News Scrapbook 1985

San Diego, CA (San Diego Co.) Evening Tribune (Cir. 0 . 127,454)

SEP 25 1985

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e ~ ecock's silence: a 'dramatic gamble' s By Anne Krueger and Joe Hughes Tribune Staff Writers

Todd warned Goodman out of the pres- ence of the jury not to suggest in hi closmg argument that he alone made the decision not to put Hedgecock on the witness stand. "It opens a Pandora's box, Todd said, also warning Wickersham not to make an issue that Hedgecock did not testify in his defense. Hedgecock is charged with one count of conspiracy, 14 counts of perjury and a mis- demeanor conflict-of-interest charge. Most of the charges involve allegations that money from J, David & Co. officers J. David Dominelli and Nancy Hoover was illegally funneled into Hedgecock's campaign through a political consulting firm operated by Tom Shepard. Hedgecock is facing trial agam on the charges after his fi t trial ended Feb. 13 Please see TRIAL, A 2

Jurors showed no reaction, but Wickers- ham said later that he was surprised by the decision. Goodman was taking a gamble in not pre- senting a defense, Wickersham said. "He's damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. He's flipped a coin and decided not to." Jurors were told to return Wednesday for closing arguments in the case. Court is re- cessed today for the Jewish holiday of Yorn Kippur, and attorneys will return to court Thursday to continue preparing legal in- struct10ns to be read to the jury. No court is being held Monday and Tuesday because Superior Court Judge William L. Todd Jr. will be attending a meeting of the Califor- nia Judges Association. Jurors will be told in jury instructions not to consider why Hedgecock did not testify in his own defense.

The decision by Mayor Hedgecock's attor- ney, Oscar Goodman, not to put on a defense in Hedgecock's conspiracy and perjury trial ha stunned San Diego - surprising the pro- secutor in the case, City Hall employees and legal experts following the publicized trial. Attorneys called Goodman's move a "dra- matic gamble," and yesterday Hedgecock's trial was once again the talk of City Hall. Goodman announced that Hedgecock would present no defense witnesses follow- ing a IO-minute private conference with Hedgecock after Deputy District Attorney Charles Wickersham rested his case at 11:30 a m. yesterday. If it please the court, ladie· and gentle- men of the jury, Mayor HedgP.Cock rests," Goodman said.

Tribune photo by Scott Linnell

Roger Ht-dgccock od wife, Cindy, out ide court

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San Diego, Wednesday, eptember 25, 198,'i

being subjected to intense public scrutiny. "It's strategically brilliant," said attorney Eugene Iredale, a friend of Michael Pancer, Hedgecock's attor- ney in his first trial. "He's telling the jury to focus on the sole obligation of law· Did the prosecution prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt?" In his first trial, Hedgecock testi- fied in his own defense for more than seven hours spread over three days. His testimony was the centerpiece of a defense case by Pancer that pre- sented 30 witnesses. Several of the 11 jurors who voted to convict Hedgecock said after the trial that they didn 't believe Hedgecock, and some said they didn't

defense attorney and could have a psychological impact on the jury. "It's a gamble because jurors usu- ally want to see and hear the defense on the stand," Simmons said. "The great risk is that they will be frus- trated and may be inclined to convic- tion by not being given a chance lo hear the defense testify." • Arthur W. Campbell, a professor at California Western School of Law, said, '·In my experience, the only two times you rest the defense without calling any witnesses if when you ei- ther have a terrific case or an abomi- nable one. I can't think of a major political trial in which the defense rested without calling witnesses. "In a political trial, the urge is al-

most irrestible for a political trying to get a not•guilty verdict, trying to save bis political career, to take the stand," Campbell said. Other attorneys pointed out that 10 the celebrated trials of John De- Lorean, charged with buying cocaine to save bis automobile empire, and socialite Klaus Von Bulow, charged with attempting to kill his wife, both defe.1dants were acquitted even though they decided not to testify. "It's a grand stroke by a grand master," said attorney John Cleary, formerly of Federal Defenders Inc. He said the strategy backfires in some cases, but seems particularly effective in high-visibility cases where Jurors are aware they are

decide Hedgecock was guilty of the charges against him until hearing his testimony. The defense in the first trial also included testimony from an accoun- tant, who contradicted testimony by an accountant for the prosecution who testified that Shepard's consult- ing firm was losing money by work- ing on Hedgecock's campaign. Goodman said he felt that testimo- ny about Shepard's business practic- es were brought in through the testi- mony of prosecution witness Robert Meadow, a former partner in Shep- ard's firm who was named as an un- indicted co-conspirator in the indict- ment charging Hedgecock, Dominel- li, Hoover and Shepard.

In City Hall, where attention lately has focused on the credit card nd- ing habits of Councilman Uvaldo Martinez, talk switched to the sudden realization that a decision on Hedgecock's fate may come much sooner than expected. If convicted of any of the felony charge against him, Hedgecock would be removed from office. Attorneys following Hedgecock's case agreed that Goodman was tak- ing a risk in deciding not to present a defense. Calling Goodman's decision a "dramatic gamble," University_of an · law professorRobert Slrfi- mons sa d presenting no defense in a case expresse · great confidence by a

