Marysville man's appeal denied in attempt to hire hitman

The 3rd District Court of Appeal in Sacramento on Friday upheld the 10-year prison sentence handed down to a Marysville man who hired an undercover police officer to kill his estranged wife.

Jonathan Scott Franklin "solicited the murder of his wife on two separate occasions, made a down payment for the murder, and offered a bonus payment if his wife's boyfriend was also killed," Associate Justice Andrea Lynn Hoch wrote in the five-page opinion.

The court rejected Franklin's contention that it was illegal for the officer to wear a wire during their conversations.

"A person has no expectation of privacy in a conversation with an apparent colleague who turns out to be an undercover officer," Hoch wrote.

On July 27, 2009, Franklin offered the officer $1,500. Two days later, he met the officer, gave him a photograph of his wife and 10 $100 bills, offering to double the payment if the boyfriend was also killed.

Franklin's other claims — his state of mind at the time and entrapment by police — were not considered because he failed to obtain a "certificate of probable cause" when he filed the appeal, Hoch wrote.

Franklin pleaded guilty to solicitation of murder and to one count of attempted premeditated murder. A charge of possessing child pornography was dismissed but Yuba County Judge James Curry, now retired, was permitted to consider it in sentencing.

Curry sentenced Franklin to seven years for soliciting murder and three years for attempted premeditated murder. He was ordered to register as a sex offender.

Franklin cited his lack of a previous criminal record in calling the sentence excessive.