Opinion ID: 1204963
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Tali S. 1968

Text: Tali S. was eight years of age on September 25, 1968. She testified that while walking to school in Hollywood that morning, a man in an automobile followed her and inquired whether she wanted a ride. Tali told the man her parents did not want her to talk with strangers. The man replied, Oh, I know your parents. He told Tali he would take her to school. A passerby, Donald Haines, testified he observed the conversation between Tali and the man  whom he identified at the penalty phase as defendant  and moments later saw the girl seated in the back of defendant's vehicle. His suspicion aroused, Haines followed the vehicle, observed defendant escort Tali into a house, and then summoned the police. Los Angeles Police Officer Christopher Camacho responded to the call. After the officer knocked on the door of the residence, defendant, in the nude, told him, Wait a minute. I will be right back. When defendant failed to return promptly, Comacho kicked in the front door and saw Tali lying on the floor, apparently dead, in a semi spread eagle position with a bar across her neck.... There was blood between her legs ... blood all over the floor. As he was searching the house, Camacho heard a muffled cough, returned to where Tali's body lay, and discovered that the bar had moved from her neck. He summoned an ambulance, then searched the neighborhood for defendant, who eventually was apprehended and convicted of child molestation. Tali emerged from a coma several weeks after the incident, unable to sit up, and was bedridden for months.