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Goodm n 1d y terday that he d 1ded not to pr ent defe. e wit- n bccau h felt th pro ccu- t100 had not proved its ca e against II dg ock. ·•A nd ca tic ha been built here but it will crumble when• the jury goc in to d liberate," Goodman told reporter. "I had no alternative but to take th p 1llon. It' very clear to 1 that the pro ecution ha not met its burden of proof beyond a reason• ·1bl doubt.' The prose utor calkd Goodman's man uver JU t prop ganda for the hallwa ." Wick r ham aid he wa confident the pro ecutwn had fully pr ent Its ca ga1nst H "ec0Ck Goodman aid Hedgecock had wanted to te tify in his defen. e, but was convmc d by Goodman that his t timony wa not needed. Goodman had also ought to have District At- torn y Ed Miller a a defen wit- n , but aid h decided the testimo- ny by Miller or other witnes ·es wa nt worth puttmg on a defense cas' •It's not worth 1t unless you have a witness who's able to turn the tide, and the way I perceive the case the tid I all in our favor" Goodman said. Hedgecock said he derided not to te t1fy m h · defe after prosecu- tor yest rday presented a reading of March 1984 intervie\l Hedgecock had with rnvestigators for the state Fair Political Practices Commission Hedg ock aid he behe~ed the in- terview, conducted durtng the begin• nsng of an inve ligation into Hedgecock's personal and campaign finances, presented many of his • vi ws of the charges agam t him. ''I felt what's the reason for put• ting on a defen e, on getttng on the stand . You're Just wasting people's time," Hedgecock told reporters. "The evidence is there. The prosecu- tion ha· put on its best case, suppos- edly. As far as rm concerned, it's a ca e that support: my defense of th matters."

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San Diego, CA (San Diego C~.l Son Diego Union lCir. D. 217,324} (Cir. s. 339,7881

S£P 261985

Los Angeles, CA (Los Angeles Co) Times (San Diego Ed .) (Cir. D 50,010) (Cir. S 55,573) SEP 2 7 ?985

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1'1i~~ion San Diego may get OK Officials fo~ Mission San Diego de by asking the city for a ruling. from archeologists who said the new Alcala started the clock ticking yes- building would be constructed atop Although the city's Historical...§!tes h t Id be th rd f C I' terday for what could beco,me th_!:_~u- Board disapproved the project yes• w a_ ~u. e graveya o . a 1, tomatic approval to !lillld over an ar- terday, that doesn't kill the applica- forma s first converts and pnests. cbeological dl&,_ Critics also have said that, despite After months of conflict with the lion. Acco rdin g to sta te law, th e city years of archeological work by Uni- city over permission to bwld a multi- loses its junsdiction over lhe matter versity of San Diego researchers.no in 360 days, and the diocese then · 1r purpose center on the historic mis- would receive automatic approval report has been written te mg sion property, the Roman Catholic whether many more artifacts remain diocese brought the issue, to a head The project has raised objections at the mission, founded in 1769 by I ,,,

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CHAMBER MUSIC SET BY LAJQLLA SOCIETY I l_p _) . ' By KENNETHHERMAN S AN DIEGO-Amusic festival presented by the La Jolla Chamber Music Society that is to run Aug. 1- 10 was announced We9nesday m6rning by Executive Director Geoffrey Brooks. Under the direction of Heiichiro Ohyama, principal violist of the LQs~Pl:iilharmonic, the inaugural season of CneSan Diego Chamber Music Festival will mix a roster of international instrumentalists with performers from the local music commtln1ty. "We have all found this past summer a little on the quiet side in terms of classical music," Brooks said. • From 1982 through 1984, the La Jolla Chamber Music Society sponsored a sum- SAN mer residency of the famed Santa Fe DIEGO Chamber Music Festival. This year, COUNTY Brooks said, negotiations with the Santa Fe organization broke down over the cost of importing the festival. "The advantage of presenting our own festival ," Ohyama said at Wednesday's press conference, "is that .we will have complete control over the quality and selection of the music as well as the scheduling of dates." According to Brooks, one of'Jhe problems With the Santa Fe festival here was the concentration or tao_, many concerts in too short a time. This first season of the San Diego festival will spread eight concerts over two weekends, half of them in the La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art's Sherwood Hall.· The rest will be at LhL C:ast County Performing Arts Center in El Cajon, the University of San Die.so's lmmaculata Chapel and two other locatioiis.' - · Violinists Ani Kavafian and Gyorgy Pauk, cellist Ralph Kirshbaum, pianist Jeffrey Kahane and clari - netist David Schifrin will be among the artists-in -resi - dence in the opening season. Cellist Margaret Moores of the Los Angeles Chamber Qrc!l,estra will coordinate the two concerts featuring lociir musi cians. The society has budgeted $100,000 for the festival, and Brooks promised to keep the individual tickets in 1 the $8-$15 range, with discounts for senior citizens. /

to build over archeology site Father J unipero Serra.

tion without those documents. "We'd still like to satisfy their re- quirement:! if we can do it at a rea- sonable cost and in a reasonable time," said Donald Worley, attorner ror the diocese. ''I'm still looking for a cheap archeologist." Worley said he's waiting for the city to approve his selection of one

arcbeologist who has quoted him a "reasonable" fee.. If that person is accepted, Worley said, the diocese hopes to have the summary report done in four to five. months. At that point, the diocese would go before the board again; if denied, Worley said he would ask the City Council to overrule the decision.

Last month, the Historical Sites Board said it would not reconsider the permit unless the diocese hired an independent archeologist to sum- marize all available information and subm1tts an amended environmental report. But the board yesterday re- considered and demed the applica-

San Diego, CA (San Diego Co.) Dally Transcript (Cir. D. 7,415)

SEP 26 1985 ,.Jl/f~ri's P C. B

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USD law students wjlt ha e theircnance to ease personally when ~~ilds Satur- day visiting with various groups at the school, where he tRught crimi- nal law from 1978-80 and where from 1977-81 he was director of the law school's Center for Criminal Justice, now headed by Superior Court Judge Richard Huffman. / •••

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