NIGHTCLUB MURDER RETURNS TO TRIAL PROSECUTORS WITNESS LIED IN COURT FIRST TIME AROUND.

Byline: KAREN MAESHIRO Staff Writer

LANCASTER -- Jurors began deliberating Tuesday in the second trial of a man accused in a 2002 sniper-style murder after a key prosecution witness admitted he lied during the first trial.

Brian Lewis, 25, testified at the first trial that defendant Zamaad ``Gary'' Zomalt was angry at the Schooner's nightclub because he thought his estranged wife was having an affair with someone connected with the club, but that he didn't see the shooting -- which prosecutors at the first trial said was carried out by a friend.

In the second trial, Lewis testified that Zomalt shot at the nightclub after he and Zomalt were refused entry and had a heated exchange with club employees, one of whom called Zomalt a racial epithet.

Zomalt, 32, has pleaded not guilty to murder and attempted murder in the April 21, 2002, shooting that killed Marshall Garrison, 41, who was night manager and booked entertainment for Schooner's, and wounded three others.

The first trial of Zomalt and former co-defendant Faiz ``Tony'' Munassar ended in March in an acquittal of Munassar and a mistrial for Zomalt. Prosecutors had depicted Munassar as the gunman.

Zomalt's attorney, Deputy Public Defender Fred Gagliardini, said prosecutors for the second trial have changed their explanation of how the killing occurred to fit Lewis' latest version of events, to the point of discrediting the testimony of the first trial's ``star witness.''

That was a woman who was in the parking lot when the shots were fired and described the gunman as a light-skinned Hispanic and 5-foot-3 to 5-foot-5.

Zomalt is African-American and 6-foot-3. Munassar, who is short and Yemenese, fits the witness's description of the gunman, the defense attorney said.

``The purpose of the trial doesn't seem to be the pursuit of truth. If it was the pursuit of truth, why were you permitted to listen to acknowledged and admitted liars?'' Gagliardini asked the Antelope Valley Court jurors Tuesday. ``It is the pursuit of a conviction.''

Lewis also was charged but in March was placed on probation after pleading no contest to being an accessory to the shooting. He was granted immunity from prosecution in exchange for his testimony in the second trial.

Lewis testified at the first trial that he drove Zomalt to the Schooner's parking lot, where prosecutors said Zomalt handed the rifle to Munassar to shoot at the nightclub's front entrance.

Deputy District Attorney Steve Ipsen said in closing arguments Monday that Zomalt confessed to his wife that he did the shooting.

Wife Elisa Carpio testified that Zomalt told her that he ``shot the (expletives)'' and threatened, ``If you are not down with me, I'll kill you and the kids,'' Ipsen said.

``Ladies and gentlemen, that is a confession. That is the thing you should come back to when it gets confusing. You have a confession. That one witness is enough,'' Ipsen said. ``He was the guy with a motive. He was the guy in a run-in with the guy that took a bullet to the head a half-hour later.''

Gagliardini said Lewis was not a credible witness.

``Every time he opens his mouth someone catches him in a lie. Every time he talks, he gets himself in trouble,'' Gagliardini said.

Ipsen said the eyewitness's description of the gunman was flawed because she has 20/60 vision. Ipsen said she was a ``blurry-eyed woman who did her best to describe things.''

Ipsen said the witness did describe the shooter as wearing a ribbed hat, which would resemble the cornrow hairstyle Zomalt wore at the time.

Ipsen said a black and white surveillance video of the club entrance shows Lewis and Zomalt having a problem with security guards over Lewis's baggy pants and later Lewis trying to pull Zomalt, whom Lewis said was out of control, away from the confrontation.

Ipsen said something was said that caught Garrison's attention and brought him into the situation.

``Mr. Zomalt said something to Marshall Garrison. Brian Lewis told us what was said back,'' Ipsen said. ``It was an insult that persisted. When that trigger was pulled, there was an intent to kill.''

Gagliardini said nightclub employees denied anyone said a racial epithet. Two of the nightclub employees who were wounded differed as to whether there was a confrontation the night of the shooting, Gagliardini said.

One remembered having an argument with someone who looked like Zomalt but was not sure it was him and the other didn't recall Zomalt, Gagliardini said.

Except for Lewis, ``no one else identified Zomalt as being there,'' Gagliardini said.

Gagliardini said it was Lewis who had a problem with the bouncers that night when they stopped him at the door and said he wasn't dressed right and told him to lift his shirt up and pull up his pants.

``Who had reason to be mad? It was Brian,'' Gagliardini said. ``Was Brian so mad that he wanted to get out of there and get a gun?''

Zomalt's wife had an affair with Munassar, according to testimony at the first trial, prosecutors said.

karen.maeshiro(at)dailynews.com

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