Rennie Pratt

Case overview

Rennie Pratt was convicted of voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death of her boyfriend, Michael Porcella, an attorney in a prominent East Bay criminal defense firm. A jury acquitted Pratt of murder but convicted her of voluntary manslaughter and found an enhancement for using a gun. She was sentenced to 21 years in prison on June 24, 2011.

People

• Rennie Pratt (29) — defendant; worked as a barber; accused and convicted in connection with the shooting death of her boyfriend.
• Michael Porcella (36) — victim; attorney in an Oakland law firm of Robert Beles; boyfriend of Rennie Pratt.
• Robert Beles — attorney; employer of Michael Porcella’s law work at the Oakland firm specializing in criminal defense.
• Anne Beles — attorney; daughter of Robert Beles; spoke about Porcella after his death.
• Judge Morris Jacobson — judge who sentenced Pratt on June 24, 2011.
• Judge Robert McGuiness — judge who conducted a hearing at which Pratt was charged.
• Prosecutor Jill Nerone — prosecutor in Pratt’s case.
• Defense attorney Brian Bloom — defense counsel who presented closing arguments.
• Oakland homicide Sgt. Gus Galindo — said the killing was the culmination of domestic disputes involving Pratt and Porcella.
• Officer Jeff Thomason — Oakland police spokesman; said police were previously called to the home but no arrests were made.
• Officer Jeff Thomason — Oakland police spokesman; said the victim was pronounced dead at the scene.
• H. Ernesto Castillo — attorney and friend of Porcella.
• Pratt’s barber work — Pratt worked as a barber in Walnut Creek and Dublin.

Background

Pratt and Porcella had a volatile relationship and their relationship involved domestic disputes. Police had been previously called to the home but no arrests were made.

Porcella worked for the Oakland law firm of Robert Beles. Anne Beles said Porcella had been laid off in the summer of 2008 for economic reasons but continued to work part-time for the firm and made appearances in court cases. Anne Beles also said Porcella graduated from Bishop O’Dowd High School in Oakland and St. Mary’s College in Moraga, and earned his law degree from Golden Gate University School of Law in San Francisco. Porcella was admitted to the State Bar in 2006.

Friends said Porcella was a gifted woodworker and singer who inherited his musical abilities from his parents; his mother sang and his father played the guitar. H. Ernesto Castillo said:

"Every little dinner, every kind of social event or social gathering we had, we would always egg him on to sing," said H. Ernesto Castillo, an attorney and friend.

He also said:

"He was just a good-hearted guy. He had a huge heart. He loved all his friends. He loved his parents the best."

The offence

Pratt shot Porcella at their shared home at 3740 Laguna Ave. in Oakland’s Dimond district.

The shooting occurred at about 11:30 p.m. on April 10, 2009 (described as Friday in relation to the slaying). Porcella was outside on the porch when he was shot. Prosecutor Jill Nerone said:

"He was outside on the porch when he was shot,"

Pratt testified that she accidentally shot him while trying to unload the weapon. She also said she was trying to unload a .45-caliber handgun owned by Porcella, and that the gun “kept getting jammed” and then “it went off.” Pratt said:

She said the gun “kept getting jammed” as she was trying to remove bullets from it and then “it went off.”

She said:

She said, “It was the loudest pop I can remember in my life.”

After the shot, Pratt said she saw Porcella lying sideways on the porch, that he didn’t respond when she called his name, and that she noticed he was bleeding. She said:

”I was just really freaking out because he was bleeding,” Pratt said. “I was just saying ‘oh my God!’”

Pratt also said she wasn’t looking for a gun and was looking for her car keys. She said:

”I wasn’t looking for a gun — I was looking for my car keys,” Pratt said.

Investigation

Oakland police said they had been called to Porcella’s home several times to respond to domestic disputes involving Porcella and Pratt but no arrests had been made.

When Pratt was charged and during the case narrative, Officer Jeff Thomason stated:

"Police were previously called to the home, but no arrests were ever made," said Officer Jeff Thomason, department spokesman.

Prosecutor Jill Nerone expressed skepticism about Pratt’s explanation about why she focused on the .45-caliber gun rather than other weapons in the home. Nerone pointed out that Porcella had two rifles and another handgun at his home but Pratt hadn’t unloaded those weapons.

Prosecutor Jill Nerone also stated that she hoped the jury would view the evidence as premeditated murder while Pratt lay in wait. Nerone said:

"I hoped the jury would view the evidence as a premeditated murder while lying in wait."

Arrest

Pratt was detained at the scene and arrested a day after she turned 28.

Pratt was being held without bail. She was held at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin at the time she was described as being held Sunday on suspicion of murder and later when she made a brief court appearance.

Trial

A jury convicted Pratt of voluntary manslaughter and an enhancement for using a gun, while acquitting her of murder.

Pratt testified that she had accidentally shot Porcella while trying to unload the weapon.

During the trial period described, testimony was expected to conclude on Thursday and Nerone and defense attorney Brian Bloom were to present closing arguments on Monday.

Sentencing

On June 24, 2011, Judge Morris Jacobson sentenced Pratt to 21 years in prison. The sentence range described was anywhere from three to 21 years in prison when Judge Morris Jacobson sentences her June 24.

Appeals

No appeals were described.

Outcome

• Pratt was acquitted of murder.
• Pratt was convicted of voluntary manslaughter.
• The jury found an enhancement for using a gun.
• Pratt was sentenced to 21 years in prison on June 24, 2011.

Other details

Pratt worked as a barber in Walnut Creek and Dublin.

After Pratt attended an Oakland A’s baseball game that night, Pratt said she got a ride to Porcella’s home from a woman she met at the game and they immediately talked, including about her relationship with Porcella. Pratt said she told the woman that Porcella “was being abusive again” and she was leaving him.

Pratt also said she spotted the gun when she came to Porcella’s home to collect her belongings after the Oakland A’s baseball game. She said she did not know he was on the house’s porch at the time.

Pratt made a brief appearance in Alameda County Superior Court in Oakland and was ordered to return to court May 11, at which time she could enter a plea. During that hearing, Judge Robert McGuiness said Pratt had been charged with murder and an enhancement for use of a gun in the Friday's slaying of 36-year-old Michael Porcella.

After McGuiness referred Pratt to the public defender’s office, Pratt asked:

"Do I still get my own attorney after that?"

Anne Beles said shortly after Porcella was killed that it was “pretty close to home,” an “unmitigated tragedy and loss of a wonderful lawyer and a loss to the community.” Anne Beles said:

"He's a very good friend," Beles' daughter, attorney Anne Beles, said Sunday. "It's pretty close to home, just an unmitigated tragedy and loss of a wonderful lawyer and a loss to the community."

Timeline

• June 24, 2011 — Judge Morris Jacobson sentenced Rennie Pratt to 21 years in prison.
• April 10, 2009 — Rennie Pratt shot Michael Porcella at about 11:30 p.m. at 3740 Laguna Ave. in Oakland’s Dimond district.
• April 16, 2009 — Pratt made a brief appearance in Alameda County Superior Court in Oakland and was ordered to return to court May 11.
• April 13, 2009 — Pratt was being held Sunday on suspicion of murder; she was arrested in the Friday night slaying of Michael Porcella.