Saturday, March 30, 2019

Explosive Accusation by DDA Beth Silverman, Moments After Testifying in Francis v. City of LA (LAPD)

Stanley Mosk Courthouse

March 29, 2019
Today’s most dramatic moment came in the afternoon session. This morning, if someone had told me that this event happened without witnessing it myself, I never would have believed them.

DDA Beth Silverman was called to the stand by the defense to testify why she did not want Criminalist Jennifer Francis assigned to the Grim Sleeper case in 2010, after Lonnie Franklin was arrested. Francis had performed some DNA analysis on that case.

Moments after stepping down from the witness stand, DDA Silverman went out into the hallway, then came back inside and announced loudly to everyone in the court room, in front of the jury, “I am being attacked by co-counsel in the hallway.” DDA Silverman asked for an escort to the escalators to get out of the building.



The disruption threw the courtroom into a tizzy. Defense counsel Reginald Roberts exited the courtroom, came right back, and complained aloud, “Courtney McNicholas.” All three defense attorneys condemned McNicholas’s conduct, based solely on DDA Silverman’s outburst.

 Although no one in the courtroom witnessed the incident, Judge Fujie also immediately condemned McNicholas and called her behavior in the hallway “appalling.” Judge Fujie did not question any witnesses about what had happened outside the courtroom. Defense counsel then demanded that McNicholas be barred from the courtroom for the duration of the trial. Judge Fujie promptly agreed.

All of this played out in front of the jury.

Eyewitnesses interviewed by T&T reported that there was no physical altercation between McNicholas and DDA Silverman. All the eyewitnesses reported that McNicholas and DDA Silverman were angry and exchanged words, after which McNicholas walked away and sat on a bench.

T&T has reached out to both parties for comment.

In other Francis trial news, LA Times reporter Alene Tchekmedyian, who has dropped in occasionally on the trial, has a story about Dorothy Tucker, the LAPD BSS psychologist who Francis was ordered to see. 


I’ve been attending most of the trial and hope to catch up on my daily recaps soon.

Additional reporting by Matthew McGough.

Thursday, March 28, 2019

Jennifer Francis v The City of Los Angeles (LAPD) Day 2

Jennifer Francis testifying at Lazarus' trial, Feb. 2012;
Nels & Loretta Rasmussen in the gallery.
© 2012 by Thomas Broersma (thomasbroersma@yahoo.com). 
All rights reserved by the artist.

UPDATE 3/28 10:00pm: Short update to voir dire on this date, see below. Sprocket
UPDATE 3/28: I forgot to mention that my trial friend Matthew McGough has been attending every day of the trial and many of the pretrial hearings. Sprocket.
March 12, 2019 Note: Jury selection did not start in this case until March 12. The parties dealt with pretrial issues and some jury instructions on March 11. Sprocket

Background

Jennifer Francis is a DNA analyst currently employed with the LAPD's Forensic Science
Division (previously called Science Investigation Division or, SID). She is a civilian employee and not a sworn officer.

Sometime before 2004, LAPD Cold Case Detective Cliff Shepard submitted the February 1986 murder of Sherri Rasmussen to SID for DNA analysis in the hopes that a DNA profile of a suspect could be developed.

In late 2004, Francis was assigned with developing a DNA profile from evidence collected in the Rasmussen murder. During that time, Shepard and Francis communicated about the case. Francis was instrumental in spurring staff at the LA County Coroner's Office to search their Evidence Control Section freezers for a piece of evidence listed in the case file but was not in LAPD custody. That evidence was a bite mark swab collected from the victim's body by LA County Criminalist Lloyd Mahaney. 

In 2005, the DNA profile that Francis developed from that swab indicated Sherri's murderer was a woman. That DNA profile eventually led to the June 2009 arrest of LAPD Detective Stephanie Lazarus for the murder of Sherri Rasmussen. Lazarus was convicted of first degree murder in 2012, a trial I covered from gavel to gavel.

The Civil Case
On October 30, 2013 Jennifer Francis (plaintiff) sued her employer, the City of Los Angeles, LAPD (defendant).

Francis's lawsuit alleges retaliation by the City for having alerted LAPD management that detective(s) may have known about Lazarus in 2005, but failed to act on that information. Francis alleges that she was labeled as unstable and ordered to undergo psychological counseling after she alerted several superiors within the LAPD. You can read the full complaint HERE.

This case was assigned to Dept 56 at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse. Francis's lawsuit has been languishing in the LA County Superior Court system for over five years before coming to trial. In the five plus years the Francis case has been in Dept. 56, three different judges have presided over the department. The current judge is the Honorable Judge Holly Fujie.

