Crime & Safety
Manslaughter Conviction In Shooting Death of Oakland Attorney, Saint Mary's Grad
The girlfriend of an East Bay attorney and former Saint Mary's College student was convicted of voluntary manslaughter Thursday.
~ Bay City News Service
A woman charged with murder for the shooting death of her attorney boyfriend at his home in Oakland two years ago was convicted Thursday of the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter.
Rennie Pratt, 29, who would have faced 25 years to life in state prison if she had been convicted of first-degree murder, will now face a term of 3, 6, or 11 years when she's sentenced by Alameda County Superior Court Judge Morris Jacobson on June 24.
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Pratt wept and dabbed her eyes with tissue after the verdict was announced following two days of deliberations.
In her testimony in her trial last week, Pratt admitted that she fired the shot that killed 36-year-old Michael Porcella, a graduate of Saint Mary's College in Moraga, at his home at 3740 Laguna Ave. the night of April 10, 2009, but said it was an accident and that the gun had gone off as she tried to unload it.
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