Ulysses Roberson was charged with the special circumstance of torture in the alleged murder of his 4-year-old son, meaning prosecutors could seek the death penalty or life in prison without parole.
El Dorado County Superior Court Presiding Judge Suzanne Kingsbury made no ruling on an allegation that Roberson killed his son based on racism. The point might be moot since prosecutors only need one special allegation to get a greater penalty if a jury finds Roberson guilty of first-degree murder.
Roberson is accused of murdering his son, Alexander Olive, 20 years ago in a Tahoe Keys home. Authorities haven't found Alexander's body, but believe enough evidence exists to pursue prosecution.
Hans Uthe, El Dorado County assistant district attorney, believes Roberson, a black man, was motivated by racism when he killed Alexander, who was mixed race.
Uthe also alleged Alexander's reportedly prolonged death in an unheated garage during winter was unusually cruel. The death culminated a long history of Roberson punishing Alexander by withholding food and water and repeated beatings, Uthe said.
It was Roberson's first court appearance since a two-day preliminary hearing in June. Ken Bonham, a senior El Dorado County public defender, said the decision wouldn't hold up in a court of appeals if his client were convicted, citing California cases involving heinous crimes,
Bonham said his client disciplined all of his children.
"He didn't get up that day and intend to kill the child," he said.
Testimony from other household members, including the women, is flimsy, he argued.
Authorities who testified during the preliminary hearing said Alexander soiled his pants and was taken to the garage by Roberson, who beat the naked child and left him for hours. One of the women checked on Alexander, who was listless in a fetal position, and covered him with a blanket. When Roberson discovered the blanket and believed Alexander had sought warmth, he beat him with a stick, authorities said.
Roberson then carried the child to the bathroom upstairs, according to the testimony.
"Maybe he wasn't trying to kill him," Bonham said. "Maybe he was trying to revive him in the bathtub."
In response, Uthe noted transcripts of the preliminary hearing where authorities stated a woman saw Alexander floating in the bathtub.
"He was disciplined very severely by his father," Kingsbury said. "The adults in his life failed him, literally in everything."
"This is an unimaginable horrific existence," Kingsbury said before granting the special circumstance of torture.
The lack of decision on killing based on racism means Uthe could go to another judge to seek a ruling.