MARTINEZ — During his murder trial, Ramello Randle stabbed his own lawyer with a pen, attacked the prosecutor, and told the jury he’d slaughter them all if they convicted them.
Unfortunately for the 28-year-old Oakland man, this novel legal strategy has failed. On Friday morning, after little more than a full day of deliberating, jurors convicted him of a 2020 shooting that killed his ex-girlfriend and wounded a man.
The verdict, along with a true finding on an enhancement for lying in wait, virtually guarantees that Randle will die in prison — unless his appeal is successful. He faces a sentence of life without the possibility of parole.
The guilty verdict did not come easy. Along the way, Randle cursed out one judge, took a swing at his first attorney, stabbed his second lawyer with a pen, attacked the prosecutor, and capped things off with threatening to murder the entire jury on the same day his trial ended. His courtroom antics caused one mistrial in 2022, and nearly a second one this year when three of 17 jurors said they were too upset to continue, and had to be excused.
Ramello was convicted of fatally shooting 24-year-old Jonaye Lahkel Bridges and wounding her friend during a 2020 shooting outside a 7-Eleven in Antioch. Prosecutor say he put a tracking device on Bridges’ car, and followed her to the store, then walked up and riddled the vehicle with bullets, using a pistol equipped with an extended magazine.
An accomplice, Christopher Slaughter, accepted a plea deal and 15-year prison term. At his first trial in 2022, Randle said in court that Slaughter was the real killer and police were “f—ing framing me.” That trial ended in a mistrial after he wished death upon Deputy District Attorney Kevin Bell, the prosector, and told Judge Charles “Ben” Burch, “I’m not your b—-” when Burch told him to stop.
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After losing his pro per status, Randle took a swing and spat on his court-appointed, then was assigned Matthew Fregi, another lawyer from the county’s panel of attorneys for people who can’t use a public defender. On Monday, as the trial was wrapping up, Randle wrote “sorry” on a sheet of paper then used a pen to stab Fregi in the back of the head and jaw, according to authorities, before charging at Bell.
With his constitutional right to be present for his trial still intact, Randle returned to court on Wednesday — as Fregi and Bell were giving closing arguments — and told jurors he would have them all murdered if they returned guilty verdicts. He topped off the threat by saying “pop, pop, pop,” mimicking gunshots, according to multiple sources who witnessed it.
Then Randle requested to be returned to his cell. He remained there Friday morning, as the jury foreman repeated the word “guilty” and “true” to every charge and enhancement.