Turlock man set to return from prison to schedule second murder trial

Darren Jack Merenda is scheduled to return to a Stanislaus County courtroom next week so a judge can schedule his second trial.

Merenda of Turlock had been serving a prison sentence of 25 years to life for the deadly stabbing of Donald Dean Futch, but an appellate court overturned that murder conviction and ordered a new trial.

As of Thursday afternoon, Merenda was being held at Corcoran State Prison, about 60 miles south of Fresno. Up until last week, Merenda was in custody at High Desert State Prison in Susanville in Lassen County. He’s been in prison since September 2012.

A jury in October 2011 found Merenda guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Hughson resident Futch.

The state’s 5th District Court of Appeal on Feb. 23 reversed the jury’s verdict and said Merenda deserves a new trial because he was deprived of his right to have a defense attorney of his choice, according to the appellate court’s written opinion.

Testimony in the trial indicated Merenda and Futch were involved in a dispute over a woman. The two men agreed to meet in the alley behind a Colorado Avenue apartment complex in Turlock to discuss their dispute. The prosecutor argued that Futch was unarmed but the defendant had hidden a 10-inch dagger under his shirt.

Futch, 34, was stabbed 11 times and pronounced dead at the scene Sept. 12, 2009.

Merenda is set to return to Stanislaus Superior Court on May 15, when the judge will discuss with attorneys scheduling the defendant’s second trial.

This story was originally published May 7, 2015 at 3:20 PM with the headline "Turlock man set to return from prison to schedule second murder trial."