In the first trial, a jury found Dominguez not guilty on the charge of first-degree murder in a series of fatal stabbings in Davis that he is accused of committing over the span of a week in late April and early May of 2023.
David Breaux, the first victim known as the "compassion guy" in Davis, was stabbed to death while he slept on a bench in Central Park. Two days later, Karim Abou Najm, set to graduate from UC Davis, was killed when he was stabbed more than 50 times while riding his bike through Sycamore Park.
Opening statements in Dominguez's retrial began on Thursday, May 28. For a recap of the case up to this point, watch this story breaking down how we got here.
In opening statements at the retrial, it was clear that prosecutors with the Yolo County District Attorney's Office have refined their case to include a new strategy.
This time around, prosecutors are not denying that Dominguez is schizophrenic and was experiencing symptoms of the condition at the time of the crimes. This is a major point of the defense when arguing his state of mind at the time of the stabbings and the reason for Dominguez's plea of 'not guilty by reason of insanity.'
The prosecution alleged in both trials that Dominguez committed the stabbings with intent. This time, their strategy has evolved to introduce a theory blaming highly potent THC and Dominguez's alleged heavy use of marijuana products that they say worsened his undiagnosed schizophrenia and sent him into a cannabis-induced psychosis that drove him to murder.
The State says it will call health experts to the stand who will speak specifically about cannabis-induced psychosis and argue he knew what he was doing at the time of the stabbings.
Prosecutors also plan to call friends of Dominguez to the witness stand to give testimony about how heavily he was using cannabis products leading up to the stabbings and that he had become much more secretive and aloof.
Defending Dominguez: a deteriorating mind and a 'not guilty' plea
In his first trial, Dominguez took to the stand and gave testimony that he thought he was attacking "shadow shapeshifters" that the voices in his head were telling him to kill. Dominguez testified that it was only after he was treated in state custody, following his arrest, for undiagnosed schizophrenia that he realized he had stabbed his three victims, whom he now realizes were people, not "shadow figures."
Carlos Dominguez in court Thursday, May 28 during opening statements in his retrialTestimony from Dominguez's sister was that he had stopped taking care of himself entirely.
In both trials, Hutchinson has maintained that the question before the jury is not whether or not Dominguez committed these stabbings, but rather his intent and mental state at the time.
Hutchinson plans to call multiple health experts to the stand, who he says will reject the idea of a cannabis-induced psychosis being to blame for the stabbings. He will also call attention, again, to the fact that Dominguez's behavior had become much more erratic and unpredictable in the days and weeks leading up to the attacks.
Hutchinson said Dominguez was suffering from this undiagnosed condition and he plans to argue that he began to show symptoms of mental health issues as a child when he lived in El Salvador.
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