Francis's counsel of record is the law firm of Taylor Ring. John Taylor is jointly assisted by the law firm of McNicholas & McNicholas. Matthew McNicholas is in court and occasionally his associate Douglas Winter. However, it was Courtney McNicholas who I saw at all the pretrial hearings I've attended over the years.

Over the past five years the City of Los Angeles has had several different Deputy City Attorney's assigned to the case. The case was eventually farmed out to an independent law firm, Sanders Roberts in 2018 to defend. Reginald Roberts, Shawn Thomas and Melvin Felton are all seated at the defense table.

Jennifer Francis has been sitting in the gallery for most of the trial, since there is no room for her at the plaintiff's table. Also in the gallery are Tim Lai, from LAPD Legal Affairs and Karen Park, a supervisor in the City Attorney's office. Ms. Park is always sharply dressed and I've been envious of the beautiful scarves she wears to adorn her ensemble. On a few occasions, counsel and gentlemen in the gallery have discussed the potential meaning of the color of their ties, and if the tie color signals an allegiance to a specific sports team.

The Stanley Mosk Courthouse

The Stanley Mosk Courthouse is a civil courthouse located in downtown Los Angeles. It is the largest courthouse in the nation. It is a sprawling building that takes up almost an entire city block. There is an entry to the building on Hill Street, on First Street and one on Grand Street. There are close to 100 courtrooms in this building, each one with a busy, over-burdened schedule. My recent divorce was granted in this courthouse.

The first thing you notice when you walk into one of these courtrooms is how absolutely tiny the majority of them are. You could almost fit two of these courtrooms into one of the 9th floor courtrooms of the Clara Shortridge-Foltz Criminal Justice Center. The well of the court area is very tiny. There are approximately 50 stadium type, fold down and nicely padded seats in the gallery. Since I've recently lost a noticeable amount of weight, these seats are finally comfortable for me. However, if you have a little bit extra on your hips, these seats might not feel so nice. (For those of you interested on how I've lost about 55 pounds in the last year, please feel free to email me. Sprocket)

Like the courtrooms in the criminal court building, there are no separate tables for the defense and plaintiff like what is depicted in many TV shows. It is one long table where the plaintiff's counsel sits closest to the jury box, and the defense on the other side. There is barely enough room for the five counsel at this table. The gentleman who is handling the presentation of all the exhibits put up on the big computer screen for the jury is sitting in the gallery in the first bench row and a small folding table is crammed partially in the aisle for his laptop.

Criminal vs. Civil Cases

I've covered criminal trials, mostly murder cases for about 12 years now. This is a civil case and the rules covering them are quite different than a criminal matter. I'm literally a fish out of water.

One of the first differences to note is, in State court, a civil case that is not adjudicated or brought to trial within five years can be dismissed. Evidence that is going to be presented at trial must be disclosed to the other party at least 30 days before trial. You cannot spring a surprise witness or evidence on the opposing party just days before the start of a trial, like the defense did in the Kelly Soo Park murder case. The judge would not allow it.

Jury instructions are different too. I'm familiar with California's CALJIC and CALCRIM, standard instructions in criminal cases. However, I am totally lost in the sea of jury instructions outlined for civil litigation. Jury instructions will be a noteworthy issue in this case. The trial has started and several jury instructions are still being negotiated. This means I don't know at this date what specific issues in the original complaint will be decided by the jury.

The judge in a civil case can also limit counsel to the number of hours each side has to present their case. Judge Holly Fujie has limited each side to just 30 hours of court time to present opening arguments, their case, cross examination and closing arguments. Judge Fujie is keeping a running tab on how many hours each side uses in voir dire, opening statements and examining witnesses. The courts total of the hours spent so far is usually asked for by the parties at the end of the day. It remains to be seen if Judge Fujie will keep the parties to these limits. (Note: As of the close of court on March 27, the plaintiff disagreed with the court's tabulation of their hours spent. Sprocket)

Tuesday, Pre-trial Witness: Dr. Annette Rittmann
Last Friday and Monday, Dr. Rittmann was order by the court to appear in Dept. 56. She gave testimony not related to the trial itself that the jury would hear, but related to motions filed by the plaintiff and the defense. Dr. Rittmann was the personal physician of Dorothy Tucker, Ph.D., (deceased). Dr. Tucker was a psychologist that the plaintiff, Jennifer Francis saw, when she was ordered by a superior into counseling with the LAPD's Behavioral Sciences Services Division (BSS). Once I obtain documents, I will have more on why Dr. Rittmann's testimony was a positive outcome for the defense.

