The Judge
is "Hands On" in the Andrew Luster Case
When prosecutor Michelle Contois asked Luster whether he believed
more harm was done to him than what he did to his victims, Judge Stoltz quickly jumped in and said: "Whooooooa!"
She told Contois that this was argumentative and that wouldn't be
allowed, afterwards, she quipped that she had objected and sustained her own
objection.
Stop Seeing
My Sister, Andrew
Andrew Luster testified that a Sheriff's deputy at the jail had
threatened him if he didn't stop seeing his sister. But Luster said he
continued to see her.
The judge after listening to both defense attorneys and prosecutor
Contois question Luster wanted to know why the deputy didn't want
Luster to see his sister.
"Nobody is going to ask him why?" the judge asked the lawyers. "Okay,
I'll ask him why."
She then turned to Luster who was on the stand and asked "Why?"
Luster said the deputy's sister visited him and he explained to
her what happened.
"She still wanted to maintain a relationship with me and I with
her," Luster told the judge.
They are
not Experts, the Judge Ruled
The judge ruled that Attorney Ron "who represents the Star in
First Amendment issues" Bamieh and Former Judge Arturo Gutierrez turned
criminal lawyer could testify at Luster's trial but not as experts.
Gutierrez testified that sentences that of eight to 12 years that
were offered to Luster were "average" for similar crimes during that time when
he was on the bench.
Former Senior Deputy District Attorney John Blair testified that
the plea bargain offer was made by Luster's lawyers and as with any plea offer
at that time, he said he wrote a memo to his superiors on June 5, 2001 stating
that Luster was willing to plead guilty to two counts of rape.
"They asked me to put something in writing, which I did," said
Blair who is now a court commissioner in San Diego.
Bamieh, a veteran prosecutor, was brought in to impeach Blair's credibility
and the District Attorney's Office claim that they never offered Luster a
plea-bargain offer.
Bamieh testified on the policies and procedures of the district
attorney during the time Michael Bradbury was the county's chief prosecutor.
Bamieh testified that there
was no way a memo would have been written until after defense lawyers had
agreed to take a deal and the prosecutor "pitched the deal" to Bradbury who was
sometimes at the "ranch" or out golfing.
Bamieh testified that he was paid a $5,000 retainer fee by the
defense for his agreement to testify as an expert. He said he did more than
eight hours of legal work at $350 an
hour.
As he left the courtroom after his testimony, I asked him: "Hey
Ron, how much did you get in total?"
"Lots of money, just do math," he replied and walked out.
Attorney
Richard Sherman and Investigator Bill Pavelic Were Also Getting "Lots of Money."
Luster testified that he paid Attorney Richard Sherman, who he
said charmed and bamboozled him, $5,000 a month, and he paid Pavelic $15,000 a
month.
Sherman who is dead told Luster that the prosecutors who he called
the "evil minions" and Judge Ken Riley were running a rigged game in the
courtroom and convinced him go to Mexico with Patrick Campbell who could help
him hatch a plan, Luster testified.
Luster said he first met Campbell who, Luster testified, was
dressed all in black at Sherman's house. Campbell told him that he was a mercenary,
running guns and helped over throw some countries and talked about diamonds in
Sri Lanka.
(Yeah, and, I am a Walrus)
Anyway, Campbell, still
dressed in all black, took Luster into a bedroom and had him strip down to his
underwear to see if he was wearing a wire.
Campbell told him about how he could help him flee to Mexico for
$200,000 and a small fee of this (I would assume a finder's fee) would go to
Sherman who often employed Campbell.
Also Campbell said he needed an additional $80,000 for an East
Coast buddy but promised Luster that he would get this fee back, Luster
testified.
Luster went to Mexico and never saw a dime of the $80,000, and
defense lawyers say that Campbell is nowhere to be found.
Back on
the Planet Earth
Former season prosecutor Bill Haney recently joined criminal
attorney Philip Dunn's law firm as a full-fledged partner.
Dunn who had a wide grin when I bumped into him in the courthouse
said he was very happy to hire Haney. He said there was a lot of work to do at
his office, and Haney with all his experience would be a good fit.
Newly
Appointed Judge to be Sworn into Office on Friday
Former prosecutor Gilbert Romero will be sworn into office at 4:00
p.m. on Friday in Courtroom 22 at the Hall of Justice in Ventura.
The oath office will be administered by Judge Patricia Murphy.