2nd murder suspect’s prelim continued
The preliminary hearing for a second teenage Hoopa murder suspect was postponed to later this month.
The new preliminary hearing date for Daniel Armendariz, 19, who is accused of the murder of Julius Barthel Tripp, 42, on or about July 20, was set for Oct. 26 after attorneys said they had received additional evidence that needed to be reviewed. Judge Christopher Wilson invoked a COVID-19 emergency rule allowing the court to hold a preliminary examination 30 days af
ter a defendant enters a plea at their arraignment rather than within 10 days of the arraignment as the law usually requires.
“Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the chief justices extended that initial 10 days to 30 court days,” Wilson said.
Humboldt County Deputy District Attorney Trent Timm asked that it be set sooner rather than later because the other individual charged with the murder, Bronson Moon Lewis Jr., 18, had already finished his preliminary hearing.
“This is a situation where he’s not a co-defendant yet, but the other participant is past prelim,” Timm said, “so we’re looking to get the prelim out as soon as possible.”
Timm estimated his case wouldn’t take more than two or three hours to present because he would be calling one witness. Humboldt County Deputy Public Defender Adrian Kamada estimated a three-day preliminary hearing.
“We plan on subpoenaing the witnesses that had previously testified as well as additional witnesses potentially,” Kamada said.
Armendariz was arrested following the testimony of witnesses at Lewis’s preliminary hearing that indicated Armendariz handed Lewis the knife that was allegedly used to cut off Tripp’s hand.
Armendariz is being held at the Humboldt County jail and his bail is set at $1 million.