San Diego

Municipal Judge Larry Stirling appeared in court Friday as a witness called by the parents of murder victim Cara Knott in their wrongful death suit against the California Highway Patrol.

Stirling told jurors of his meeting with Joyce and Sam Knott 10 months after their daughter was killed. He discussed their meeting with two top CHP officials while Stirling was in the state Assembly.

Stirling, who had been the chairman of the Public Safety Committee in the Assembly, said the meeting was arranged with CHP officials because of concerns both he and the Knott family had about the supervision of CHP officers.

The Knott family of El Cajon is also suing former CHP officer Craig Peyer, now 40 and formerly of Poway, who was convicted of first-degree murder in 1988 in Cara Knott’s death and is serving a 25-year-to-life sentence.

Stirling, who was appointed last year by the governor to a the Municipal Court seat, said CHP officials promised at that two-hour meeting on Oct. 3, 1987 to “look further into the matter.”

The Knott family has claimed that poor supervision of Peyer led to their daughter’s death because of his habit of ordering female motorists down a darkened Mercy Road exit on Interstate 15 near where Knott’s body was found on Dec. 28, 1986.

All testimony in the lawsuit ended Friday, and attorneys will present closing arguments on Monday.