March 27, 2001

Granite Hills High School senior Jason Hoffman clutched a towel over his bullet-torn jaw and pleaded not guilty yesterday to charges that he tried to kill the school's dean with a shotgun last week.

Hoffman, 18, kept his head lowered, removing the cloth slightly away from his mouth only to say "not guilty" and answer "yes" to several questions. He faces charges that a prosecutor said could send him to prison for life plus 51 years.

He is charged with attempting to murder school dean Dan Barnes, and he also faces five counts of assault with a deadly weapon in connection with a shotgun attack that injured five students and teachers Thursday.

Full coverage of the Granite Hills High School shooting Shooting suspect Jason Hoffman, appearing with public defender William Trainor, pleads innocent to charges related to shooting at Granite Hills High School Cable-DSL / 56k Prosecutor Dan Lamborn tells reporters charges would result in lengthy prison term if Hoffman is convicted. Cable-DSL / 56k Public defender William Trainor says Hoffman's mother has no explanation for the shootings. Cable-DSL / 56k The FREE RealPlayer plug-in is necessary to play RealMedia.

Because Hoffman turned 18 on March 10, less than two weeks before the shooting, he will be tried as an adult. Law enforcement officials said Hoffman went to the school to attack the dean, whom he blamed for his failure to get into the Navy.

Hoffman's attorney described the El Cajon teen-ager as "very emotionally upset about the events of the last few days" and also "definitely in pain" as a result of a bullet wound to the face.

"We need to get a lot of help for this young man," Deputy Public Defender William Trainor said after yesterday's arraignment.

Police investigating the shooting seized shotgun and handgun ammunition, Navy SEAL literature and other items from the Heron Avenue apartment where Hoffman lived with his mother, Denise Marquez, 41, according to court documents unsealed yesterday.

Among other items seized were an air gun, a BB gun, three "inert" or dummy grenades, a San Diego Fish and Game membership application in Hoffman's name, and "hunter safety certificates" for Hoffman and his mother, according to search warrant documents.

Deputy District Attorney Dan Lamborn would not comment yesterday when asked whether the firearms were licensed.

After being shot and taken into custody, Hoffman "made mention or expressed concern over his truck," which he parked outside the school, the documents state.

In an odd twist, a Granite Hills student said yesterday that a campus police officer performed a mock arrest on Hoffman several months ago during a classroom demonstration about police procedures.

Senior Shanna Ricketts, 17, who was in a government class with Hoffman, said Hoffman and one or two other students volunteered to let the police officer demonstrate what happens to a suspect during an arrest. The officer patted Hoffman down while Hoffman stood spread-eagled and put his hands behind his back, she said.

Ricketts said the officer was Richard Agundez Jr. -- the same officer who chased down Hoffman and shot him in the mouth and buttocks during last week's shooting spree.

"All of a sudden the next semester he's actually being arrested by the same cop," Ricketts said.

Granite Hills government teacher Pete Grisafi, who invited the officer to his class, confirmed that Hoffman was one of the volunteers during the officer's lecture. But Grisafi said he couldn't recall whether the officer was Agundez or another officer stationed at the school earlier in the year.

Agundez couldn't be reached for comment.

Ricketts said she sat next to Hoffman and was afraid of him. In general, she said, Hoffman was hostile and rarely spoke. Once, for no apparent reason, he broke his pencil into little pieces in the middle of class, she said.

"He would never talk except if he got really mad," she said.

Hoffman's mother attended yesterday's arraignment but left afterward without speaking to reporters. Hoffman's attorney said Marquez's "heart goes out to the families, the community and the relatives and friends of the injured. She can't explain what happened."

If convicted of all the charges, Hoffman would not be eligible for parole for at least 44 years, prosecutor Lamborn said after yesterday's arraignment.

Superior Court Judge Herbert J. Exarhos scheduled a May 10 preliminary hearing in the case. The judge refused to let cameras photograph the front of Hoffman's face, fearing that pictures of Hoffman's facial wound would be so gruesome that they would prejudice the public.

Hoffman is being held in the county jail's infirmary, his attorney said. He is being held without bail, but the judge said he will allow Hoffman's attorney to request a hearing to decide if bail should be set.

No date was set yesterday for the bail hearing.