Hooker trial set to begin in San Mateo

RED BLUFF — The Cameron Hooker trial that has been delayed two times since Nov. 2023 was set to begin on Friday in San Mateo.

The trial, which is set to determine if Hooker is a sexually violent predator, is expected to last two weeks.

Hooker was convicted by a jury in 1985 of kidnapping, oral copulation, rape with a foreign object, sodomy and six counts of rape in 1988 after he and his wife Janice Hooker kidnapped 20-year-old hitchhiker Colleen Stan in 1977 and held her captive in their Red Bluff home for seven years. He was sentenced to an indeterminate term of 6 to 35 years and a determinate term of 69 years in prison.

Hooker was committed to state prison in San Mateo County, causing San Mateo County to retain jurisdiction over the sexually violent predator proceedings.

A state hospital evaluated Hooker, who was deemed positive for classification as a sexually violent predator, setting up a trial.

The trial to determine was set to start in Oct. 2023, however Hooker’s attorney, John Halley, asked for a continuance because Dr. Brian Abbotrt, who had been retained to testify for the defense, had not yet been able to evaluate Hooker.

On Nov. 20, 2023, the court set a trial date for March 29. The trial date was moved to August in March when San Mateo District Stephen Wagstaffe and Deputy District Attorney Anastasia Cooper, Deputy District Attorney, asked for a delay.

According to court documents, Cooper said that Hooker had last been evaluated in 2022; he needed an updated evaluation since the prosecution has to prove current dangerousness.

At the time, Cooper expected the updated evaluation to be completed in mid-April 2024.

Hooker’s last parole hearing was held in 2015, and his eligibility for a parole hearing was denied for 15 years until 2030. He attempted to advance his parole eligibility hearing, but the parole board denied that request.

According to the Tehama County District Attorney’s Office, changes to state law that are beneficial to inmates specifically changes to “good conduct credit” available to inmates, Hooker was released on parole to the Department of State Hospitals in 2021

Tehama County District Attorney Matt Rogers began a letter-writing campaign in November of 2019 to advocate that Hooker be evaluated as a sexually violent predator and to make sure not to be overlooked by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Rogers, Red Bluff Police Chief Kyle Sanders, former Tehama County Sheriff Dave Hencratt and Corning Police Chief Jeremiah Fears all wrote letters to the California Department of Corrections director advocating for Hooker to be evaluated as a sexually violent predator.

The D.A.’s Office said the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation personally responded to the letters, indicating that Hooker would be evaluated for designation as a sexually violent predator. Rogers wrote a second letter in August 2020 reminding the department of its obligation to evaluate Hooker for classification as a sexually violent predator.