Audio transcript for Dec. court hearing

On Dec. 22, two months before medical student Deane Kenny Stryker was stabbed to death while studying at Winchester Public Library, the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office and defense attorney Greg Johnson asked Woburn District Court Judge Marianne Hinkle to sign off on their joint recommendation that Jeffrey Yibo Yao serve one year’s pretrial probation and continue his medical treatment after allegedly attempting to break into a neighbor’s home.

Hinkle agreed. The following is from the hearing:

Johnson: “Good morning, your honor, Greg Johnson for Jeffrey Yao.”

Hinkle: “Yes, good morning. Yes, this matter is on for pretrial. Did the (unintelligible) get a pretrial conference report?”

Johnson: “I did not. We actually have an agreed upon proposal for the court’s consideration.”

Prosecutor: “Good morning, (unintelligible) for the commonwealth. We discussed this at some length, actually, and we are requesting pretrial probation for a period of one year with conditions that the defendant continue treatment at Harvard Vanguard ...”

Hinkle: “OK. So, Mr. Yao, the conditions of ... You’re going to be placed under court supervision for a period of one year . ... The other condition is that you not commit any new criminal offense — another offense like this or any other kind of criminal offense . ... If you violate any of those conditions then the government has the right to ask that this case be brought forward, be put back on the trial list and you’ll find yourself in exactly the same situation you’re in right now. Do you understand that? (Pause) Is that a yes?”

Yao: “Yes, yes.”