Prosecutor Withheld Evidence, Judge Says

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge said Thursday he will instruct jurors that a prosecutor of two men accused of killing a West Hills couple in 1998 concealed important evidence during their continuing trial.

The four-month trial was abruptly halted earlier this week after Judge Terry A. Green was informed that notes from an interview with a key prosecution witness had been rewritten by a law clerk at the direction of Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael Duarte.

The revised notes, rather than the original ones, were given to defense attorneys before they cross-examined the witness. The problem came to light Monday after Jennifer Blair, a law clerk for the district attorney’s office, informed her supervisor, Pat Dixon, that she had been asked to rewrite the notes.

The jurors, who court officials said are angry over the delay in the trial, are scheduled to return on Monday for closing arguments.

Green told the attorneys that he will inform the jurors that both the prosecution and defense attorneys are required by law to disclose all of their evidence. He will then inform them that Duarte violated that court rule and concealed evidence and that jurors may “consider” that during their deliberations.

Attorneys for Kenneth Leighton, 37, and Randall Williams, 36, argued that the instructions needed to be more specific, and that jurors should be told how the misconduct was revealed. They said that if Blair had not come forward, the court would never have known about the revised notes.

Green also ruled Thursday that jurors should ignore portions of the testimony of Mark Jablanski, the witness whose original interview notes were not provided to the defense. Jablanski testified during the trial that Leighton had bragged about the contract killing of Jamie Navaroli and April Mahoney, both of whom were supposed to testify against Leighton in a separate burglary case.

The wording of the original notes was more detailed and contained statements that could have helped the defense rebut Jablanski’s court testimony, the judge said this week.

Outside the courtroom, Leighton’s family expressed anger at the turn of events.

“I don’t feel with the statements and evidence tainted that he can get a fair trial without the jury being fully informed of the prosecutor’s conduct,” said Pam Fields, Leighton’s sister. “My feeling is if Duarte did this with Jablanski, then with how many others did he do this?”

Duarte is expected to face contempt charges at a later date.