FRIENDS, FAMILY RECALL QUIET, FRIENDLY BUSBOY ARRAIGNMENT PUSHED BACK.

Byline: Orith Goldberg and Jason Kandel Staff Writers

More than 100 people packed the Lorenzen Mortuary in Reseda on Friday evening to remember Jesus Plascencia-Ponce, a quiet, friendly man who was run down in a parking lot by an alleged hate monger.

Earlier Friday, an attorney representing the 35-year-old woman accused of running down the Latino man because of his race had her arraignment delayed to undergo a psychological evaluation.

Marie Elise West of Redondo Beach is accused of repeatedly running over Plascencia-Ponce on Sepulveda Boulevard near Western Bagel in Van Nuys on Sept. 1. Immediately after the incident, West allegedly bought bagels and told shocked witnesses that she hates Latinos.

``His death is so incongruous with his life,'' said Dan Klisch, who knew the 65-year-old busboy from Weiler's Deli in Northridge.

``Once in a while, the anger comes through the grief. . . . It's probably one of the toughest things I have ever had to go through.''

Klisch said Plascencia-Ponce's sister and nephew are very distraught, adding that his two goddaughters, 20-year-old twins Ema and Eva, could not stop crying over his death.

Eva and Ema's mother, Martha Santibanez, 49, of Reseda, said the kindly Plascencia-Ponce had lived with her family for 25 years. She paused for a moment and said she truly missed his presence in her home.

``It's so sad,'' she said. ``I don't think it's fair (the way he died).''

Patricia Calderon, 18, of Mission Hills said she would often see Plascencia-Ponce at her aunt's former restaurant in San Fernando.

He would sit for four to six hours at a time, chatting and sometimes playing poker with Calderon's aunt, 45-year-old Socorro Garcia. The two shared a common birthplace: Jalisco, Mexico.

Calderon said she could not understand how a person could kill him in such a way.

``It's incredible how people could be so stupid,'' she said. ``If (West) was mentally ill, why didn't she take it out on herself? I think that was just an excuse.''

An hour after the Reseda vigil began, members of the Brown Berets, Liberation of Aztlan, stood in front of Western Bagel in Van Nuys, where Plascencia-Ponce was killed. They came to honor his memory and express their dismay over his death.

Brown Beret member Augustine Cebada said he was outraged and saddened by the violent killing.

``On one hand I want to cry, and on the other hand I have rage,'' he said. ``It's very, very sad to me. We feel rage and sadness that things have come to this type of situation in L.A. Why do people have to do such things?'' he asked.

Across the doorway from Cebada sat a wreath with a flowing pink ribbon. The wreath was surrounded by candles in Plascencia-Ponce's memory. A photo of him was displayed inside the store and a donation box placed on his behalf.

A Mass and burial will be held for Plascencia-Ponce today at St. Bridget of Sweden, 7120 Whitaker Ave., Van Nuys. West's Redondo Beach attorney, Carl A. Capozzola, asked Commissioner Michael Duffey on Friday to delay arraignment. It has been postponed until Sept. 22.

West's husband, who was not in court Friday, has said she suffers from a manic-depressive disorder which can cause her to become confrontational. West was convicted on misdemeanor assault charges against two schoolteachers in Hermosa Beach in 1995, said Deputy District Attorney Jacqueline Lacey.

``This is not a simple case,'' said Capozzola, after the court session. Of his client, he said, ``She is completely shocked by the allegations. She cried a lot. She doesn't understand the nature of the charges against her.'' He added that she has been having hallucinations.

On Sept. 22, West is expected to enter a plea on a first-degree murder charge with the special circumstance that she committed the murder because of the victim's race.