Man sentenced to 50 years to life for Navarro slaying
- Lake County News reports
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NORTH COAST, Calif. – A Mendocino County man was sentenced to 50 years to life in state prison on Thursday for an August 2017 slaying in which he shot another man in the back with a shotgun.
Michael Jay Saner, 61, of Navarro was sentenced in Mendocino County Superior Court.
Saner was arrested on Aug. 6, 2017, shortly after the fatal shooting of 55-year-old William Martinez, according to the original report from the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office.
Authorities said the two men were known associates and were believed to have been involved in a dispute over property ownership.
In October, at the end of his trial, a jury found Saner guilty of murder in the first degree, meaning a murder that was willful, deliberate and premeditated. The jury also found true a sentencing enhancement that Saner personally and intentionally discharged a shotgun causing Martinez’s death, according to the Mendocino County District Attorney’s Office.
The evidence at trial showed that Martinez was shot in the back. The jury also found Saner used tear gas during the commission of the murder, a sentencing enhancement, the District Attorney’s Office said.
Saner was sentenced to 25 years to life for first degree murder, as well as a consecutive 25 years to life for his personal and intentional use of firearm to inflict death upon another, the prosecution reported.
The District Attorney’s Office said Saner was “unrepentant.” On Thursday Saner continued to express outrage during his sentencing, claiming "the cops lied in their reports" and that he was being "railroaded."
At trial, Saner claimed he had blacked out during critical time periods which prevented him from being cross-examined as to what he might claim had happened on the date in question, officials said.
However, the District Attorney’s Office said Saner’s memory had recovered on Thursday and he now remembers that the victim had a knife that Saner believed justified him shooting Martinez in the back.
Other witnesses were clear from the start in their statements that Martinez was not armed with any sort of weapon when he was caught off guard at a friend's home and murdered, the District Attorney’s Office said.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Beth Norman represented the Mendocino County District Attorney’s Office at the Thursday sentencing.