A Solano County Superior Courtroom choose has vacated a jury trial and ordered a brand new trial setting for a Fremont man charged with attempting to kill a Vallejo police officer throughout a 2018 Oakland gun battle following a high-speed pursuit from Vallejo into the East Bay metropolis.
Dominic James Milano, 43, appeared Aug. 12 in Division 2 for extra pretrial proceedings within the case, however Decide Daniel Healy, who earlier vacated a January trial, ordered the defendant to return at 10 a.m. Nov. 10 for a readiness convention and trial setting within the Justice Constructing in Vallejo.
In line with official court docket information, Milano’s protection legal professional, Deputy Public Defender Nick Filloy, has filed an “opening temporary” on the admissibility of assorted proof.
Healy additionally ordered Filloy to reply to Deputy District Lawyer Bruce Flynn’s response by Oct. 3. Flynn should, in flip, reply to the protection by Oct. 17.
Milano’s pending court docket dates observe a preliminary listening to in 2020. Afterward, Flynn determined to drop all however one tried homicide cost, agreeing with Filloy there was solely ample proof to cost Milano with the tried homicide of Officer Matt Komoda and never two different officers concerned within the Nov. 1, 2018, chase into Oakland, the place Milano was arrested.
In a quick interview after the two-day proceedings, Filloy mentioned the DA didn't have sufficient proof to cost Milano with the 2 different felonies since a bullet — or a bullet fragment — was present in a automobile shared by the 2 responding officers, a bullet that will have been a ricochet, not a spherical fired immediately at them.
Proceedings have been delayed or postponed for quite a lot of causes up to now many months, amongst them a pending ruling on whether or not to grant Filloy’s request for information of arrests and prosecutions of key witnesses within the case, together with a minimum of one for a Vallejo police officer.
In the course of the preliminary preliminary listening to, witnesses to the taking pictures within the space of Worldwide Boulevard and twenty second Avenue, the place Milano allegedly started firing at officers after crashing his automobile, described what they noticed and heard.
One in all them mentioned he was unable to determine the driving force in a “black automotive,” and, below cross-examination by Filloy, mentioned he noticed the driving force of the automobile via the passenger facet of the automobile. The witness additionally mentioned he didn’t see the driving force of the black automobile hearth a weapon.
Flynn referred to as to the witness stand Brandon Graham of Vallejo, who informed the prosecutor that he had referred to as 911 on Nov. 1 after seeing Milano earlier within the day.
A day or two earlier than the alleged crime, Graham mentioned he had agreed to assist Milano transfer and, at one level, the defendant had proven Graham a number of weapons in his possession.
He informed Flynn that Milano had referred to as him throughout the police pursuit and, sooner or later, informed Graham he was not going to be captured by the police.
With the DA’s choice to pursue just one tried homicide cost, it seems Milano, a beforehand convicted felon, could face different counts that he was initially charged with: Illegally possessing an assault weapon; possessing prohibited ammunition; evading a police officer and being a wrong-way driver; being a felon in possession of a firearm; and possessing physique armor.
If discovered responsible at trial, Milano could face a life sentence with the opportunity of parole on the primary cost and extra years on the others, with the opportunity of enhancements that probably would lengthen any sentence.
The Solano County DA’s Workplace filed a criticism within the case on Nov. 5, 2018, in accordance with court docket information.
Round 1 p.m. Nov. 1, Milano was reportedly armed and sitting in a automobile within the Glen Cove neighborhood in Vallejo. A witness alerted officers, whose arrival on scene prompted Milano to flee. He then sped west on Interstate 80, reaching speeds of as much as 120 mph as he headed towards Alameda County.
Milano allegedly fired at pursuing Vallejo law enforcement officials throughout the chase and, arriving in Oakland, the place he crashed his automobile, he subsequently once more fired upon the officers. They returned the gunfire. No officers have been injured or wounded.
On the time of the taking pictures, Milano reportedly was sporting physique armor and in possession of a substantial cache of firearms. A search of his automobile revealed an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle, an AK-47 assault rifle, an Uzi submachine gun and two Glock semi-automatic handguns.
Solano County sheriff’s deputies arrested Milano on Nov. 12 at Alameda County Jail and booked him into Solano County Jail the identical day. He stays in jail on $2.5 million bail.