Carefully, the prosecutor removed the wooden container Friday from its purple velvet bag. He gently placed it in the hands of his office's victim's advocate, who was standing next to the grieving man in the black suit.
Bruce Turner stood in front of the courtroom and read from his prepared statement. At the defense table, Jennifer Dalton, convicted of murdering Turner's brother, Craig Dalton, huddled close to her lawyer, stone-faced.
"Jennifer's actions on the afternoon of July 13, 2009, took my wonderful brother from my life," Turner said, his voice choking with emotion at times, "and left me this urn with his ashes."
If the imagery came across as stark, so did the words that followed from the woman who shot and killed her husband in the garage of her Elk Grove home. Reading from her own prepared script, Dalton, 42, ripped her slain husband, blasted the district attorney and criticized the judge.
Dalton said her husband "abused me mentally, emotionally, physically and sexually." She described herself as "a battered woman," and she said she "continued to be battered" by Deputy District Attorney Chris Ore, who she claimed built his successful prosecution of her on what she characterized as a series of lies.
Sacramento Superior Court Judge Helena R. Gweon "discriminated against me and sided with the district attorney during my entire trial," Dalton said.
When Dalton was finished, the last word went to the judge. It came after Craig Dalton's family described the senior development manager for a local health services company as a loving father, brother and son whose death shattered them emotionally.
"I did not see or hear remorse from Ms. Dalton or the taking of responsibility," Gweon said. "Craig Dalton loved many people, and he was loved by many people. It's clear to the court his life was precious to his loved ones and his life was precious to this community.
"Ms. Dalton and her criminal act showed zero regard for Craig Dalton's life, as she showed zero regard for his family, his children and his friends. With her act, she has inflicted immeasurable pain and suffering on so many people."
Gweon then sentenced Dalton to the maximum term under the second-degree murder conviction a jury returned against her last month – 40 years to life in prison. The term broke down to 15 years to life for the second-degree conviction and 25 to life for her personal discharge of a firearm resulting in death.
The conviction came in a retrial after an earlier jury acquitted Dalton of first-degree murder charges. The charge contained the special-circumstance allegation that she was lying in wait to shoot her husband. A conviction would have put her in prison for life with no chance of parole.
Jurors in the first trial failed to reach a verdict on second-degree murder, and Judge Timothy M. Frawley declared a mistrial.
At her retrial, Dalton testified again that she killed her husband in self-defense. The two of them were in the middle of an acerbic divorce where they prodded each other with text messages about their sexual exploits outside the marriage. The breakdown further deteriorated under financial stresses that put Jennifer Dalton on the verge of losing her Rainbow Falls Way home in Elk Grove.
The DA charged that she lured her husband to her house with a series of phone calls, emails and text messages. She claimed it was a surprise visit by him and that she retrieved her gun the day of the shooting because she thought someone had broken into her garage. When she saw it was her husband, she said he threatened to kill her.
"The law says I can stand my ground," Dalton said in court. "The law says I can use a gun to stand my ground."
Prosecutor Ore took Dalton's remarks in stride. He said her statements lashing the victim, the judge, himself and others were "consistent with her pattern of blaming everyone other than herself" since the day of the shooting.
"It was a just verdict in this case," Ore said.
Defense attorney Linda Parisi said her client "continues to maintain she acted in self- defense." She said Dalton's expression that she was "deeply anguished and remorseful over the death of Craig in this disastrous situation" shows she "was sorry for the loss."
Justice as determined by the jury did not heal the pain of Craig Dalton's daughters from a previous marriage. Alexis and Tatum Dalton, ages 17 and 14, poured emotion into their statements to the court. They did not hold back in expressing their hatred for their father's killer.
Alexis Dalton said she sometimes types her dad's cell number into her phone before she realizes he's not there anymore. She called Jennifer Dalton "this vile, disgusting creature," a "complete monster." She said "I pray every night that the worst comes to her."
Tatum remembered her dad holding her hand on "scary" amusement park rides and promising to never let go. She said to Jennifer Dalton, "There are no words to describe how much I hate you."
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