The following is a press release issued by the Mendocino County District Attorney’s Office:
A Mendocino County jury returned from its deliberations a little before noon on Wednesday morning to announce it had found the trial defendant guilty.
Defendant Matthew Joel Burton, age 28, of Laytonville, was found guilty of driving a motor vehicle on September 6, 2023 while under the influence of alcohol, said DUI resulting in a vehicle crash on Branscomb Road.
The jury was unable to unanimously decide the question of whether the defendant drove his motor vehicle with a blood alcohol of .08 or greater.
While the defendant could have been convicted on both misdemeanor counts, the law only allows the court to sentence the defendant on one, so the prosecutor dismissed the second “hung” count as surplusage.
The investigating law enforcement agencies were the California Highway Patrol and the California Department of Justice forensic laboratory.
The prosecutor who presented the People’s evidence to the jury was Deputy District Attorney Chandra Cafferty.
Mendocino County Superior Court Judge Patrick Pekin presided over the three-day trial.
