Galanter’s Attacker Found Guilty of Murder Attempt

Mark Allen Olds was convicted today of trying to murder Los Angeles City Councilwoman Ruth Galanter by stabbing her in the neck during a pre-dawn burglary of her Venice home.

But Olds, 28, was acquitted by a Los Angeles Superior Court jury of the more serious charge of having premeditated the May 6 attack. He faces a maximum 12 or 13 years in prison.

Dr. Daniel Dolensky, 37, the jury foreman and a Bellflower pediatrician, said the six-man, six-woman panel determined that there simply was not enough evidence to convict Olds of premeditating the attack.

Galanter, 46, was running a strenuous campaign against then-Council President Pat Russell when the assault occurred and was still hospitalized a month later when voters elected her to the City Council. The attack left her with a permanently hoarse voice and damage to some neck and throat muscles.

Galanter took the stand during the five days of testimony in Olds’ trial and told of the horror of being awakened about 5 a.m. by an intruder who held her down on her bed and began stabbing her.

She said the attacker twice drove a knife into her neck while she struggled to reach a burglar alarm and, after setting if off, began screaming. Deputy Dist. Atty. Dale A. Davidson called the attack premeditated and asked the jury to find Olds guilty of first-degree attempted murder. That verdict would have carried a sentence of life in prison.

But Olds testified that he never intended to kill Galanter and entered her home simply to steal. He said he panicked when she awoke and began screaming. Olds said he had been taking drugs in the hours before the burglary and stabbed her to make her stop screaming.

Olds is scheduled for sentencing Dec. 14 by Superior Court Judge Raymond D. Mireles.