Jury trial date reset for man accused in machete attack in Fairfield

A Solano County Superior Court trial date has been reshuffled for a 46-year-old Woodland man charged in a 2018 attempted murder in which the defendant allegedly used a machete to attack an elderly man in rural Fairfield.

Brandon Clark Foster was scheduled to appear Jan. 20 in Department 4 for a trial readiness conference, for a trial management conference on March 26, and then eventually for a jury trial on March 30.

However, Judge E. Bradley Nelson has reset the trial management conference for 9 a.m. May 14 and the jury trial for 10 a.m. May 18 in the Hall of Justice in Fairfield, court records show.

Prior to their most recent settings, those proceedings had been postponed more than once. In recent months, the coronavirus pandemic and reduced court operations have forced attorneys and judges to reschedule proceedings, in accord with public health directives and advisories issued by the county, state and the state Supreme Court.

The latest dates in Foster’s felony case come more than a year after Nelson rescheduled the defendant’s trial because the victim’s wife died in the early hours of Jan. 8, 2020, just as some 50 prospective jurors gathered for a selection process.

During the January proceeding, after the prospective jurors left the courtroom, Nelson reminded Foster that, because he had withdrawn his not-guilty plea by reason of insanity, he faced two life sentences if convicted at trial.

Foster is charged with using a machete in March 2018 to attack Bobby R. Watson, 74 at the time.

The assault left Watson with life-threatening injuries and the near-amputation of a thumb, alleged crimes that came to vivid light during a preliminary hearing more than two years ago.

Foster, whose arrest and conviction record for theft, drug possession and DUI, among other crimes dating back to 1992, has pleaded not guilty to charges of premeditated attempted murder, aggravated mayhem, and cruelty to an elder with risk of great bodily injury.

During the mid-October 2018 preliminary hearing, Deputy District Attorney Mary Nguyen called on witnesses, some of whom said they saw Foster attack Watson on or near Abernathy

Road. Foster allegedly first attacked him outside his home when Watson went to check on an unexpected power shut-off, for which Foster, investigators believe, was responsible.

Court records indicate Solano County Sheriff’s deputies arrived in the area of Abernathy and Rockville roads shortly before 10 a.m. after receiving a report of an assault with a deadly weapon. First responders found Watson suffering from major cuts over his entire body. By that time, Foster reportedly had fled the scene.

The victim and witnesses gave authorities a description of the defendant.

Around 10:30 a.m., deputies found Foster hiding in a nearby orchard and the machete believed to have been used in the attack. He was arrested and booked into Solano County Jail, with bail set at $1 million.

Foster is represented by Deputy Public Defender Jeanette Garcia.