Court hears of man's 40 hours of fear

Journal Staff WriterA deputy district attorney told of Nicholas Hamman?s weekend of terror at the abandoned county juvenile hall in Auburn ? including tries to drown and gas him ? as the attempted murder and kidnapping trial of Shawn Michael Rodriguez, 20, began Wednesday in an Auburn courtroom.William Marchi said Rodriguez and a young woman extorted funds after luring victim Hamman, 40, to the juvenile hall March 15 by telling him a mutual friend was in danger. They then confined Hamman to the cell where he would be held for 40 hours until his 2 am. rescue by Auburn police, Marchi said.?Hamman was in fear for his life,? Marchi said, noting the water level in the holding cell at one time neared the victim?s shoulders.But Jesse Serafin, representing Rodriguez, told jurors that details presented by the deputy district attorney during opening statements were a ?black and white version? of events.The more complete account is that Hamman is subject to delusions and a four-time felon and registered sex offender whose crimes included forcible sodomy, Serafin said. Hamman was ?without any real injury? after his ordeal, the attorney said. He said the key player in the saga is Anna Marie Rugg, 20, whom Hamman believed to be his girlfriend.Rugg faces her own trial in November on attempted murder and kidnapping charges in connection with the case. She came up with the plan to lock Hamman in a holding cell at the hall on Epperle Drive next to Gottschalks, Serafin said. When she later sought to kill Hamman, ?Shawn at no time says OK,? Serafin recounted.Auburn Police Officer Gary Hopping testified following opening arguments by attorneys.He said he reached juvenile hall early March 17 and heard a loud banging.?When I lit it up with my flashlight,? Hopping said of the holding cell, ?I could see a face.?The man inside was screaming ?Get me out of here,? the officer said.?He was freezing,? Hopping said of the victim. ?He said Shawn Rodriguez and Anna Marie Rugg had locked him in that cell.?Deputy District Attorney Marchi told jurors Rodriguez played a key role in crimes that, along with attempted murder and kidnapping, include the use of victim Hamman?s ATM card.Hamman, left alone temporarily at the hall, ignited his cigarette lighter next to an automatic sprinkler in hopes of triggering an alarm. But the abandoned building had no connection with any alarm system.When Rodriguez and Rugg returned, discovering the water from the sprinkler, they demanded the access code to Hamman?s ATM card, Marchi said. When Hamman wouldn?t provide the code, the two pushed a bookcase against the door in the cell and told him he faced drowning unless he provides the PIN number, Marchi said.On the promise they would call the police and get him out of the hall, Hamman gave the two his PIN number, Marchi recounted.They went on to withdraw $80 from an ATM in Rocklin and returned Sunday with a new plan to gas Hamman, the deputy district attorney said. ?They actually discussed where to put the body,? Marchi said. Rodriguez along with Rugg drove to Albertsons to get duct tape to seal the holding cell, Marchi said. They also allegedly went to the DeWitt Center in North Auburn to get garden hoses and later attached a hose to a car?s exhaust pipe to try and gas Hamman.But defense attorney Serafin disputed the prosecutor?s account. Serafin described the gassing as a ?ridiculous idea.? Rodriguez ?knows it won?t work,? the attorney said.The garden hose carried exhaust from the car into an air conditioning vent and not into the adjacent holding cell where Hamman was held, Serafin said.Rodriguez knew the gassing would fail but hoped Rugg would believe the effort effective. When she saw that Hamman was still alive, Rugg then suggested using barbed wire posts to beat Hamman to death, Serafin said.?Shawn said, ?No more,?? the attorney recounted.Rodriguez and Rugg left the juvenile hall and drove to the Shell station at Elm Avenue and Highway 49. Rugg wrote a note saying that a man was being held at the hall and asking that 911 be called. An employee found her note and contacted police, who rescued Hamman and later arrested the two suspects at the gas station.Attorney David Cohen, representing Rugg, said Wednesday in a telephone interview that ?Mr. Rodriguez and his attorney are entitled to put on a defense.??But the version of events Mr. Rodriguez provided to law enforcement is very different than the version Ms. Rugg provided to law enforcement,? Cohen said.Rugg?s account is much more consistent with what Hamman said happened, Cohen added.