Lake County News | California - Appeals court upholds Smiraglia murder conviction

The three justices of the First Appellate Court ruled unanimously to uphold the verdict against Paul James Smiraglia, 48, who was convicted in the summer of 2006 of the July 2002 murder of 43-year-old Diedre Coleman, his ex-girlfriend.

Smiraglia, who was involved in cooking and selling methamphetamine in Clearlake, brutally murdered Coleman following an argument by injecting hydrochloric acid in her ear and then beating her to death with a hammer.

A few days later he dumped Coleman's body along Cache Creek off of Highway 20. A witness to the murder, Sharmon Hawley, directed police to Coleman's body in July of 2003.

Following a month-long trial and two hours of deliberation, a jury convicted Smiraglia of Coleman's murder on June 29, 2006.

On Nov. 6, 2006, Judge Arthur Mann sentenced Smiraglia to life in prison. Smiraglia filed his appeal three days later.

Richard Hinchcliff, before he took on the role as chief deputy district attorney, prosecuted the Smiraglia case, which took four years to get to trial.

Hinchcliff is out of the office this week and could not be reached for comment. District Attorney Jon Hopkins also is away this week.

In his appeal, Smiraglia contended that the trial court erred in permitting an ex-girlfriend to testify about his previous domestic violence against her “as proof of the mental state required for murder.” His attorney, with the First District Appellate Project, also argued that the court erred in its instructions to the jury about that testimony.

Smiraglia's appeal claimed that his Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel and Fourteenth Amendment right to due process were violated because his trial defense counsel failed to seek a jury instruction on intoxication, according to the 19-page decision.

His final argument in the appeal was that the trial court violated his right to due process under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments by directing the jury's attention to specific evidence, specifically, that he had allegedly concealed physical evidence related to Coleman’s murder, and tried to solicit a fellow convict in Nevada State Prison into killing Hawley to prevent her from testifying.

The justices concurred that Smiraglia's case was without merit and upheld the life sentence Mann handed down two years ago.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Cool! Good job on
written by Donna Christopher, November 20, 2008

this one to the local folks and a thumbs up to the Appelate Court.

...
written by angisangels, November 20, 2008

This man is lucky that I wasn't the judge I would of sentence him to death. He should not even been allow to appeal. My prayer go out to the Coleman I hope that they can finally put this to rest. I also hope that the court never let this man out on parole and that his time in jail is more horrific than what he did to Ms. Coleman.

Angie dear, I could actually
written by Donna Christopher, November 21, 2008

agree with you on the death penalty if we carried it out in CA. The current set up only inures to the benefit of the appelate lawyers and the detriment of the taxpayers. This bottom feeder will remain in prison the rest of his life, it'll just be slightly cheaper for the taxpayer the way he was charged and convicted.

Written by Elizabeth Larson
Thursday, 20 November 2008
LAKE COUNTY – An appeals court on Wednesday upheld the 2006 conviction of a Nevada man found guilty of the 2002 murder of an Upper Lake woman. The three justices of the First Appellate Court ruled unanimously to uphold the verdict against Paul James Smiraglia, 48, who was convicted in the summer of 2006 of the July 2002 murder of 43-year-old Diedre Coleman, his ex-girlfriend. Smiraglia, who was involved in cooking and selling methamphetamine in Clearlake, brutally murdered Coleman following an argument by injecting hydrochloric acid in her ear and then beating her to death with a hammer. A few days later he dumped Coleman's body along Cache Creek off of Highway 20. A witness to the murder, Sharmon Hawley, directed police to Coleman's body in July of 2003. Following a month-long trial and two hours of deliberation, a jury convicted Smiraglia of Coleman's murder on June 29, 2006. On Nov. 6, 2006, Judge Arthur Mann sentenced Smiraglia to life in prison. Smiraglia filed his appeal three days later. Richard Hinchcliff, before he took on the role as chief deputy district attorney, prosecuted the Smiraglia case, which took four years to get to trial. Hinchcliff is out of the office this week and could not be reached for comment. District Attorney Jon Hopkins also is away this week. Coleman's family declined comment for this story. In his appeal, Smiraglia contended that the trial court erred in permitting an ex-girlfriend to testify about his previous domestic violence against her “as proof of the mental state required for murder.” His attorney, with the First District Appellate Project, also argued that the court erred in its instructions to the jury about that testimony. Smiraglia's appeal claimed that his Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel and Fourteenth Amendment right to due process were violated because his trial defense counsel failed to seek a jury instruction on intoxication, according to the 19-page decision. His final argument in the appeal was that the trial court violated his right to due process under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments by directing the jury's attention to specific evidence, specifically, that he had allegedly concealed physical evidence related to Coleman’s murder, and tried to solicit a fellow convict in Nevada State Prison into killing Hawley to prevent her from testifying. The justices concurred that Smiraglia's case was without merit and upheld the life sentence Mann handed down two years ago. E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . Discuss this article on the forums. (0 posts) Set as favorite Bookmark Email this Hits: 329 Trackback(0) TrackBack URI for this entry Comments (3) Subscribe to this comment's feed Cool! Good job on written by Donna Christopher, November 20, 2008 this one to the local folks and a thumbs up to the Appelate Court. +0 ... written by angisangels, November 20, 2008 This man is lucky that I wasn't the judge I would of sentence him to death. He should not even been allow to appeal. My prayer go out to the Coleman I hope that they can finally put this to rest. I also hope that the court never let this man out on parole and that his time in jail is more horrific than what he did to Ms. Coleman. +0 Angie dear, I could actually written by Donna Christopher, November 21, 2008 agree with you on the death penalty if we carried it out in CA. The current set up only inures to the benefit of the appelate lawyers and the detriment of the taxpayers. This bottom feeder will remain in prison the rest of his life, it'll just be slightly cheaper for the taxpayer the way he was charged and convicted. +0 Write comment You must be logged in to post a comment. Please register if you do not have an account yet.
Last Updated ( Thursday, 20 November 2008 )