- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
San Francisco man gets 69-years-to-life sentence for June 2013 home invasion robbery, shooting
LAKEPORT, Calif. – A visiting judge on Thursday denied a new trial motion to a man convicted last year for his part in a 2013 home invasion robbery and assault with a firearm on two men – one of them a police officer – and handed down a lengthy sentence.
Dion Andre Davis, 28, of San Francisco received the 69-years-to-life sentence on Thursday morning from retired visiting Judge James Garbolino, who presided over his trial last year.
“I'm just disappointed in the result,” defense attorney Bill Conwell told Lake County News afterward.
Davis was convicted last March for participating in the June 26, 2013, home invasion robbery at the Clearlake Oaks home of Ronnie and Janeane Bogner.
Davis and his co-defendants – including Sean Foss and Tyler Gallon – forced their way into the home that morning when Janeane and Jacob Bogner were home, along with Janeane Bogner's young grandchildren.
The Bogners were targeted by the group because Foss, a former employee of the Bogners' company, Weed Tech, claimed they had guns and money at their home.
During the robbery, as the men searched for money and weapons – only turning up $121 in cash, two old handguns and a pellet gun – Davis pistol-whipped Jacob Bogner and shot him in the leg.
After the home invasion, Davis, Foss, Gallon and Davis' girlfriend, Jenaya Jelinek – who drove a getaway car – fled the scene, taking with them Janeane Bogner's Cadillac Escalade, which they dumped down an embankment on Sulphur Bank Road on the way to Clearlake.
The group ended up in Clearlake, where they later were apprehended. As they tried to escape, Davis shot at Clearlake Police Lt. Tim Celli, who was in pursuit.
A jury found Davis guilty of armed robbery, burglary, assault with a firearm on Jacob Bogner, assault with a semiautomatic firearm on Bogner, mayhem on Bogner, grand theft of a firearm, vehicle theft, vandalism, making threats of violence to Celli, assault with a semiautomatic firearm on Celli, assault with a deadly weapon on Celli, negligent discharge of a firearm, accessory to a robbery or burglary, and conspiracy to commit a robbery or residential burglary, as Lake County News has reported.
At that time the jury also found true 21 special allegations for use of a firearm, inflicting great bodily injury on Bogner and entering an inhabited dwelling in concert with others.
Davis was tried along with his half-brother, Gregory Pierre Elarms. The jury deadlocked on the counts against Elarms – robbery, burglary, two firearms assaults on Bogner, two firearm assaults on Celli, grand theft, vehicle theft, vandalism and conspiracy – and the District Attorney's Office later dropped the case.
Davis' sentencing had gone through several delays since his conviction due to Conwell pursuing a new trial motion.
In the interim, Foss and Tyler Gallon, both of Clearlake, pleaded guilty to lesser charges in July.
The following month, Foss was sentenced to nine years in state prison for armed robbery, and assault with a deadly weapon on Bogner and Celli, and Gallon was sentenced to four years and four months in state prison for armed robbery, assault with a deadly weapon on Celli, auto theft, resisting an executive officer and vandalism, as Lake County News has reported.
Jelinek pleaded to second-degree burglary in an agreement with the District Attorney's Office in 2014, served time and was released.
New trial motion denied
On Thursday, Judge Garbolino first heard Conwell's motion for a new trial, which he ultimately denied.
Conwell's motion emphasized key areas of the investigation, including the work of former sheriff's Det. Doug Dahmen, who had failed to write reports, left out key information and who ultimately was the focus of special hearings during the trial relating to the accuracy of his work and the truthfulness of statements he had made to his superiors at the sheriff's office and to district attorney investigators.
During the identification process that Dahmen used, Jacob Bogner identified Davis and Janeane Bogner had misidentified another of the subjects believed to have been involved as Dexter Currington of San Francisco.
Currington later was arrested and spent six months in jail despite having provided alibi information that proved he was not involved to Dahmen.
Dahmen did not follow up on that information or record it in a report until months later. Currington eventually was released thanks to the work of his attorney, David Markham, in bringing exculpatory evidence to Anderson's attention.
“The misidentification of Currington had nothing to do with Davis,” District Attorney Don Anderson, who personally handled the case, said Thursday. “It could have had a lot to do with Greg Elarms.”
Dahmen had made several conflicting statements during the trial about his handling of the case. As a result, he became the focus of Brady proceedings, which are named for the 1963 US Supreme Court decision Brady v. Maryland, which requires that the prosecution turn over any exculpatory information to the defense – including information about the truthfulness of law enforcement officers involved in the case.
Anderson confirmed that Dahmen was placed on the Brady list his office holds for officers with credibility issues. County officials previously reported that Dahmen left the county's employment in April 2015.
“I think the issues regarding the Brady discovery are more important than the judge did,” Conwell told Lake County News.
After denying the new trial motion, Anderson said Garbolino gave Davis 44 years and eight months to life plus a 25-years-to-life sentence.
Anderson said Davis gets a 15 percent credit for the 44 year part of the sentence and then has to serve the additional 25 years before he would be considered eligible for parole.
That, he said, essentially makes it a life sentence.
“I'm thrilled that the justice system was able to take a dangerous felon off the street,” Celli told Lake County News on Thursday afternoon, adding, “The public is safer because of it.”
“I'm so happy,” said Janeane Bogner, who attended the sentencing with son Jacob. “To me, justice is served.”
She said she saw no remorse from Davis, recalling that the only thing he said during the hearing was to ask if he could have his cell phone back.
Neither she nor her son gave a victim impact statement to the court. However, some months ago her young granddaughter wrote a letter to the judge, explaining how it made her sad that her uncle had been shot, and asking the judge to keep Davis behind bars.
Despite the trauma of the the robbery, Bogner said her grandchildren are doing well. “We're so lucky they haven't been affected by it.”
She also expressed her thanks to the judge and jurors for their work, and to the many people who she said have been thinking of, and praying for, her family.
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