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Upper Lake man sentenced to state prison for violent assault of girlfriend
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — An Upper Lake man is expected to spend the rest of his life in prison for a brutal domestic violence case.
On June 14, Arturo Pedro Gutierrez, 62 , was sentenced for an extremely violent assault on his 53-year-old girlfriend, Chief Deputy District Attorney Richard Hinchcliff said.
On Aug. 19, 2022, Lake County Sheriff’s officers, as a result of a 911 call, responded to a residence at 6:30 a.m. between Lakeport and Upper Lake, and contacted the victim at the 911 caller’s residence, Hinchcliff said.
Hinchcliff said the victim was covered in bruises and had been severely beaten. Officers had the victim transported to the hospital.
Upon further investigation officers learned that the victim and Gutierrez had been in a relationship for one year, Hinchcliff said.
The previous night the victim had gone to Gutierrez’s residence on Bridge Arbor Road, according to Hinchcliff’s report. The victim said Gutierrez began drinking alcohol the night before and became angry. He grabbed her by the hair, and the victim began asking Gutierrez not to hurt her.
Gutierrez continued to grab her by the hair, began spitting on her, and physically restrained her. Gutierrez then hit her in the face and began hitting her all over her body, according to the investigation.
Hinchcliff said Gutierrez continued to grab her by her hair, continued beating her, and threatened to kill her and her daughter. Gutierrez then covered her mouth with his hand causing her to become dizzy and fear for her life. He also choked her several times.
At one point the victim escaped outside where Gutierrez followed her and tackled her to the ground. Hinchcliff said she was finally able to escape, but ended up outside in the dark in a field, suffering from blurry vision because of the assault. The victim eventually laid down in the field in the cold, wearing only underwear, and fell asleep until it got light the next morning.
A nearby neighbor said that morning he was awakened by the sound of the victim yelling for help outside his residence. The neighbor said the victim was obviously injured and scared and he took her inside and called 911.
The victim was covered with severe bruising all over her body and had a fracture underneath her right eye socket from the assault, Hinchcliff said.
The District Attorney’s Office charged Gutierrez with numerous felonies, including spousal abuse, assault, terrorist threats, false imprisonment and causing great bodily injury. Gutierrez was also charged with having two prior “strike” convictions — one in 1994 for attempted murder, and one in 2012 for kidnapping.
Gutierrez had spent numerous years in prison, approximately 20, because of his prior criminal history.
Senior Deputy District Attorney James Gandy was the assigned prosecutor for the case for the District Attorney’s Office, and Thomas Feimer was the public defender appointed to represent Gutierrez. David J. Markham was the presiding judge.
After an unsuccessful attempt to settle the case, it went to trial on April 19. On April 26, the jury returned with verdicts of guilty on all charges, and found the special allegation of committing great bodily injury to be true. The “strike” allegations were also found to be true by the judge, Hinchcliff said.
Prior to sentencing Gutierrez made a Marsden motion to have his attorney relieved and a new attorney appointed. That motion was denied by Judge Markham.
The sentencing took place on June 14. The victim was present, and the victim’s sister read a statement to the court from the victim.
Judge Markham, noting the seriousness of Gutierrez’s conduct, the violence involved, as well as the significant physical and emotional injuries inflicted on the victim, sentenced Gutierrez to 40 years to life.
“Hopefully the significant penalty imposed in this case will have some kind of deterrent effect on potential future spousal abusers. And, hopefully, it will convince and encourage future domestic violence victims to report domestic violence, and to cooperate with law enforcement investigations and prosecutions, in order to hold the abusers accountable for their conduct,” Hinchcliff said.