On Wednesday a jury convicted 45-year-old Patrick Dewin McDaniel Sr. guilty of attempted voluntary manslaughter and assault with a firearm of the charges. He was found not guilty of attempted murder.
McDaniel was found guilty of shooting 42-year-old Patrick O’Conner Sr. on Nov. 26, the day before Thanksgiving, according to the Lake County District Attorney's Office.
He also was found guilty of possession of a firearm by a felon, possession of ammunition by a felon, and carrying a loaded firearm in public.
In addition, the jury found true special allegations the defendant personally used a firearm in the commission of the crime, intentionally discharged a firearm and caused great bodily injury to the victim.
William Conwell, McDaniel's defense attorney, said he could not comment on the case.
“I think the jury reached the right result,” said Deputy District Attorney Sharon Lerman-Hubert.
Lerman-Hubert said McDaniel faces a maximum of approximately 18 years in prison when he's sentenced on Nov. 7.
The confrontation that led to the shooting took place outside a home on Second Street in Clearlake Oaks, where McDaniel, his younger brother, Cecil, and some others were visiting.
According to the original investigation reports, Patrick McDaniel and O'Conner had exchanged words earlier in the day when the McDaniels arrived at a neighboring home. Witnesses stated that prior to the shooting McDaniel was argumentative, and was bragging and flashing a small semiautomatic pistol.
McDaniel went outside where he and O'Conner – who was in his yard with his 23-year-old son, Patrick Jr. – again had a confrontation. The O'Conners approached McDaniel, who was alleged to have pulled a gun from his coat pocket, struck Patrick O'Conner Sr. with in the head with the pistol and then shot him once in the chest.
After O’Conner Sr. was shot, he managed to run back to his house next door, where he was assisted by family members until medical personnel arrived. Deputies found him seated in front of his house.
Patrick O’Conner Jr. testified that he heard one shot, and then two more clicks as he and his father fled, the District Attorney's Office reported.
Deputies arriving at the scene searched for a reported five hours seeking the McDaniel brothers, as Lake County News reported last year.
Officials said the gun believed to have been used by Patrick McDaniel was found the next morning in a yard three houses west. The .380 caliber Walther PPK was picked up by a 5-year-old boy playing in his yard. The gun was jammed with a round in the chamber.
The McDaniels fled, with deputies arresting Cecil McDaniel on Dec. 3 in Clearlake Oaks.
Patrick McDaniel was arrested on a fugitive warrant by Las Vegas Metropolitan Police on Dec. 17 and extradited by the US Marshals Office to San Quentin State Prison before being returned to Lake County.
After his arrest, Sgt. Det. Jim Samples of the Lake County Sheriff's Office interviewed McDaniel in Nevada, at which time McDaniel admitted to the shooting, but claimed it was an accident, and that he was defending himself and his brother, according to the District Attorney's Office.
Lerman-Hubert also prosecuted Cecil McDaniel, who in April was found not guilty of felony battery with serious injury for breaking O'Conner's son James' jaw just after the shooting occurred.
Patrick McDaniel's trial was a long one, beginning on Aug. 18 and Oct. 7, with Judge Stephen O. Hedstrom presiding.
The trial's length was due to a large amount of evidence, 20 witnesses and numerous delays, said Lerman-Hubert.
During the trial, Lerman-Hubert called to the stand a Sutter Lakeside Hospital doctor who worked on Patrick O'Conner, and who testified that the injury he suffered was life-threatening.
The seven-woman, five-man jury deliberated on the case for approximately five hours in Department Four in Clearlake, according to the District Attorney's Office.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf .
