A jury was seated Wednesday for the retrial of a 32-year-old Meadowbrook man accused of fatally shooting his boyhood friend during a dispute tied to a marijuana sales venture.
Stephen John Lindo allegedly killed 29-year-old Michael Louis Hinden of Riverside in October 2020.
In October 2022, a Riverside jury deadlocked during deliberations in Lindo’s first trial. Jurors failed to reach a unanimous verdict on charges of first-degree murder and witness intimidation, as well as a special circumstance allegation of lying in wait and sentence-enhancing gun and great bodily injury allegations.
The special circumstance allegation has since been dropped.
After three days of screening prospective jurors, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Timothy Freer on Wednesday swore in a panel at the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta. He scheduled opening statements for Thursday morning.
Lindo remains held without bail at the Byrd Detention Center.
According to a trial brief filed by the District Attorney’s Office, the defendant and Hinden grew up together in Florida and were close. They decided in 2015 to leave Florida, relocate to Riverside County and set up an unlicensed cannabis cultivation and sales business, the brief states.
The venture was established in the 2200 block of John Street in Meadowbrook, according to the brief.
Court papers allege that by the summer of 2020, Lindo and Hinden were at odds over the defendant’s failure to meet the terms of their business arrangement, selling cannabis products “hundreds of dollars below market value.”
Hinden decided to end the partnership, and on Oct. 5, 2020, he messaged the defendant, telling his ex-pal that he would be dropping by to retrieve property belonging to him, according to the prosecution.
The brief alleged Lindo obtained a Taser and handgun from his house and stationed himself outside to wait for the victim.
Security surveillance video cameras were mounted around the perimeter of the location because of the on-site marijuana grows and captured much of what transpired, according to the D.A.’s office.
The tape showed the victim arriving and walking onto the property alone, heading straight for one of the grows. He was unarmed.
Before Hinden reached the grow, Lindo allegedly ambushed him from behind, using the Taser to zap him, causing the victim to spin around and shout, “What the (expletive)!” according to the brief.
At that point, Lindo pulled out the pistol, stepped toward the victim and fired a bullet into his chest, prosecutors allege.
Hinden attempted to use his mobile phone to call for help, prompting Lindo to pull the trigger a second time, but the gun jammed, according to the brief.
The victim collapsed and died moments later.
Lindo allegedly dismantled the security surveillance system, in an attempt to conceal evidence, prosecutors said. He called his attorney to seek advice, culminating in the lawyer directing sheriff’s deputies to the location, where Lindo was arrested without incident a few hours later.
He has no documented prior felony convictions.