Opinion ID: 2509517
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Prosecution Evidence

Text: From April of 1989 to March 6, 1990, defendant, then 21 to 22 years old, worked for the 31st District Latchkey Project, serving as a teacher's aide at Darby and Chatsworth elementary schools in the San Fernando Valley in Southern California. His behavior as a teacher's aide was inappropriate; he would play with the children as if he were a child, but would get too rough. Defendant was particularly mean to eight-year-old Paul Bailly, a student at Darby Elementary School. On two occasions he tied Paul up with jump ropes. Once Paul asked the school's daycare director to fire defendant. Defendant overheard the request, and said he was going to get [Paul] back. On March 6, 1990, Hal Kuhn, executive director of the Latchkey Project, fired defendant because defendant lacked maturity and played too roughly with the children. Defendant was upset and often talked about getting even.
About 6:30 a.m. on March 23, 1990, Mary Bailly, Paul's mother, dropped him off at Darby Elementary School. At 11:50 a.m., Captain Fred Baugher of the Ventura County Fire Department responded to a fire in the Black Canyon area near Simi Valley and discovered Paul's body in the fire. Paul had been gagged with a cloth gag and duct tape. A set of handcuffs was found at the scene. According to supervising investigator James Allen, the burn pattern on the ground and the condition of the body showed that someone had poured fire accelerant on the corpse and set it on fire. Dr. Frederick Lovell, the Chief Medical Examiner for Ventura County, attributed the cause of death to asphyxiation due to strangling and to aspiration of vomit. In his opinion, the victim had also been forcibly sodomized. The victim was dead before his body was set afire. On March 24 and 25, 1990, Ventura County sheriff's deputies searched defendant's residence. They found, among other items, a pair of keys that fit the handcuffs found near Paul's body, several rolls of duct tape, and several newspapers. The newspapers, which were about two months old, featured an article about a well-publicized child molestation case in which the defendants were acquitted and another case where the victim had been set on fire by his father.
1. During 1988-1989, shortly before the March 1990 murder of Paul Bailly, Daniel Kavalsky worked with defendant at the Fallbrook Theater in the San Fernando Valley. He and defendant disliked each other. On one occasion defendant came up to Kavalsky and started choking him. Another person pulled defendant off Kavalsky. 2. In 1984, when Brian Due was about five or six years old, defendant, who was then 16 or 17 years old, approached Brian with one hand in a glove. Defendant said the glove had a mind of its own and defendant could not control it. Defendant then choked Brian with the glove, but released him when he cried. 3. During the summers of 1988 and 1989, Darren Goodman and defendant were counselors at the Griffith Park Boys Camp. Once, when Goodman was a referee at a hockey game, he penalized defendant for holding his hockey stick too high, an act that endangers other players. Defendant responded by striking Goodman in the shins with the hockey stick. 4. Brian Francis was 12 years old when he attended the Griffith Park Boys Camp during the summer of 1988. On one occasion a basketball accidentally hit defendant. When Brian laughed, defendant became angry and threw the ball at Brian as hard as he could. Defendant then chased Brian and tried to pull him into a cabin. When Brian resisted, defendant pulled Brian into the camp office. One of the camp directors observed the incident and fired defendant.
Dr. Chris Hatcher, a clinical psychologist, was an expert witness for the prosecution. He described the characteristics of persons who commit crimes such as the sodomy and murder of Paul Bailly. Dr. Hatcher testified that persons who commit abductions similar to the abduction in this case are carrying out a fantasy in which children are abducted, bound, and sexually assaulted. Characteristic components of the fantasy include forcible sodomy, strangulation, and disfigurement of the victim's body. Dr. Hatcher did not examine defendant or give an opinion on defendant's mental state. (We describe Dr. Hatcher's testimony further when we discuss issues regarding its admissibility and use. See post, 25 Cal.Rptr.3d at 564-567, 107 P.3d at 237-240 et seq.)