Judge Denies Happy Ending For TV Producer Who Stabbed Tennant

LOS ANGELES, CA — The California Supreme Court refused Wednesday to review the case of a Daytime Emmy Award winner who was convicted of trying to kill his tenant, who laughed after the assailant said he would win five Academy Awards.

Andre Salaman Bautista -- who won a Daytime Emmy as a co-producer of the online soap opera "The Bay" -- was found guilty by a Van Nuys judge in February 2017 of attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon and knife use and great bodily injury allegations stemming from the Sept. 8, 2015, attack in Studio City.

Superior Court Judge Gregory Dohi subsequently sentenced Bautista to 13 years in state prison.

In June, a three-justice panel from California's 2nd District Court of Appeal rejected the defense's contention that Bautista's waiver of a jury trial was invalid because his attorney did not join in the waiver.

"The record shows that, in fact, defendant's attorney did join in defendant's waiver," the panel noted in its five-page ruling. "Defense counsel in this case not only agreed to `go along with' defendant's waiver, he expressly joined in it."

Bautista stabbed his tenant in the chest on Sept. 8, 2015, after the man laughed when Bautista said he would win five Oscars, according to testimony presented during his trial.

Bautista had previously written and starred in an independent movie about a landlord who killed his tenants, according to evidence presented in court.

Bautista -- who won his Daytime Emmy under the name Andre Bauth -- surrendered later to authorities at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City.

City News Service; Photo: Actor Andre Bauth attends The 42nd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards at Warner Bros. Studios on April 26, 2015 in Burbank, California. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)