LAKEPORT, Calif. – A Clearlake Oaks man made his first appearance in court on Tuesday to face charges for the shooting death of his wife.
Marc Anthony Clark, 58, was in Judge Richard Martin's courtroom Tuesday afternoon for arraignment.
Clad in a black and white jail jumpsuit, Clark sat in the jury box with several other inmates who also were being arraigned.
Clark is alleged to have fatally shot his wife, 58-year-old Linda Louise Clark, at their home on Wolf Creek in Spring Valley late Saturday night, as Lake County News has reported.
Authorities said Clark called to report that he had shot his wife following an argument.
The District Attorney's Office has filed a complaint against Clark that includes five felony counts: murder; aggravated mayhem, which the California Penal Code describes as a situation in which an individual “unlawfully, under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the physical or psychological well-being of another person, intentionally causes permanent disability or disfigurement of another human being or deprives a human being of a limb, organ, or member of his or her body”; another count of mayhem; corporal injury on a spouse; and assault with a firearm, specifically, a handgun.
Clark also is facing 10 special allegations – many of them repeated several times in connection to each charge – stemming from the use of the handgun: personally and intentionally discharging a firearm, personal use of a firearm, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony and great bodily injury.
Attorney Tom Quinn told the court Tuesday that he initially was appointed to represent Clark under the county's public defender program, but Clark was determined to be ineligible for the program.
That ineligibility likely stems from the fact that Clark and his wife have four properties listed in their names: in addition to their Spring Valley home, they own two other properties in Clearlake Oaks and a fourth in Nice, according to county assessor-recorder records.
Quinn said that Lakeport attorney David Markham has since taken on the case and met with Clark, which Clark confirmed in court on Tuesday.
Markham was not in court but instead had Quinn make a special appearance for him at the arraignment.
Clark didn't enter a plea on Tuesday. On Markham's behalf, Quinn asked Judge Martin to put the case over until early next month for further proceedings.
Martin agreed, scheduling Clark's next appearance for 8:15 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 6, before Judge Andrew Blum in Department 3. At that point, Markham is due to appear and Clark will enter a plea.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Richard Hinchcliff asked Martin what bail amount should be set for Clark, who has been held without bail since his arrest Saturday.
Martin said he would set it at the standard amount, $1.5 million, which breaks down as $1 million for the homicide charge and $500,000 for the other charges.
According to authorities, Clark has had no contacts with local law enforcement prior to the Saturday shooting.
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Man accused of wife's murder makes court appearance
- Elizabeth Larson
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