WOODLAND — Court proceedings in a Woodland murder case began anew this week after Yolo County prosecutors sought the dismissal of a grand-jury indictment obtained back in June and refiled the charges.
The defendant, Stefon Clifford Ceaser, pleaded not guilty to the allegations during a brief appearance Tuesday in Yolo Superior Court. He returns to court Sept. 11 for a preliminary hearing regarding the March 15 fatal shooting of Anthony “Shrimp” Bosser, 23.
Officials at the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office released a statement Tuesday afternoon saying a “technical” error prompted the filing of a motion to dismiss the indictment, which the grand jury handed down following a closed-door proceeding.
“We made a technical mistake in the choosing of the (grand jury) foreperson, which put the case at risk of being challenged going forward,” the statement said. “We determined that the best course of action was to dismiss the case at this early stage and refile.”
The case’s refiling also scraps a scheduled Sept. 6 hearing regarding a defense motion to dismiss Ceaser’s charges, in which public defender Richard Van Zandt noted that the foreperson was selected by prosecutors rather than the court.
“Pursuant to Penal Code section 912, the court has the sole authority to appoint the foreperson of the grand jury,” the motion says. “By violating section 912, the prosecutor gave jurors the impression that he exercised control over them, substantially impairing the independence of the grand jury.”
Van Zandt also took issue with the location of the grand jury hearing — the Woodland police station, which he argued “created a bias of guilt” because it houses the agency that investigated and arrested Ceaser — and claimed the grand jury received improper instruction regarding self-defense law.
“We raised substantial issues in the motion that addressed the self-defense issues and means by which this evidence was heard,” Van Zandt told The Enterprise this week.
Self-defense claim
In addition to murder, which carries an enhancement for unlawfully discharging a firearm, the 30-year-old Ceaser faces felony counts of being a an ex-felon in possession of a firearm, vehicle theft, and case enhancements alleging a prior felony battery conviction and being a habitual criminal.
But Van Zandt claims his client acted in self-defense, his dismissal motion citing witness testimony that indicated Ceaser was attacked by Bosser as well as his uncle, Tony Mares.
Bosser was fatally wounded at the intersection of West and Beamer streets, near the Woodland High School campus, where authorities and family members have said he and Ceaser were involved in an altercation during which Bosser was stabbed, then shot.
According to Van Zandt’s motion, Mares testified at the grand jury proceeding that he and Bosser had been drinking that evening and decided to confront Ceaser at a mutual friend’s house over messages Ceaser allegedly sent to Mares’ 13-year-old niece.
Ashlee Shell, an ex-girlfriend of Mares who lived at the Beamer Street house, testified that Bosser and Mares charged at the door while hurling racial slurs — Ceaser is African-American — and forced their way inside to find Ceaser.
Another witness, Brittany Beltran, testified that Bosser “initiated the altercation by attacking Mr. Ceaser, grabbing his shirt and pulling it over his head so he couldn’t see. At some point while being attacked, Mr. Ceaser picked up a Cutco knife” and swung it around with his shirt still covering his eyes, apparently making contact with both Bosser and Mares.
At that point, Shell and Beltran broke up the fight and got Bosser and Mares outside while Ceaser retreated to a back room, the motion says. But Ceaser left the house through a window, taking Bosser’s truck and returning a short time later.
According to testimony, Ceaser stopped the truck in the middle of the street and got out, at which point Bosser “rushed him again” despite his stab wounds. “When asked how Mr. Bosser approached Mr. Ceaser, Ms. Shell described it as ‘coming at him like he was going to fight him again.’”
Shell also told the grand jury she heard a gunshot but never saw a firearm with Ceaser, who fled as Bosser collapsed in the street. The document says emergency personnel later found an open pocketknife under Bosser’s body.
Woodland police arrested Ceaser the following day. He remains in Yolo County Jail custody on a no-bail hold.
— Reach Lauren Keene at lkeene@davisenterprise.net or 530-747-8048. Follow her on Twitter at @laurenkeene