SAN FERNANDO : Defense Attorney Ordered to Face Trial

Attorney Leonard R. Milstein was ordered to stand trial for perjury and obstruction of justice Thursday after a man testified that the defense lawyer paid him to give false evidence in a death penalty case.

Arraignment for Milstein, 50, who now lives in San Luis Obispo, was set for Feb. 23. If convicted, prosecutors said the maximum penalty Milstein faces in five years in prison.

Milstein, formerly of Woodland Hills, has maintained his innocence since he was indicted in 1991 and rejected an offer of probation in return for a guilty plea, according to his lawyer, Michael M. Crain. Milstein is free on his own recognizance.

The case rests on the word of an admitted thief and liar, Crain said.

The ruling came at a hearing this week at which Albert Gutierrez, a convicted felon who is on probation, testified that he was coached by Milstein to perjure himself and told to fabricate information in the 1989 murder case of Brad Milward, a client of Milstein’s, who was accused of a double murder in the Antelope Valley. Gutierrez said he was approached while he served a brief sentence in the Los Angeles County Jail.

Milward had faced the death penalty for the execution-style killing of two men in Palmdale in 1987. A prosecution witness testified he was driving in Palmdale when he saw Milward commit the crime.

Gutierrez, who owned an auto shop, said in testimony this week that he testified falsely in the Milward case that he repaired the car of the witness and found ammunition consistent with that used in the murders.

Prosecutors said Gutierrez’s testimony pointed to the witness as the killer and raised doubts about his testimony. “Mr. Gutierrez went out and manufactured (repair) invoices. . . . He dummied them so that the testimony would be consistent,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Bob Foltz.

“The bottom line was that if I could help (Milstein) out with the case, he would help me with my case. . . . Basically he told me what to say,” Gutierrez testified.

Milstein’s payment was representing Gutierrez in another case, Gutierrez testified this week.

But Milstein discontinued his services after Gutierrez perjured himself, Gutierrez said.

Prosecutors alleged that Gutierrez’s testimony led to Milward’s acquittal of one slaying and mistrial in the other. Ultimately, he pleaded guilty to one murder and is serving an eight-year sentence.