Attempted murder case heads for trial

A Trinity Pines man was held to answer to an attempted murder charge last week, over the arguments of his attorney who said no evidence of intent was shown at the preliminary hearing.

Trinity County Superior Court Judge Anthony Edwards also held Joshua Vanleeuwen, 30, to answer to a count of assault with a firearm and numerous special allegations connected with the two counts.

Vanleeuwen was arrested after Robert Mason, 27, was shot Sept. 24 in an incident outside a neighbor's house where Mason had been staying. Mason was treated at Mercy Medical Center and released the following day. The bullet had entered his left chest and exited his armpit, then went through the back of his arm. It did not go into the chest cavity.

Witnesses said the incident took place at a gate to the property where Mason had been staying, Trinity County Detective Bryan Ward testified at the Oct. 7 hearing.

Mason and the property owner said they had been drinking and watching television the evening of the incident when they heard heavy machinery followed by arguing down by the gate and went to investigate, Ward said.

Ward testified that Mason told him Vanleeuwen was on a bulldozer arguing with another man, and Mason yelled to Vanleeuwen and jumped onto the bulldozer to talk. Mason told the detective he saw Vanleeuwen pull something up from his right side, followed by a flash and the impact to his chest, and he jumped off the bulldozer and ran away. Friends took him to seek medical aid.

Ward said Vanleeuwen called and he interviewed him on the phone and later at Vanleeuwen's house in Trinity Pines. Vanleeuwen pointed to a weapon he referred to as an SKS rifle, Ward said.

Questioned by Vanleeuwen's attorney, Jamie Harley of San Jose, Ward said Vanleeuwen did talk about other people having guns. The detective said he did not search the residence where Mason and other witnesses had been before the incident for weapons, and finding a weapon in the home would not have proven anything.

Harley argued that no evidence was presented at the hearing regarding intent or motivation, to which Trinity County District Attorney Michael Harper responded, "When you're shooting someone from two to four feet away with an SKS assault weapon, that fact speaks for itself."

"Weapons discharge accidentally," Harley said.

Judge Edwards held Vanleeuwen to answer to all charges and declined Harley's request to reduce his bail. Vanleeuwen had already been released on $500,000 bail.

Further proceedings in the case are scheduled for Oct. 27.