November 25, 2005

Fontana murder trial dealt sixth delay

Officials question judicial system

By Kymberli W. Brady
Staff Writer

All hopes for the long-awaited Dec. 7 start of the Jeffrey Fontana murder trial were once again shattered with a judge’s ruling on Friday, leaving city and police department officials to question the efficacy of the county judicial system.

The ruling comes just two weeks after a fourth candlelight vigil for officer Jeffrey Fontana (below) brought hundreds of supporters to the Almaden park that now bears his name and two weeks before the long awaited start of a capitol murder trial against his alleged killer, DeShawn Campbell.

City officials and community members admit that the decision is a surprise, especially after Judge Kevin Murphy’s Oct. 21 ruling denying defense attorney Ed Souza’s request for another continuance. The Judge then set a trial date for Dec. 7.

On Nov. 16, Souza requested a meeting and two days later, walked out of the courtroom with a five-month reprieve.

“It’s almost an outrage,” said Chamber of Commerce president and CEO, Pat Dando. “We have men and women who patrol our cities and put their own lives on the line and when a tragedy like this happens, it’s hard to understand why you can’t come to trial so that justice can be done and people can get on with their lives.”

His argument on Friday resulted in a judicial about face, the details of which today remain somewhat of a mystery—even to Deputy District Attorney Lane Lieroff, who was ordered to leave the proceedings under what he referred to as “Hidden Camera” [with a judge alone] “Ex Parte” [only one side].

“I literally don’t know what the claim was,” Lieroff said “Because they got to hold the proceeding without me there. I was in court, but when it came time for him to make his presentation as to why he wasn’t ready, I had to leave. So did everyone else, except for the lawyer and the defendant.”

Lieroff said the request is only allowed in certain limited instances and this was one of them, although he didn’t explain why. After all was said and done, Judge Murphy, he said, decided—based upon this discussion with the defendant’s attorney—to allow the case to be continued.

“I did oppose it otherwise,” Lieroff added. “I told him [Judge Murphy], ‘don’t do this.’ He expressed that he was very unhappy with their lack of preparation at this point, but otherwise felt that he could not allow this case to precede to trial.”

According to sources at the Hall of Justice, Judge Kevin Murphy is on vacation until Dec. 5 and could not be reached for comment.

“I don’t know what Souza said to get granted another three months again,” questioned Sandy Fontana. “On Oct. 21, he did the same thing and Judge Murphy said, ‘no—enough is enough. We’re going to trial.’ This is absolutely unacceptable. Why isn’t this guy ready? He’s had this case for 21 months, plus, he has everything the public defender did before that.”

“This is so pathetic,” stated District 10 City Councilmember Nancy Pyle. “When the defense attorney said he didn’t have time to prepare, that says to me he completely ignored the original time frame. And it sounds as though the judge is saying it’s okay that you’ve been incompetent in handling your time. It looks now like the victim gets penalized because the judge allowed the defense more time without reason.”

“It’s a huge disappointment to the investigators in the homicide unit, as well as the rest of the staff,” stated Police Chief Rob Davis. “There have been so many delays in this case that we’re basically … it was everyone’s understanding that this thing was finally going to be starting in December. And it’s taking its toll on the family that has been waiting over four years.

“Four years is more than enough time to prepare a defense and for the criminal justice system to do what it needs to do. To push this back another three months almost adds insult to injury. They need to get some closure on this and it’s not happening.”

Davis kept referring to the word “tragic,” in reference to the event that took Fontana’s life, but also in regard to the more than four years that has passed without a trial beginning.

“Jeff’s family deserves for this case to be heard in court,” Davis said. “The rank and file of our department deserve for this case to be heard in court. Justice commands that this case be heard in court. To take more than four years to begin this process is an inordinate amount of time. It’s a huge disappointment.”

The news isn’t sitting well with police officers either.

Davis however, remains steadfast in defending the resolve of the force, in spite of continued disappointment.
“I think this makes the job of being in law enforcement tougher,” added Vice Mayor Cindy Chavez. “We tend to think about the impact a shooting has on the officer’s family. It not only affects them, but the entire police force—or anyone in uniform for that matter. I think his [police academy] classmates in particular are really suffering.”

“The department can be feeling some huge mental frustration over this case,” Davis admits. “But the officers here are extremely professional and they’re not going to let their frustration carry over and affect the work they’re doing in the field.”

With the post of District Attorney up for grabs next year, many feel that the Fontana trial may have fallen victim to the political process—it’s the right case at the right time for an ambitious prosecutor with political aspirations.
“It doesn’t seem so much politically motivated as our legal system has become so out of balance that in many cases, it weighs more on the side of the defendant than of the victims,” said Dando.

Others, like the Fontana family are following the paper trails.

Although Souza was hired last February to defend Campbell in the capital murder trial, much of his time, according to Tony and Sandy Fontana, has instead been spent trying to get four prior convictions overturned. He recently filed a Writ of Habeas Corpus in an effort to attack the legality of the convictions.

But even if successful, Campbell would still fall under the three strikes law if found guilty—leaving little left but the more traditional use for the document—to secure Campbell’s release from “illegal” incarceration.

“The last time he asked for a delay, he said he was spending a lot of time working on the previous case and trying to get it overturned,” said Sandy. “What I want to know is if he was hired to defend Campbell in a murder case, then he’s using that time and money to work on a previous case, which doesn’t seem right to me. The residents of Santa Clara County should be up in arms over this. They’re paying this guy because he’s not a public defender and he’s racking up a bunch of billable hours.”

“It makes my heart sick to think that this family is going to have to deal with this for another six months,” added Dando. “It’s one thing to lose your son to such a heinous crime. Now, the system he died protecting is leaving his family hanging. It’s ironic that sometimes our democratic process gets in the way of justice.”
F
or Tony Fontana, it’s all about the math.

“All I know is look at that little girl who was killed in Florida,” he said. “Two years and he’s already convicted.”