Friday, May 16, 2008

PEOPLE vs MARIO LOZANO (Sentencing)

May 16, 2008. El Dorado Co. Superior Court. People vs. Mario Lozano.Case # P06CRF0427

I arrived at the courthouse with Val Duncan about 3:20. Today I'm wearing the tee shirt that says: What Part of Thou Shalt Not Didn't You Understand? .GOD But for today I trimmed about 4" off my beard so people can read my shirt. Pat and Sharon are both wearing the 2nd Annual Kacie's Ride for Hope tee shirts. I see almost everyone that previously attended plus several new faces. We almost filled the courtroom today. Gomes is talking to us telling us that we will have an opportunity to speak in court. I am requesting copies of the letters read and will post them later. I will try to get a copy of the court transcript even if I have to buy it to also post Mario's statement...

3:35 Judge Keller enters. This is the time and place of judgment and sentencing for Mario Lozano.

The judge read a probationary report and addressed Gomes and Atwell about statements to be read. He states that Mario Lozano has been found guilty of murder in the first degree. He then opens the floor for us to read our letters. I am asking Pat and Sharon for copies of their letters to post later. I want to get the sentence posted tonight.

Pat begins by showing several family pictures including Kacie at different times of her life. The first one is Kacie's 2nd grade class picture. He shows it to us and states this is how he remembers his sister. He steps over and pushes the picture in Mario's face and retreated as the sheriffs were scrambling toward him. His last picture was of a recent family gathering and Kacie's missing. There's something wrong with this picture, he says. Then he read his letter.

Sharon then read her letter and while she was reading, Pat quietly got up and walked out of the courtroom.

Then I read my letter.

Atwell requests if they can have one of Mario's hands uncuffed so he can read his letter. The court complied.

Mario read his letter. About six pages! He got up on a soapbox and began tooting his own horn for about 30 minutes. He went on about not having a rap sheet... no criminal record... how hard he worked... building custom homes in the islands... he built his own home there, free and clear... had a boat and how many nautical miles he traveled, how many places he'd been to, how he had planned to sail more... he had a good family life, two sons... he's a patient man and the length of his beard testifies to that... he just wanted to help Kacie realize her dreams, he sent her money for that purpose... he never lived with her and never planned to... blah blah blah. When he ran he wasn't hiding out with two sixguns in his hands, his intention was to arrange meetings with a lawyer and his son to sign everything he owned into his son's name to prevent the court from seizing everything to auction and cover court expenses and restitution... yadda yadda... and he had to bring up the problem of methamphetamine and wahh wahh waahhh. The bottom line was this: his only regret was leaving the island to come here! He closed with: he felt he had paid enough money to this community and that was his last word!
Yes, he did close with that was his last word!
His letter was a testimony of his pride and selfishness! We were shaking our heads wondering what his statements had to do with killing Kacie or her survivor's grief. We often looked at each other in confusion or disgust like "what the .... ?" He read it so fast the court recorder had to stop him three times and ask him to slow down.

Judge Keller addressed Mario and commented on the fact that there was not one word of remorse for his action. He then pronounced sentence:

On count 1 of first degree murder, 25 to life.
Special circumstances for discharging a firearm, 25 to life.
To run consecutively totaling 50 to life with no possible parole before 50 years and no possible time off.
On count 2 of auto theft, 2 years to run concurrent.
parole stipulations would run for 5 years.

He has 60 days to file an appeal and will not be allowed to file for appeal after that.

So there you have it, minimum 50 years.
Part of my statement was that at first I was dissapointed the death penalty would not apply. But after thinking about it, I realized that death would be the kindest sentence for Mario allowing him an escape from the memory of what he did. An escape Kacie's family and friends can't have.

Here's the sentence, I'll post more details later.
Gene.

UPDATE 5/25/2008

I have contacted the court recorder and will have a copy of the transcript for the May 16, 2008 sentencing in about 3 weeks. I could get it for 1/4 of the cost if I wait over 2 months. I don't want to wait that long for you readers to hear Mario's boasting and lies about himself. So check back later when I get it posted.