Voir Dire
Right after Dr. Rittmann was released from the stand a group of jurors were called to Dept. 56. Jury selection continued on March 13, 14 and 15. In the afternoon of March 15, opening statements were presented by both parties. I was unable to attend opening statements but I hope to obtain a copy of the court reporter's transcript.

UPDATE: Voir Dire - Continued
When the jurors were brought in, Judge Fujie talked to the jurors about her own grandparents who came to this country and were not allowed to vote or participate in the legal process. Judge Fujie said she thinks of her grandparents every time she has a trial. With a smile on her face, Judge Fujie also told the jurors, "I give snacks." She told the jurors that it would take 9 of 12 jurors to reach a verdict. She then gave the jurors the standard pretrial instruction.

Each side gave a short statement explaining to the jurors what the case was about from their perspective.

Mr. Roberts cuts a nice figure in his tailored suits. When it was his turn to address the jury, he told the jurors to imagine themselves as a pilot on a plane.

I took very few notes during voir dire on this day.

The next post on the case can be found HERE.


Wednesday, March 27, 2019

Monica Sementilli & Robert Louis Baker Pertrial Hearing 9

Clara Shortridge-Foltz Criminal Justice Center
Downtown Los Angeles

March 27, 2019
It wasn't until around 7am this morning that I realized that I had totally forgotten about today's hearing. I rushed out the door around 7:35am hastily dressed, no makeup and drove downtown. It took me an hour and 20 minutes to get downtown, part and clear security. I made it to the court lobby in time to see Monica Sementilli's defense team of Blair Berk and Leonard Levine exiting an elevator and leaving the court. I had totally missed the hearing.

Fortunately, a few minutes later I happened to also see Mr, Michael Simmrin, Robert Baker;'s defense attorney in the lobby. The first thing I asked him is if he still represented Mr. Baker. I wasn't sure if leaving the Alternate Public Defender's Office and entering private practice would change his representation. He said he still represented Mr. Baker. I then asked him the date of the next hearing.

The next hearing in this case will be on May 21.

The wonderful Terri Keith of City News Service informed me that the April trial date had been vacated. It is my understanding that no new trial date has been set at this time.

Sunday, March 17, 2019

Stephanie Lazarus In Her Own Words (Part VI, 3/17/86)

T&T EXCLUSIVE

Stephanie Lazarus In Her Own Words (Part VI, 3/17/1986)

In 1986, Sherri Rasmussen was murdered in her Van Nuys home.

23 years later, in 2009, LAPD Detective Stephanie Lazarus was arrested for the crime. Lazarus was convicted of first degree murder in 2012, a trial I covered from gavel to gavel.

Early in her LAPD career, Stephanie kept a diary of her daily patrol rounds.

This diary entry is from March 17, 1986, 33 years ago today and three weeks after Sherri's murder.

 At the time, Stephanie was a patrol officer assigned to the LAPD’s Devonshire Division. Her partner that day was Dennis H---.

H---

A83

2330 – 0815 (NO C-7)
DEV 


3-17-86
 

First thing we did after roll call was to Handle a Code 30 on Vassar.

Then we had donuts Lassen / De Soto. At 0100 we had to go to the Station. I had to conduct a Rape Investigation. At first this Rape seemed legitimate. But as the story went on this blk female who lived at 91st and Vermont downtown got picked up by a blk male at 2300, went home with him to Merridy / Zelzah where he raped her and took her $21.00. It was rather the usual story for a prostitute. She doesn’t get paid so she claims rape.

We went by the apt and he wasn’t there. We took her to West Park for medical treatment. Then we went back to the Station to finish reports and see what we were going to do w/ her. We had to go to Parker Center to book the rape kit so we took her w/ us. She called her mom. There is always so much paper work for such a unnecessary report.

We stopped by Western Bagels on the way home, got some bagels.

Dennis wrote a registration ticket and a red light and that was EOW. We put in for no Code 7. Dennis is crazy to work w/. You don’t know know if he’s serious or not on anything. 

NOTE This morning Sgt. Ryan counseled me on a matter Scotty Henderson and I dealt with a few days ago. This man we had stopped at Tampa / Plummer in a Volkswagen who ran the light in front of us came in to complain that I yelled at him. He liked Scotty but said I yelled at him. I should have written that fool.


