The following is a press release issued by the Mendocino County District Attorney:
A Mendocino County Superior Court jury returned from its deliberations Thursday morning to announce it had found the trial defendant guilty as charged.
Defendant Michael Edward Blahut, age 51, of Ukiah, was found guilty of felony Vandalism by causing damage greater than $400 to three separate traffic safety signs along Highway 101 at the end of May 2024.
Testimony received at trial was that defendant Blahut caused approximately $4,500 damage by his cutting of power cords and engaging in other mischief that caused the safety signs to stop operating.
After the jury was excused, an additional evidentiary hearing on possible circumstances in aggravation alleged against the defendant was scheduled to get underway on September 19, 2024 at 9 o’clock in the morning in Department C of the Ukiah courthouse.
Once that evidentiary hearing is concluded, the defendant’s matter will be referred to the Mendocino County Adult Probation Department for a background study and sentencing recommendation.
The law enforcement agency that discovered the defendant disabling one of the signs and gathered the additional evidence used against the defendant at trial was the California Highway Patrol.
The prosecutor who presented the People’Ukiah Man Found Guilty of Vandalizing Highway 101 Safety Signss evidence to the jury was Senior Deputy District Attorney Luke Oakley.
Mendocino County Superior Court Judge Patrick Pekin presided over the four-day trial. Judge Pekin will also preside over the upcoming evidentiary hearing and the eventual sentencing hearing.
I bet this guy gets a few years behind bars but the creep stalking females keeps getting let out. Our government and court system are backwards and upside down!