The following is a press release issued by the Mendocino County District Attorney’s Office:
A Mendocino County jury returned within the first hour of the new work week to announce it had found the trial defendant guilty almost as charged.
Defendant Dino Blackbear Lincoln, also known as Dino Michael Blackbear, age 36 of Covelo, was found guilty of murder in the second degree and felony reckless evading a peace officer.
The jury also found true a special allegation alleged that the defendant personally and intentionally discharged a firearm, said discharge causing the death of another person.
The jury returned a guilty verdict of misdemeanor simple assault, a lesser included crime to the charged crime of felony assault with a motor vehicle.
The jury began its deliberations late afternoon Friday and returned to complete their review of the evidence and applicable law first thing Monday morning.
After the jury was excused, a bifurcated court trial was held wherein it was proven beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant Lincoln has suffered two prior Strike convictions.
The two prior Strikes found true by the Court were for:
(1) felony criminal threats, said conviction having been entered in the Mendocino County Superior Court on January 3, 2019 (a felony characterized as serious by Penal Code section 1192.(c)); and
(2) felony assault with a deadly weapon causing great bodily injury to another person, said conviction having been entered in the Mendocino County Superior Court on July 24 2008 (a felony characterized as violent by Penal Code section 667.5(c)).
The defendant’s case has now been referred to the Mendocino County Adult Probation Department for a background and social study leading to a written sentencing recommendation.
The probation department’s sentencing report and recommendation is relied on by the intake staff at the CDCR reception center for determining an incoming inmate’s threat and classification level for purposes of making a permanent cell assignment in the available state prison facilities.
The defendant’s formal sentencing date has been calendared for July 27, 2023 in Department A at 9 o’clock in the morning in the Ukiah courthouse.
The law enforcement agencies that developed the evidence in support of Monday’s verdicts are the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office, the California Highway Patrol, the California Department of Justice forensic laboratory, and the District Attorney’s own Bureau of Investigations.
A special note of appreciation is extended to Gregg Stutchman, a forensic audio/video and photography expert from Napa, for his work on the case.
The attorney who presented the People’s evidence to the jury and argued for the verdicts that were returned was Assistant District Attorney Dale P. Trigg.
Mendocino County Superior Court Judge Keith Faulder presided over the nine-day trial that spread over parts of three weeks. Judge Faulder will also be the sentencing judge in July.
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