Two Hollister men charged with trying to bribe jurors in a
domestic violence jury trial pleaded no contest this week to the
rare charge as a way to escape going to state prison, according to
attorneys.
Hollister – Two Hollister men charged with trying to bribe jurors in a domestic violence jury trial pleaded no contest this week to the rare charge as a way to escape going to state prison, according to attorneys.
Douglas Hogeman and Ronald Martin, who were facing nearly four years in state prison if convicted of the felony crime, agreed to a plea bargain Wednesday that reduced their time to three to five years felony probation, up to one year in county jail and a fine not exceeding $10,000, said Public Defender Greg La Forge, Hogeman’s attorney.
“I don’t believe he (Hogeman) did it,” La Forge said of his client. “But he is a successful local businessman and prison would have destroyed his business and his family. Out of an abundance of caution, he didn’t want to risk going to prison.”
San Benito County Deputy District Attorney Denny Wei, who prosecuted the case, did not return phone calls Friday.
However, in a written statement, Wei confirmed Hogeman pleaded no contest to influencing a juror and felony conspiracy, and Martin pleaded no contest to bribing two jurors before Hogeman’s domestic violence trial began last spring. The criminal act was committed in an effort to save Hogeman’s pricey firearm collection, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
When sheriff’s deputies responded to Hogeman’s residence after his wife reported the assault in April of 2003, they seized a 30-piece gun collection. The District Attorney’s Office believes Hogeman and Martin were trying to tamper with the jury to save Hogeman from being convicted of the domestic violence charge, which would cost him his gun collection. State law prohibits convicted felons from owning firearms.
Hogeman, who owns a construction business, was convicted of the domestic violence charge in March and was sentenced to 90 days in jail. His stay in the San Benito County Jail from May 13 to July 2 would not count as time served if a judge sentenced him to additional jail time.
Martin’s attorney, Arthur Cantu, originally blasted the prosecution for not having sufficient evidence in the case, but said Friday a letter of apology for approaching a juror Martin wrote to the sheriff’s department could have been used by the District Attorney’s Office as an admission of guilt if the case went to trial.
Cantu said Martin knew one of the jurors, and jokingly said something about the case and a possible outcome. Instead of being arrested, the sheriff’s department asked him to write a letter of apology stating he wasn’t being serious and the comment was taken in the wrong way, Cantu said.
“One joking conversation turned into a charge,” he said. “He shouldn’t have talked to her the way he did and he understands that. These things are taken seriously by the court to protect the court’s integrity.”
Cantu said he hopes to convince a judge to reduce Martin’s felony charge to a misdemeanor, which would only slap him with a fine for punishment. While the fine can be up to $10,000, Cantu said most fines run in the $1,000 range. Hogeman and Martin’s fate will be decided by a judge on March 23 at 9am.
