Man will stand trial on attempted murder charges

A Colusa man was ordered to stand trial Thursday for the 2008 shooting of a sheriff’s deputy and his own grandmother.

Richard C. Marez, 27, was held to answer by Superior Court Judge John H. Tiernan on two counts of attempted murder and one count of assault with a semi-automatic firearm.

If convicted, he could face consecutive life terms in state prison.

Testimony was heard during a preliminary hearing Thursday from four sheriff’s deputies and one Colusa police regarding the circumstances surrounding the July 19, 2008 shooting.

Prosecutors accuse Marez of opening fire on sheriff’s Sgt. Mark Troughton in the entry way of Marez’s grandmother’s home in the 3500 block of Highway 45.

Troughton was not called to testify Thursday.

Marez reportedly got into an argument with his grandmother, Helga Marez, over the use of a her vehicle, which he had just used to buy a soda pop in Colusa, according to testimony.

Helga Marez told officers at the scene that she first called for police after the defendant had thrown the soda in her face and gone into his bedroom.

Troughton was the first officer to respond to the disturbance call and was speaking with the grandmother in the home’s entryway, when Marez reportedly came around the corner firing from a 9mm Lugar handgun, “within seconds” of his arrival, Sgt. Tony Garofalo testified.

A total of 15 shots were fired from two weapons in the ensuing gunfight, with rounds sprayed between the kitchen and living room, Sgt. Dan Titus testified.

Colusa police Sgt. Josh Fitch arrived to find Troughton outside with a gunshot wound to his arm. Fitch said Helga Marez was calling for help inside and house when he arrived.

“She eventually crawled outside,” Fitch said.

Helga Marez had been shot in the leg and was still dripping with soda pop after the shooting stopped.

Some bullet fragments remain in her leg. Troughton has made a full recovery, authorities have said.

Richard Marez was located and arrested behind the house on the Sacramento River levee by off-duty sheriff’s Deputy Emmett Whiting, according to testimony.

The weapon believed used by Marez was located near the levee, Titus testified.

Marez was shackled in court Thursday and remanded back to the Colusa County Jail in lieu of $1 million bail.

The long-delayed trial was on hold for nearly two years after Tiernan ruled in September 2008 that Marez was unable to understand the charges against him or aid his attorney.

Marez was in treatment at Napa State Hospital until February, when he was deemed fit to stand trial.

He is due back in court June 9 for arraignment.