My friend Matthew McGough's book, The Lazarus Files: A Cold Case Investigation, will be released on April 30, 2019. You can pre-order his book on Amazon HERE.

The previous diary entry can be found HERE.
The next diary entry can be found HERE.

Monday, March 11, 2019

Jennifer Francis v. City of Los Angeles (LAPD), Trial Day One

Stanley Mosk Courthouse, Downtown Los Angeles

March 11, 2019
Jury selection begins in the civil case of Jennifer Francis v. City of Los Angeles (LAPD). This case is related to the Stephanie Lazarus murder trial. In 2012, Lazarus was convicted of first degree murder in the 1986 death of Sherri Rae Rasmussen.

Francis is the LAPD DNA analyst who in 2005, developed the DNA profile that pointed to a female suspect having murdered Sherri.

Francis is alleging retaliation by the City for having alerted LAPD management that investigators may have known about Lazarus in 2005, but failed to act on that information. Francis alleges that she was labeled as unstable and ordered to undergo counseling after she alerted her superiors.

The questions in this case that relate to the Lazarus case are, what did the LAPD know about Lazarus, and when did they know it? Did LAPD detectives look the other way once DNA showed that Sherri’s killer was a woman, and possibly a fellow officer?



This trial is expected to last two weeks or more. I hope to cover the entire trial. If I cannot attend, I will be getting updates from fellow journalists.

Thursday, March 7, 2019

Stephanie Lazarus In Her Own Words (Part V, 3/07/1986

T&T EXCLUSIVE

Stephanie Lazarus In Her Own Words (Part V, 3/7/1986)

In 1986, Sherri Rasmussen was murdered in her Van Nuys home.

23 years later, in 2009, LAPD Detective Stephanie Lazarus was arrested for the crime. Lazarus was convicted of first degree murder in 2012, a trial I covered from gavel to gavel.

Early in her LAPD career, Stephanie kept a diary of her daily patrol rounds.

This diary entry is from March 7, 1986, 33 years ago today. At the time, Stephanie was a patrol officer assigned to the LAPD’s Devonshire Division. Eleven days earlier, Stephanie murdered Sherri.

2330 – 0815 
K--- 
X53

DEV

3-7-86 


K--- drove tonight thank god. I didn’t sleep very much today. I was very tired. In fact all I did all night was to sleep. I couldn’t keep awake if you paid me. So we just drove around. [K---] is very unsafe, but I was so tired.

She made a few traffic stops for Drunks that were so far from being drunk. She also stands real close, and then she explains that she thinks they're border line drunk and to be careful.
 

For Code 7 I slept at the Station.

Then as the Sun was coming up [K---] wanted to get a few tickets. We stopped and sat on stop lights that there was no way anyone was going to run. Then she’d move to another crummy location. I told her no one was going to run these lights. I was really so tired I didn’t really care.

K--- is really bad news as far as tactics and knowing what to do. Very little common sense and until you work with her, one doesn’t really know.


 My friend Matthew McGough's book, The Lazarus Files: A Cold Case Investigation, will be released on April 30, 2019. You can pre-order his book on Amazon HERE.

The previous diary entry can be found HERE.
The next diary entry can be found HERE.

Monday, March 4, 2019

Christian-Newsom Torture Murder Case - Update on Davidson's Appeal

Previous post can be found HERE.

GUEST ENTRY by DAVID IN TENNESSEE!

This is a guest entry by our long-time contributor David in TN. Sprocket

February 28, 2019
Oh Thursday, February 28, 2019, Judge Walter Kurtz denied Lemaricus Davidson’s bid for a new trial in the Christian-Newsom torture murder case. 

Because of the heavy publicity the case received locally, it would have been expected the defense would request a change of venue. In most states, this means moving a trial to another city. In Tennessee, an outside jury is brought in. For the other trials for this case, juries were bused into Knoxville from Nashville, Chattanooga, and Jackson.

Since the defense asked for a Knox County jury, and rebuffed the presiding judge when he tried to talk them into an outside Knoxville jury pool, the defense was not supposed to be able to appeal on this issue.

At the January hearing, Davidson's new legal team, who specialize in capital cases, tried to do exactly that.

"The judge shot them down."

Judge Kurtz ruled Davidson "is not entitled to the benefit of hindsight. The fact that a strategy does not work does not make the lawyer ineffective."

The judge found Davidson and his lawyers made the wrong decision on their own. Davidson's attorneys testified at the hearing they hoped jury selection would drag on and a plea bargain would result.

The jury was seated on the first attempt.

