Man sentenced to life in prison for aggravated mayhem, assault 

Jeremiah Leo Hernandez found guilty of severely slashing man’s face with knife

– San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow announced this week that Grover Beach resident Jeremiah Leo Hernandez, 44, has been sentenced to life with the possibility of parole in state prison for his conviction of aggravated mayhem and assault with a knife involving a single victim, the Honorable Judge Timothy S. Covello presiding.

A San Luis Obispo County jury convicted Hernandez on July 1. The jury also found true an allegation that the defendant personally inflicted great bodily injury on the victim during the knife assault. Additionally, jurors made findings that nine factors in aggravation were true that are considered for sentencing purposes. The findings included: the attack was violent and indicates a serious danger to society; Hernandez’s prior convictions are numerous and of increasing seriousness; that the defendant has served a prior prison term; and that he was lying in wait when he attacked his victim.

During the trial, jurors heard evidence that shortly after 1 a.m. on Jan. 24, Hernandez attacked the victim with a knife, severely slicing his face from his hairline to his lower jaw, inflicting an injury that required extensive reconstructive surgery to repair. The assault occurred in the 200 block of Five Cities Drive in Pismo Beach.

Hernandez has been sentenced to a ‘life sentence’ with the possibility of parole, otherwise known as an ‘indeterminate’ sentence. After a minimum period of prison custody, the Board of Parole Hearings will conduct a hearing to determine if Hernandez should be released from prison custody. For more information about the Lifer Parole Process, visit the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation website here. Due to the recent changes in California law, it is impossible to estimate what amount of custody time Hernandez will actually serve in prison.

The case was investigated by the Pismo Beach Police Department with the aid of the District Attorney’s Office Bureau of Investigation.  Pismo Beach Detective Sergeant Anthony Hernandez and District Attorney’s Office Senior Investigator Michael Hoier were the primary investigators. The case was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Lindsey Bittner.

About the author: News Staff

News staff of the A-Town Daily News wrote and edited this article from local contributors and press releases. Scott Brennan is the publisher of this newspaper and founder of Access Publishing. Connect with him on Google+, Twitter, LinkedIn, or follow his blog. He can be reached at [email protected].