Tuolumne County District Attorney Laura Krieg announced today that Jamestown resident Christopher Clark was convicted by a jury on September 14, 2018 before Judge James Boscoe of five felony counts. The crimes included: first degree premeditated attempted murder, inflicting injury to a spouse causing great bodily injury, false imprisonment causing great bodily injury, criminal threats, and resisting an executive officer with force or violence. Deputy District Attorney Stephanie Novelli prosecuted the case for the People.
On October 12, 2018 dispatch received a 911 call of a victim who had escaped her apartment through a window and was severely injured and had sought safety at a neighbor’s residence. At trial, the victim testified that the previous day she had told her spouse that she wanted to end their relationship. In the early morning hours of October 12, 2018, the defendant came in to a room multiple times over the course of two hours imploring the victim to stay together. Ultimately, the defendant asked the victim, “Is that your final answer?” When the victim told him “yes,” the defendant turned her around, told her he was going to kill her and proceeded to strangle the victim. The defendant then punched the victim multiple times and threw her in to the closet door. The victim attempted to escape out of the window but the pulled her back by the hair and began assaulting her again. Finally, she was able to escape out the window. When police arrived, the defendant barricaded himself in the apartment, began cleaning up the victim’s blood, and refused to come to the door or comply with commands of the multiple Tuolumne County Sheriff deputies who responded. The stand-off lasted for approximately eight hours where the Crisis Negotiation Team attempted to negotiate a peaceful resolution; however, the defendant refused to comply. Ultimately, the Tuolumne County SWAT team was able to gain access to the apartment and take the defendant in to custody after the defendant forcefully and violently resisted.
The District Attorney’s Office would like to thank the members of the jury for their careful attention to the case and their thoughtful deliberations. A special thank you goes to law enforcement officers from the Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office for their hard work and dedication to investigating these crimes, the brave victim who had the strength and courage to confront her attacker and Victim Advocate Janee for her continued support and dedication to the case and the victim, Deputy District Attorney Stephanie Novelli stated. Mr. Clark is due to be sentenced on October 15, 2018 in Department Two of the Tuolumne County Superior Court. He faces up to 18 years and 4 months plus 7 years to life in State Prison.
