A CLOSER LOOK -- A trying time in court

Deepa Bharath

NEWPORT-MESA -- In the world of attorneys, plaintiffs and defendants,

the phrase “lengthy legal process” is as commonplace and as prevalent as

turkey on Thanksgiving Day.

Civil and criminal trials take their own course and their length of

time depends on several factors -- the defense, case investigation,

discovery, the complexity of the case and something as basic as

attorneys’ schedules.

A seemingly simple misdemeanor case like the one brought by the

district attorney against Newport Beach’s bad boy, Dennis Rodman, for

noise code violation dragged on for five months without as much as a

plea.

On the other hand, a much more serious and complex case -- the murder

trial involving Steven Allen Abrams, who killed two Costa Mesa children

by driving his car through their preschool playground -- was resolved in

about a year and a half after the incident happened.

Abrams was charged with the murders in May 1999. The trial crossed

three phases and ended in September 2000 as the jury declared him guilty,

sane when he committed the crimes and handed him a penalty of life in

prison without the possibility of parole.

Also seemingly expedited was another murder case involving Eric

Bechler, the father of three from Newport Heights who was found guilty of

bludgeoning to death his millionaire wife, Pegye Bechler, during a

boating trip off the coast of Newport Beach four years ago.

Pegye Bechler’s body was never found. But that did not stop a jury

from finding him guilty of the crime in about a year after he was

arrested. It took the police about two years to gather necessary evidence

to arrest Bechler, but the legal process was a lot shorter. The case is

in the appeal process now.

But not all cases move fast and they probably should not, said Newport

Beach attorney Ron Cordova, who is defending Costa Mesa City Councilman

Chris Steel in his pending perjury case.

The Orange County district attorney filed two felony charges against

Steel stating that he allowed resident Richard Noack to sign election

nomination papers for his wife during the 2000 election, and also

permitted himself to sign for Alice Billioux, a legally blind woman,

during the 1998 election.

Prosecutors allege Steel committed perjury by certifying all

signatures as genuine when he knew they were not exactly signed by the

people who nominated him.

Those charges were filed more than five months ago, but the case has

taken several complex and unexpected turns.

A Superior Court Judge in July threw out a civil lawsuit brought

against Steel by Costa Mesa resident Michael Szkaradek based on charges

similar to those filed by the district attorney.

On Nov. 30, Cordova will make a motion to dismiss one of the felony

charges based on the civil suit ruling.

Cordova said if Judge Carla Singer, who will hear that motion, denies

it, then he will most likely appeal that decision and ask that the

criminal trial be postponed until a decision is made on the appeal.

“In this case, it is almost necessary because if the motion is denied

and the appellate court upholds it, that puts the trial in a whole new

place,” he said. “We may not even need a trial.”

Delays are just part of the system

While delay in trials may work in favor of the defense, that may not

necessarily be the case on the other end, said Newport Beach Police Sgt.

Steve Shulman.

“It could especially affect criminal cases adversely where civilian

witnesses may become unavailable as the case drags on,” he said.

But police officers are used to delays in the legal process, said

Shulman.

“It’s not swift justice [for the victim],” he said. “But we’re so used

to the delays that we’re neither surprised by it or frustrated by it.”

But it is likely that the community will get frustrated when they see

a case they are following get delayed, Shulman said.

In his experience, Shulman said some cases that take a lot of time

include those involving murder and narcotics trials.

“On the other hand, even a case not as significant could go on for

more than a year,” he said.

In the recently concluded, and high-profile, Rodman case, it took the

former NBA star more than five months to enter a guilty plea on three

misdemeanor noise violation charges.

The delay was warranted in the case because the defense wanted to look

at discovery, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Mike Fell, who prosecuted that

case.

“It is very common for criminal cases to go on for this long,” he

said.

And then there are the cases that have the tarp over them for one

reason or the other, even as they slowly chug through the court system.

One such example would be the homicide case of Miroslav Maric, a

49-year-old Newport Beach resident shot outside a fast food restaurant in

Costa Mesa in May.

Ramadan Dokovic, the man accused of committing the crime, has pleaded

not guilty and is awaiting trial, but the case has not even crossed the

preliminary hearing stage. Officials have released very little

information about that case because of the sensitive nature of the

investigation, they say.

Sometimes delays are for the better

Often, delays adversely affect the prosecution, said Orange County

Asst. District Atty. Douglas Woodsmall.

“As a general rule, it benefits us when a case gets to trial sooner,”

he said. “But we also have to be careful about it because sometimes the

defense says they haven’t had the time to go through all the information

and sometimes, that becomes an issue when the case is appealed.”

The court usually does not hurry a plea from the defendant, Woodsmall

said.

“The court might make exceptions in cases involving child witnesses or

where victims are children,” he said. “But in most cases, there is no

legal limitation.”

The defendant can hold off on a plea even indefinitely, although that

is very rare, Woodsmall said. That is true even in DUI cases, he said.

On the flip side, the defendant also has the right to have a trial

within 60 days of entering his or her plea.

“The defense attorneys will jump on it if they get a sense that the

prosecution can’t contact certain witnesses,” he said. It all boils down

to tactics, Woodsmall said.

* Deepa Bharath covers public safety and courts. She may be reached at

(949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at o7 deepa.bharath@latimes.comf7 .