One of two Big Hill murder suspects pleads not guilty,
One of two teens accused of murdering a woman in the Big Hill area area more than a year ago pleaded not guilty in Tuolumne County Superior Court on Monday to a slew of felonies for which he’s being charged as an adult.
Gage Stokes, 17, appeared over a courtroom video and spoke briefly while his attorney, James Newkirk, told Tuolumne County Superior Court Judge Kevin Seibert they had not yet decided whether they would appeal the decision to charge Stokes as an adult.
“We’re entering a plea right now and we’re going from there,” Newkirk said. “We will file a writ if necessary.”
The cases involving Stokes and the other accused suspect, Nikalus Overstreet, 18, have faced ongoing postponements while their respective attorneys awaited transcripts of hearings which resulted in them being tried as adults.
Stokes and Overstreet were both 16 when Dionecia Valencia, 39, was murdered in August last year.
The respective attorneys for each defendant have said they planned to review hearing transcripts, which could lead to the filing of what are known as extraordinary writs in the California Fifth District Court of Appeal in Fresno, which could lead to rulings returning the cases to juvenile court.
The Tuolumne County District Attorney’s Office charged each of the teens with first-degree murder, attempted murder, first-degree residential burglary and arson of an inhabited structure after Valencia’s body was discovered by firefighters responding to a fire at her trailer on Calle Quartz Road the morning of Aug. 13, 2019.
The teens are accused of stabbing and chopping Valencia to death the night before and then later setting fire to the trailer in an attempt to kill her female friend, who was sleeping inside at the time and escaped.
In open court, Newkirk said there were still a “few things” he planned to discuss with Stokes which would guide the decision to file the writ.
Following the hearing, Newkirk declined to be more specific as to what the decision would be contingent on when asked by The Union Democrat.
Newkirk said he had 20 court calendar days to file the writ following the submission of a plea, or until Jan. 13.
The postponements on submitting the plea were due to the time constraints on filing a writ following the transcript review. Presiding Judge Donald Segerstrom ruled Stokes would be tried as an adult following a two-day hearing in June.
Newkirk said his client wished to waive constraints for a preliminary hearing, an evidentiary hearing to decide whether the prosecution had grounds to bring the case to trial, and hoped to have a hearing in six weeks to check on the status of the writ.
Seibert set a scheduling conference on Jan. 25 to determine a date for the preliminary hearing.
Hovatter said during the hearing that attorneys representing Overstreet had also received transcripts, but he had not been provided with a progress report.
Overstreet’s next hearing is set for 8:30 a.m., Jan. 4.
Overstreet was previously represented by Sonora attorney Clint Parish during his threeday transfer hearing in July, but Katherine Domenico, of the Chavez-ochoa Law Offices based in Valley Springs, was appointed by the court to review hearing transcripts and decide if a writ would be filed in Overstreet’s case.
Domenico said during a court phone call in November that she received a transcript of Oversreet’s hearing, but had not had an opportunity to review it.
Overstreet was previously being held at the Mother Lode Regional Juvenile Detention Facility, but public records showed he was transferred and booked into Tuolumne County Jail on his 18th birthday in October.
Stokes was being held at the Juvenile Justice Correctional Complex in Merced, where he’s been detained since shortly after they were both arrested on the day Valencia’s body was discovered.