Site search
sponsored by
News
Sports
ENLARGE
Staff Reports
A charge of felony battery by a prisoner has been added to the offenses against a 28-year-old woman accused of drug trafficking and bribing a witness.
Kimberly Lopes appeared before East Fork Justice Jim EnEarl on Wednesday for arraignment on an accusation she spit in the face of a female in mate in July and punched her.
Lawyer Matt Ence, representing Lopes, asked for another hearing on the new allegation in two weeks.
EnEarl set Lopes' next appearance for Oct. 28.
Lopes and Aaron John Winton, 41, of Cameron Park, Calif., are accused of bribing or intimidating a witness to influence testimony.
She already was being held in Douglas County Jail on four felony drug charges.
Winton appeared Wednesday with lawyer Robert Morris.
He said Winton had a deal pending but it was contingent on Lopes' accepting an agreement in exchange for a guilty plea.
EnEarl set Winton's next hearing for the same day as Lopes.
Both suspects are on parole holds with the California Department of Corrections.
According to court documents filed by an investigator for the district attorney's office, Winton and Lopes are accused of bribing two codefendants who were set to testify in her trial on drug trafficking charges.
In telephone conversations recorded at the jail, Winton and Lopes discuss the case and what might happen if the witnesses can be convinced to lie on the stand, or not testify.
According to the report, Lopes helped Winton locate names, addresses and telephone numbers of the witnesses. She is facing four felonies stemming from an April 9, 2008, incident at Stateline in which 29 grams of methamphetamine ex chan ged hands.
She is charged with sales of a controlled substance, attempted trafficking, trafficking and being an habitual felon.
Lopes pleaded not guilty to the charges and was to go on trial before District Judge Michael Gibbons.
The trial date was postponed after Lopes was appointed a new lawyer Sept. 14 to avoid a conflict with a codefendant who might testify in the case. A new trial date has not been set.
Her codefendants, who received probation and admission to Western Regional Drug Court in plea agreements with the district attorney, said they were approached by Winton and asked to lie on the stand.
One witness said Winton offered to pay her rent and drug court fees if she would testify that she was under the influence and couldn't remember what happened at Stateline.
A second witness told a similar story.
Lopes and Winton were arrested in August 2008 after more than a year on the run.
A charge of felony battery by a prisoner has been added to the offenses against a 28-year-old woman accused of drug trafficking and bribing a witness.
Kimberly Lopes appeared before East Fork Justice Jim EnEarl on Wednesday for arraignment on an accusation she spit in the face of a female in mate in July and punched her.
Lawyer Matt Ence, representing Lopes, asked for another hearing on the new allegation in two weeks.
EnEarl set Lopes' next appearance for Oct. 28.
Lopes and Aaron John Winton, 41, of Cameron Park, Calif., are accused of bribing or intimidating a witness to influence testimony.
She already was being held in Douglas County Jail on four felony drug charges.
Winton appeared Wednesday with lawyer Robert Morris.
He said Winton had a deal pending but it was contingent on Lopes' accepting an agreement in exchange for a guilty plea.
EnEarl set Winton's next hearing for the same day as Lopes.
Both suspects are on parole holds with the California Department of Corrections.
According to court documents filed by an investigator for the district attorney's office, Winton and Lopes are accused of bribing two codefendants who were set to testify in her trial on drug trafficking charges.
In telephone conversations recorded at the jail, Winton and Lopes discuss the case and what might happen if the witnesses can be convinced to lie on the stand, or not testify.
According to the report, Lopes helped Winton locate names, addresses and telephone numbers of the witnesses. She is facing four felonies stemming from an April 9, 2008, incident at Stateline in which 29 grams of methamphetamine ex chan ged hands.
She is charged with sales of a controlled substance, attempted trafficking, trafficking and being an habitual felon.
Lopes pleaded not guilty to the charges and was to go on trial before District Judge Michael Gibbons.
The trial date was postponed after Lopes was appointed a new lawyer Sept. 14 to avoid a conflict with a codefendant who might testify in the case. A new trial date has not been set.
Her codefendants, who received probation and admission to Western Regional Drug Court in plea agreements with the district attorney, said they were approached by Winton and asked to lie on the stand.
One witness said Winton offered to pay her rent and drug court fees if she would testify that she was under the influence and couldn't remember what happened at Stateline.
A second witness told a similar story.
Lopes and Winton were arrested in August 2008 after more than a year on the run.