The best opinion based on legal precedent was this appeal would fail and it did.

T&T's complete coverage of the Christian-Newsom Torture Murder Case

Sunday, March 3, 2019

Stephanie Lazarus In Her Own Words (Part IV, 03/03/1985)

T&T EXCLUSIVE

Stephanie Lazarus In Her Own Words (Part IV, 3/3/1985)

In 1986, Sherri Rasmussen was murdered in her Van Nuys home.

23 years later, in 2009, LAPD Detective Stephanie Lazarus was arrested for the crime. Lazarus was convicted of first degree murder in 2012, a trial I covered from gavel to gavel.

Early in her LAPD career, Stephanie kept a diary of her daily patrol rounds.

This diary entry is from March 3, 1985, 34 years ago today. 

At the time, Stephanie was a patrol officer assigned to the LAPD’s Hollywood Division.

2100 – 0430

HWD

VICE TRICK TASK FORCE 

3-3-85 


Well this will be my first time working the trick task force. First thing Ofcr H--- who was in charge did was take all the girls pictures, myself, Patti C---, Linda P---, Michelle Ba---.


Then we had roll call. The PED unit was also there. They gave everyone their assignments. Then everyone put in $2.00 for pizza. Then we went and had Code 7 until 2230.


Tonight they used the Directors Guild, Sunset and Hayworth.


We didn’t actually start working until 2300. P--- went first, then Ba---, C--- and me.


The first guy I got was a man walking down the street. He asked me if I was working. Then he wanted a blow job for $25.00. I said OK let’s got to my place and Security arrested him. He was an Engineer.


NOTE Security is about 5’ from where the girl stands. One of the ofcrs was playing like a bum sweeping the sidewalks with a palm tree, it was funny.


After you arrest a guy you go in the back, get his ID, and write up a face sheet, arrest report and booking slip. Then when PED gets a few guys they take them to the Station to book them.


Just about every guy who stopped me asked if I was a cop. On my next turn 3 guys drove off and the 1 I got wanted a straight fuck for $40.00. This guy was mad at me because he asked if I was a cop and I said no. He was a butcher.


Well my next 2 times out were pathetic. I must [have] got turned down by 8 guys, all who thought I was a cop. One approach I tried that one of the guys suggested was to cuss at them. Well that didn’t work and Sgt. H--- didn’t like it.


All the other girls had gotten 5 arrests. I had only 2, but I went out once more. I had this Oriental stop for me, they're supposed to be the easiest. He wanted a fuck for $20.00. I got him pretty quick.


At least I didn’t feel too bad. We finished up about 0330 and went back to the Station.


NOTE At 0200 we had our pizza break. I got a ride back with 5 of the guys, Bo---, W--- and 3 other ofcrs. Well it was one of the guys last night so he wanted to chase a drag queen. We went to Highland and Franklin and chased one. It was kinda funny, we’re tearing down the streets and this thing is running for its life.


The work was easy and fun. Time went by quick. I was disappointed in how I did, not so much how much the susp offered but the time I was cussing at them. It’s not like me and the guys running the task force seemed mad at me. I don’t think they’ll ask me to do it again. I’m sure I’ll have to ask them.


This was the first day of my day watch. I am off on 3-4-85 and I’m having my nose surgery on 3-5-85. I’ll be out for a few weeks. 


My friend Matthew McGough's book, The Lazarus Files: A Cold Case Investigation, will be released on April 30, 2019. You can pre-order his book on Amazon HERE.

The previous diary entry can be found HERE.

The next diary entry can be found HERE.

Friday, March 1, 2019

Michael Thomas Gargiulo, Pretrial Hearing 47

The previous post on this case can be found HERE.

Michael Thomas Gargiulo

UPDATE 3/12: See below & edited for typos. Sprocket
March 1, 2019
This is a short post to let T&T readers know that I attended the pretrial hearing today. Judge Fidler denied the defense non-standard 995 motion to dismiss the case. Jury selection will start with jurors receiving the jury questionnaire on March 19, 2019.

I hope to have a full update on today's proceedings by next Tuesday. I was not able to obtain documents today and hope to get them by Monday.

There is the possibility that while jury selection in the Gargiulo case commences, I will be covering a civil case in the Stanley Mosk Courthouse. 

March 12, 2019
I'm still trying to get a copy of the defense non-standard 995 motion, supplemental non-standard 995 motion as well as the defense response to the people's 1101(b) motion. As soon as I obtain these documents, I'll update everyone on what happened at this hearing.
More to come....