COST OF NIEVES MURDER TRIAL IS EXPECTED TO TOP $850,000.

Byline: Holly Edwards Staff Writer

SAN FERNANDO - At hourly rates of $100 to $500, expert witnesses testifying for and against Sandi Nieves will be paid more than $150,000 before the end of her quadruple-murder trial, officials say.

Those fees, coupled with the $9,459-a-day cost of operating a criminal courtroom, have driven the trial's price tag to nearly $850,000, experts say. And it's not over yet.

Both prosecution and defense attorneys have pointed accusing fingers at the other side's motives in calling high-dollar witnesses to the stand.

Nieves, 36, is charged with murdering her four daughters on June 30, 1998, by gathering them in the kitchen for a slumber party, sealing the doors and windows and setting her house on fire.

According to court documents, 10 expert witnesses for the District Attorney's Office will be paid a total of about $100,000. Public Defender's Office officials said that six of their expert witnesses will be paid about $50,000.

County tax dollars are used to pay for the expert witnesses as well as the court's daily operating costs, which include salaries for the judge, deputy district attorneys, bailiff, court reporter and court clerk.

While attorneys on both sides have raised the issue in the courtroom of fees paid to the other side's expert witnesses, both prosecutors and defense attorneys were reluctant to discuss the issue outside the courtroom.

``I really don't think expert witness fees are what this case is about,'' Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman said. ``The case is about four little girls who are dead.''

Silverman added she had ``no idea'' how much expert witnesses for the prosecution would ultimately cost.

Assistant Public Defender Robert Kalunian said the identities of expert witnesses for the defense are confidential in this case because the defendant could be facing the death penalty if she is convicted.

``Even the fact that the defense has appointed an expert is confidential until they testify,'' Kalunian said.

The defense's key expert witness in the trial has been Dr. Philip Ney, who testified that Nieves was in a sleepwalking-like state when the fire occurred. Nieves' blackout and subsequent memory loss were the result of an epileptic seizure, childhood head trauma inflicted by her mother, post- abortion depression and a potentially toxic combination of diet and antidepressant drugs, Ney said.

Ney testified that he would be paid $6,000 for his testimony and about $3,000 for research.

Robert Sadoff, a forensic psychiatrist and one of the highest-paid expert witnesses for the prosecution, was paid $500 per hour to testify that Nieves's actions the night of the fire were deliberate. Though Sadoff estimated he would invest about 53 hours testifying and performing research, which would amount to over $26,000, his total fees were capped at $20,000, according to court records.

As the trial heads into what is expected to be the final week of testimony, attorneys on both sides are calling a number of last-minute expert witnesses whose fees have not yet been calculated.

Meanwhile, the trial is taking a heavy emotional toll on Nieves, who was under a suicide watch recently during the second anniversary of the fire, Waco said.

Her lower arms are bandaged where she has been scratching herself to relieve stress, he said.

``She is emotionally affected by the trial, and it's showing up in various ways,'' Waco said. ``But the stakes are very high.''