Second Act: Davis Stabbing Retrial Shifts Focus to Mental Health, Cannabis Use

The Carlos Dominguez retrial unfolding in a Woodland courtroom this week tells a strikingly different story than the first one. Where jurors once couldn’t agree on whether he was guilty, prosecutors are now running a narrower, more focused play—and the defense is mounting an equally deliberate counter-argument about what led him to allegedly stab two men fatally and injure a woman in Davis in 2023.

Here’s the shift: Yolo County prosecutors aren’t disputing that Dominguez has schizophrenia. That’s a remarkable concession in a retrial. Instead, they’re arguing that heavy cannabis use significantly worsened his condition, which becomes the throughline prosecutors want jurors to follow when weighing second-degree murder charges. The first trial ended with a not-guilty verdict on first-degree murder but a deadlock on other counts—enough legal uncertainty to warrant a do-over.

The defense strategy is equally surgical. Rather than deny the illness, they’re painting a portrait of a man in visible decline after his breakup with his ex-girlfriend. Testimony this week detailed his deteriorating appearance:“very long, completely unkempt”hair, severe weight loss, poor hygiene, noticeable body odor, and what the witness described as the worst condition she’d ever seen him in. These aren’t incidental details—they’re foundation stones for an insanity or diminished-capacity argument. When Officer Steve Ramos’s 2021 demotion at Davis Police Department came up during cross-examination, the defense signaled it was questioning the integrity of how the investigation was conducted. That matters when a case hinges partly on how police interrogation evidence is interpreted.

Monday through Wednesday painted a slow-burn trial where nuance matters enormously. Jurors watched four hours of Dominguez’s May 2023 police interrogation, where he stayed mostly silent with one-word responses. His ex-girlfriend testified she never knew him to own a knife and couldn’t recall him expressing any issues with transients or homeless people—details that undercut certain prosecution theories about motive or premeditation.

The retrial livestreams Thursday starting at 9:30 a.m. from the Woodland courtroom. What makes this second round genuinely compelling isn’t just the verdict question—it’s how a case involving real harm and genuine suffering can hinge on what the law considers culpability when severe mental illness collides with substance use and deteriorating conditions. Both sides are making their case. The jury will decide which narrative holds.