Earlier this week was the last day of testimony in the trial of 19-year-old Marin County bad boy Max Wade, who was accused of both stealing Guy Fieri's Lamborghini out of a San Francisco dealership to impress a girl, and of later attempting to murder said girl and the guy she was dating. Yesterday Wade was found guilty on all counts but one the jury concluded he was not attempting to kill Eva Dedier, now 19, but that he is guilty of attempting to kill his romantic rival, Landon Wahlstrom, now 21.
Wade was 17 at the time of his crimes, but he was tried as an adult, and could face a lengthy sentence. He was also convicted of grand theft auto, and firing into an occupied vehicle the latter charge relating to the day in April of 2012 when he pulled up on a motorcycle and fired five shots into Wahlstrom's pickup truck as he and Dedier were sitting in it, outside his Mill Valley home. Bother were only injured by flying glass. Were it not for that incident, it's possible police might not even have discovered Wade's storage facility stash in Point Richmond, which included Fieri's Lambo, stolen over a year earlier when he rappelled into the showroom of British Motor Vehicles on Van Ness.
The defense had argued that Wade wasn't actually trying to kill anyone, probably only trying to scare them, when he fired those shots, given that he was at point blank range and missed with all five. When he's sentenced, Wade could be facing up to 30 years behind bars, though the judge may take into account his age and lack of maturity. As she left the court yesterday, Wade's mother, Leylla Wade, called out, "I love you, baby!" to her son.
Say what you will, and attempted murder charges aside, the kid's got swagger. And as proof, here's a celebratory tribute song and video by Marin rappers Brilliant and Timbalias that came out last year. And if you want to read more about Wade's background and upbringing, check out this San Francisco Magazine profile from earlier this year.
[Marin IJ]
[BCN/Appeal]