Melissa Weaver - Sentinel Correspondent
08/05/2008

Angus MacIntyre was found guilty of first-degree murder Monday afternoon, after a nine-day trial during which he described what led him to shoot his former attorney, Jay BloomBecker.

The verdict was read amid cries of "yes" from the audience, hugs and tears.

"I can't thank you enough," Lisa Gonzales told jury members, hugging them one by one in the hallway after the verdict.

"I'm happy it's finally concluded," said Gonzales, BloomBecker's longtime assistant and mother of his son, as she wiped away tears. "But it doesn't bring Jay back."

MacIntyre awaits sentencing Sept. 17 for shooting BloomBecker point-blank in the head on the night of June 14, 2006, in BloomBecker's Live Oak office. The next day, MacIntyre turned himself in and confessed to sheriff's deputies. His defense was that BloomBecker drove him to it by talking down to him and "screwing up" his Workers' Compensation case.

"I did a lot of thinking," said jury member Kathy Omara.

She said the jury had a difficult time sorting out the discrepancies between MacIntyre's testimony and other witness testimony.

On the stand Thursday, MacIntyre accused seven witnesses of lying about issues ranging from doctor's observations written in his chart, to a statement MacIntyre allegedly told a bartender about his plan to kill BloomBecker.

Omara said she questioned whetherMacIntyre Was "Provoked.

That issue will be revisited if MacIntyre chooses to appeal, said defense attorney Arthur Dudley. He said there was an instruction about provocation that wasn't given to the jury, and that his client is likely to appeal because of it.

"Provocation would reduce the first-degree murder charge to voluntary manslaughter," Dudley said.

He said a different attorney will handle the appeal if there is one.

Dudley said he is not worried that he could be MacIntyre's next target after losing the case.

"That's never been a concern," he said.

MacIntyre did try to fire Dudley at one point during the trial, said prosecutor Ariadne Symons. She said MacIntyre has fired two attorneys already.

Members of the jury said Dudley was very thorough and focused, especially during MacIntyre's lengthy testimony.

MacIntyre testified for seven hours, spending much of that time on the details surrounding his Workers' Compensation case and how he thought BloomBecker suppressed evidence of his injuries and generally tried to destroy his case.

That case dealt with injuries MacIntyre suffered while working as a bulldozer operator at a granite mine near Lexington Reservoir in Los Gatos. MacIntyre, a veteran trained to drive heavy equipment in the military, worked for West Coast Aggregate for about 2 1/2 months during the summer of 2000. He quit when he began suffering numbness in his feet, legs and back.

"Frankly, I thought BloomBecker did quite a good job, sticking with him and everything," said Symons.

MacIntyre faces 25 years for using a gun and 18 months for car theft in addition to a 20 years-to-life sentence. The gun sentence and the murder sentence must be served consecutively, according to a new California law to discourage gun use, said Symons.

"That was the appropriate sentence," she said.

Even if MacIntyre doesn't get life, the 45-year minimum he must serve might end up being a life sentence for the 48-year-old, said Symons.

Gonzales said she believes justice was served, but that doesn't change the fact that the murder left three children fatherless.

"Forever it will be a sad situation," she said. "I knew him MacIntyre for eight years as a client, I helped him throughout the whole case. ... I can't believe I helped him."