Defense Attorney Asks Judge to Throw Out Charges Against One of Two Teenagers Accused in Roadside Murder Near Hoopa
Defense attorney Russ Clanton has filed a motion to dismiss the case against Bronson Moon Lewis Jr., one of two men accused of the grisly murder of Hoopa resident Julian “Jules” Tripp in July.
Clanton also filed a motion to unseal a law enforcement search warrant used in the case. Attorneys are scheduled to meet privately with Judge Kaleb Cockrum this afternoon to discuss that motion.
Lewis.
Lewis, 18, and Daniel Armendariz, 19, are accused of killing the 42-year-old Tripp during an altercation on HIghway 96 between Hoopa and Weitchpec. According to witnesses during Lewis’s preliminary hearing, Tripp was first stabbed and left lying down a bank near the roadside. Then, Lewis allegedly went to Hoopa and picked up an assault rifle, which he used to finish Tripp off.