Jury selection begins in trial for Vaca man, 61, charged with 11 counts of child sex assault

Amid the pandemic, safety protocols observed in Department 11, where Richard McCormick Jr. faces serious felony charges, some of them dating back to the 1990s

For the fifth time in recent weeks and months, amid the ongoing pandemic, a jury trial is underway in a Solano County Superior Court in Fairfield.

Jur y selection, with safety protocols observed, began Tuesday and continued Wednesday in the felony trial for Richard McCormick Jr., 61, of Vacaville, charged with more than 10 counts of sex acts with a child under 10, some of them dating back to the 1990s.

Selection of jurors in the case, as it has been for jury trials throughout the state since late June, is expected be at a pace slower than it normally takes, Brian Taylor, the Superior Court’s chief executive officer, told The Reporter.

“We can only bring in a few people at a time” during questioning by a prosecutor and a defense attorney, in this case in Department 11, Judge William J. Pendergast’s courtroom in the Justice Center, he added.

McCormick faces 11 counts of assault against children who were 10 or younger at the time.

In early October 2018, his attorney then, Christina A. DiEdoardo, argued for bail reduction, but Pendergast denied her request. She also asked for house arrest and supervision rather than continued Solano County Jail custody, but the judge also denied those requests, citing her client’s danger to the community, McCormick’s criminal history, and the seriousness of the charges, which, Pendergast noted, were the kind that create “psychological damage” to victims.

Over the years, McCormick has been represented by six different attorneys, most recently, according to court records, by Scott A. Tibbedeaux.

While court records show the allegations stretch back a considerable amount of time, the most recent stems from July 2018. McCormick was arrested Aug. 30, 2018, by Fairfield police.

The Solano County District Attorney filed a complaint against McCormick on Sept. 4, 2018. His bail was set at $4.5 million during a September 2018 proceeding in Commissioner Robert Q. Warshawsky’s courtroom, when it was located in the Hall of Justice in Fairfield.

Among the accusations McCormick faces are six counts of sex acts with a child under 10; two counts of sex assault on a child by force or fear; and two counts of aggravated sex assault of a child by penetration with a foreign object.

Most of the charges against McCormick, if found guilty, carry life sentences.

His trial comes four months after the Judicial Council of California, led by state Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, permitted the resumption of jury trials in the state’s courthouses, “if they could” be held, said Taylor.

A Department 11 spokesman confirmed that everyone in the courtroom wears a mask, practices social distancing, and the public gallery is limited to 17 people at most at any one time.