MARIN COUNTY CIVIC CENTER – At the first day of his pretrial hearing, former Redwood student Max Wade, wearing a red-striped jail uniform and handcuffs, remained seemingly unfazed and stoic as he listened to the witness testimony against him today, Oct. 9.
In this first day of the hearing, prosecution witnesses Landon Wahlstrom and Eva Dedier testified about the events surrounding Wade’s alleged drive-by shooting last April in which Wahlstrom and Dedier were targets. Deputy Sheriff Michael Thompson and Detective Greg Garrett also took the stand today.
Defense attorney Charles Dresow represented Wade, and Deputy District Attorney Yvette Martinez represented the prosecution.
Wade’s mother, Leylla Beddiar-Wade, sat in the audience.
First to testify was Wahlstrom, one of the victims of the shooting and one of Wade’s alleged targets.
In his direct examination, Wahlstrom was shown pictures of evidentiary items, such as a gun, gloves, a helmet, a vest, a sweatshirt, and a motorcycle, all of which police say were used in the shooting. He testified under oath that he recognized all of these items as the ones used in the shooting.
A point of contention in Wahlstrom’s cross-examination was over his personal relationship with Wade. Dresow claimed that Wahlstrom had received a counterfeit ID from Wade prior to the shooting, but Wahlstrom said he had not had any contact whatsoever with Wade since middle school, more than seven years ago.
In his cross-examination of Wahlstrom, Dresow alluded to a possible defense strategy when bringing up a road rage incident that occurred between Wahlstrom and two unidentified teenagers two days before the shooting, noting that there were others who may have had a motive to attack Wahlstrom.
Dresow attempted to file a motion to revisit his cross examination of Wahlstrom, so that he could prepare to impeach Wahlstrom in order to point out inconsistency in his statements. This motion was denied by Judge Kelly Vieira Simmons, who presided over the hearing.
Second to testify was the other victim of the shooting, Eva Dedier, who said she recognized the same items, but could not do so with the same level of certainty as Wahlstrom.