Chaplain Limeygene.

8 comments:

Anakerie said...

Thank you so much, Gene! A number of us have been anxiously awaiting the news of Mario's fate... 50 years to life sounds like a very good fate for him. I hope he is haunted by what he did for the rest of his life.

I hope Kacie's family can start to heal a little bit. They've got a long, hard road, but I'm sure they'll make it. Kacie is up there watching over them.

Anonymous said...

I've edited and added a few things this morning. Enjoy...

Anakerie said...

Thanks Gene!

Anakerie said...

Interesting. I can't get The Mountain Democrat website to load. At all. The error message says that it's either temporarily unavailable or too busy. lol... I'll try again later today.

Anonymous said...

To who it may concern who may have Kacie''s old computer:

It is imperative that you re-format the hard drive,, re-install the operating system, and disable the remote desktop connection service, it if you have not already done so.

Undoubtedly it is contaminated with key-logging software, and/or other spyware as evidenced by Mario's following re-marks in his interview with Detective Nida:

“Mr. Lozano: And she found herself a new beau. New crank connection so…

Detective Nida: Who was that?

Mr. Lozano: I don’t know. I know she spent the previous night in a motel room with him in Cameron Park.

Detective Nida: How did -- how did you find that out?

Mr. Lozano: I just did. What you can do with a computer these days, you know?”

One could gloss over this, but he had had access to her computer for a long time. Key-logging software is ridiculously easy to install. It will run hidden in the background and one would never know. It will send screen shots, and everything you type to any specified email address. Some of the pay-for programs are very difficult to find, let alone remove. The only solution is to re-format.

If there is such software installed, all information is still being sent to his and his cronies email addresses. I should think you'd want to retain your privacy. Besides, because he came into contact with it, it should be reformatted if for no other reason than it was contaminated by him, period, and it should have a fresh start. I beg you to heed my advice.

Thank you Gene for your coverage, and thank you Anakerie for maintaining this website. I so do appreciate it. You have worked very hard and it shows.

Clearly, this has been so trauamatic for so many people. Hopefully, the past is cleared and the future brighter for us all.

p.s. nothing yet in the Mountain Democrat

Anonymous said...

Thanx Anonymous, The computer was mine. Kacie had a couple dinosaurs when I started seeing her and I brought her my Dell. As it became apparent that we were not going to "be together" I left the Dell for her to use. She was quite the photographer and the Dell could handle her editing programs with room for her pictures. I was a bit upset to hear Mario was using it though. My plans on return of it was to scrub and reformat the hard drive before removing it. I have a new 200g drive to replace it with. It was only 80g. I'm not sure if I'll sell the 80g, shelf it, or ask Nick if he want's to target shoot with it. I also replaced the Dell at home so I'm not sure if I'll keep it or find a friend or family member that needs one. Since I still have all the original discs, it'll be set up like new. I'm sure the Lord will show me where it's needed most. Again, thanks for the concern, Anonymous. It's greatly appreciated. Gene.

Anakerie said...

I've been checking the Mountain Democrat website every day since the sentencing hearing. Yesterday the site was unreachable for quite a while, but when I finally got on there, I saw no article headline about the sentencing. Same with today's front page on their site. No mention of the hearing or the sentence. For those who are reading here, does the Mountain Democrat normally delay putting news like this in the paper? I am assuming (which may be a mistake) that the paper will put something in Monday's paper about it.. Who knows...

To Anonymous: Thank you for the words and warnings on the computer. And I also want to thank you for keeping us aware of what you see in the Mountain Democrat.

As for Mario, I plan on monitoring what I can via the net about his whereabouts. I'm sure he'll be transferred to the Califoria Department of Corrections soon and hopefully I'll be able to track where he is sent and then also find out where he will be "living" once he completes the intake procedures for the CDC and I'll post it on the blog here.

Anakerie said...

By the way, the only mention of Mario so far in the system is still the listing for him on the El Dorado County Sheriff's site:
http://co.el-dorado.ca.us/sheriff/jail/jail_dataview.asp?BKGNUM=JN0604937