MARTINEZ — Before he was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for murdering his ex-girlfriend, Ramello Randle offered up an explanation for why he stabbed his own lawyer during his trial.
Randle, a 29-year-old Oakland resident, told a psychologist during an Aug. 21 evaluation that he has two other personalities, known to him as “Mello” and “Ashton.” Mello is a nice enough guy, but Ashton can make bad decisions at the worst possible times, he explained, according to a copy of the report Randle filed in court.
“When I’m Ashton I get these migraines and feel like I get these blackouts. This is what happened when I stabbed my attorney. I got into Ashton,” Randle explained, according to the report by Dr. Martin H. Williams. “(Ashton) believes that everybody is out to hurt him. Sometimes that will make me want to hurt people. That’s not my intention, that’s not the person I am.”
Williams was hired by Matthew Fregi, the defense lawyer who Randle stabbed in the head and neck with a pen during Randle’s murder trial last March, causing superficial injuries. But at the end of his interview, the psychologist concluded that Randle’s account of his alter egos was “logically inconsistent” and not credible, and he questioned how Randle learned of Ashton’s existence if the blackouts were real. Fregi opted not to use the report to mount a defense, but Randle filed it as an exhibit to a handwritten defense motion anyways, circumventing his counselor.
Randle was convicted last March of murdering his ex-girlfriend, 24-year-old Jonaye Lahkel Bridge, during a bitter child custody battle. Prosecutors say he placed a tracking device in her car and followed her to a 7-Eleven in Antioch, where she shot her and a man as they sat in a vehicle. The man survived.
Since his arrest, Randle’s murder case has been seeped in chaos. He served as his own lawyer for a trial last year, but lost self-representation and caused a mistrial by cursing out the prosecutor and judge in the jury’s presence.
After taking a swing at a previous lawyer in court, Randle was given Fregi as a court-appointed lawyer. During his trial last March, Randle allegedly wrote “I’m sorry” on a piece of paper, then stabbed Fregi with a pen. Jurors witnessed the event and one later said he was too upset to continue the case, and was excused.
But the trial limped onward. Towards its end, Randle allegedly threatened to murder the entire jury if they found him guilty, according to multiple sources who witnessed the event. After being found guilty of murder and lying in wait, Randle filed a handwritten motion saying a life without parole sentence would be “cruel and unusual” and “clearly racial discrimination.”
Judge John Kennedy was apparently unmoved. He sentenced Randle to life without parole late last month. On Sept. 26, Randle was transferred to North Kern State Prison, records show.
