LAWYER: D.A. HAS CONFLICT ARMENIAN IMMIGRANT TO BE RETRIED IN DIPLOMAT'S SLAYING.Byline: Helen Gao Staff Writer GLENDALE - Claiming a potential conflict of interest, the attorney for an Armenian immigrant convicted of murdering a Turkish diplomat in 1982 is seeking to disqualify To deprive of eligibility or render unfit; to disable or incapacitate. To be disqualified is to be stripped of legal capacity. A wife would be disqualified as a juror in her husband's trial for murder due to the nature of their relationship. the District Attorney's Office from prosecuting his client during an upcoming retrial retrial n. a new trial granted upon the motion of the losing party, based on obvious error, bias or newly-discovered evidence. (See: newly-discovered evidence) . In a brief hearing Wednesday, defense attorney Mark Geragos Mark John Geragos (born October 5 1957) is an American criminal defense attorney best known for defending pop-star Michael Jackson, actress Winona Ryder, Gary Condit, and Susan McDougal, who was involved in the Whitewater scandal. said he intends to call the deputy district attorney who initially prosecuted Harry M. Sassounian as a witness in the retrial. Other witnesses will include a police investigator and the investigator's brother. All three, Geragos said, testified in a 1993 appellate court A court having jurisdiction to review decisions of a trial-level or other lower court. An unsuccessful party in a lawsuit must file an appeal with an appellate court in order to have the decision reviewed. hearing that jailhouse informants had lied in their testimony linking Sassounian to the murder. ``There are significant issues. This is not just a retrial,'' said Geragos, whose father, Paul, represented Sassounian in the original trial in the early 1980s. ``I have to get over the hurdle of who is going to be prosecutor first.'' In a phone interview after the hearing, Geragos said he also believes that Lael Rubin, who prosecuted the Sassounian case and is now a special counsel with the District Attorney's Office, may have been improperly involved in the decision to retry re·try tr.v. re·tried , re·try·ing, re·tries To try again. Verb 1. retry - hear or try a court case anew rehear the case. Geragos has asked the District Attorney's Office to turn over internal memos and documents related to the decision-making process. He wants the state Attorney General's Office to decide whether the case should be retried re·tried v. Past tense and past participle of retry. . An appellate court ruled last year that juror juror n. any person who actually serves on a jury. Lists of potential jurors are chosen from various sources such as registered voters, automobile registration or telephone directories. misconduct during the original trial nullified nul·li·fy tr.v. nul·li·fied, nul·li·fy·ing, nul·li·fies 1. To make null; invalidate. 2. To counteract the force or effectiveness of. Sassounian's conviction on the special circumstance that he killed Turkish Consul General consul general n. pl. consuls general Abbr. CG A consul of the highest rank serving at a principal location and usually responsible for other consular offices within a country. Kemal Arikan because of his nationality. District Attorney Steve Cooley announced Sept. 28 that Sassounian, now 38, would be retried on special-circumstance allegations of lying in wait and killing because of nationality. The murder conviction itself is not at issue. If the special-circumstance allegations were not retried, Sassounian would be eligible for a parole hearing. Sassounian supporters have decried the timing of the retrial as suspect - coming in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. In a news release announcing the retrial, Cooley described Arikan's slaying as an act of terrorism. Arikan was fatally shot Jan. 28, 1982, when he stopped at a red light at Wilshire Boulevard and Comstock Avenue. During his murder trial, a jailhouse informant testified that Sassounian told him he had acted out of revenge for the 1915 Armenian Genocide, which the Turkish government still has not acknowledged. Deputy District Attorney Greg Dohi denied that there was any political opportunism Opportunism Arabella, Lady squire’s wife matchmakes with money in mind. [Br. Lit.: Doctor Thorne] Ashkenazi, Simcha shrewdly and unscrupulously becomes merchant prince. [Yiddish Lit. involved in the decision to retry. ``We were looking into the matter of retrying this case long before Sept. 11,'' said Dohi, who dismissed Geragos' attempt to disqualify the District Attorney's Office as a sideshow See Windows SideShow. to distract attention from more important matters. Dohi added that even if Rubin had any role in the decision to retry, it should not matter. ``Mr. Cooley would be reprehensible rep·re·hen·si·ble adj. Deserving rebuke or censure; blameworthy. See Synonyms at blameworthy. [Middle English, from Old French, from Late Latin repreh if he didn't consult with the lawyer who had the most to do with the case - the original trial lawyer.'' Although nearly two decades have passed since Sassounian's conviction, the Armenian community continues to be a passionate supporter of the former security guard, insisting he did not commit the murder and that his trial was unfair. ``I think it would be difficult for (Sassounian) to get a fair trial under the circumstances,'' said Varsenig Der Megerdichian, a member of the Sassounian Defense Committee, which raises money for his legal fees. When Sassounian walked into the courtroom dressed in a blue jumpsuit with a mustache and neatly combed hair, he waved to spectators. His sister-in-law, Angela Sassounian, said the defendant continues to be an inspiration to her and the Armenian community. ``He is a very good person. He has a very wonderful spirit about him,'' she said. ``When we are down, he always tries to cheer us up. ``He has not fallen victim to the prison system. He has not gone to drugs or violent ways. He has become a very exemplary inmate.'' Geragos is convinced that not only is the retrial politically motivated, but that his client is innocent. ``I firmly believe in my heart of hearts that Harry is innocent,'' Geragos said. ``It's what makes me so angry in this case - the idea of keeping him in prison one day longer when they know he is innocent.'' |
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