in the new case.
The law enforcement agencies that investigated and developed the evidence supporting the defendant’s DUI conviction were the California Highway Patrol and the California Department of Justice forensic laboratory in Eureka. The DA’s own investigators provided assistance in locating witnesses five years after the fact and providing trial support for the DUI trial.
The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office was the law enforcement agency that investigated and arrested the defendant for the events underlying the new case.
The attorneys who presented the People’s DUI evidence at trial were Deputy District Attorneys Heidi Larson and Chandra Cafferty.
Mendocino County Superior Court Judge Keith Faulder presided over the three-day trial and the ultimate resolution of the two cases.
