Opinion ID: 2640086
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Events Preceding the Crime

Text: In 1991, defendant and Sonia began dating. They both worked for the Bank of America (Bank) in its check processing center in downtown Los Angeles. When Sonia became pregnant, she moved into the North Hollywood apartment defendant shared with his mother, Doris. The couple continued living there after their son, Michael, was born in January 1993. In mid-1993, when Michael was about six months old, Sonia became quite ill. She was hospitalized for long periods during which Doris cared for Michael. After Sonia left the hospital, her relationship with defendant soured. She moved with Michael to her family's home in West Hollywood, and brought him to visit Doris at her apartment on weekends. Defendant disliked Sonia's new living arrangements, and feared her family might prevent him from seeing his son. According to Sonia's manager, Martha Dominguez, defendant said he was willing to kill to prevent such interference. Defendant told a coworker, Robert Mora, that he wished that bitch, Sonia, had died in the hospital. Sonia resumed working at the Bank in mid-1994. The evidence suggested defendant was controlling and volatile at times, especially toward women. Dominguez and Mora each described one instance in which they saw or heard about defendant either violently grabbing or verbally abusing his mother. Mora testified that defendant sexually propositioned many women at work. One of them, Wendy Osiow, testified that she complained to superiors about defendant. In testimony echoed by other coworkers, Nicholas Latimer described defendant as a wanna-be cop who carried a police scanner and whose car looked like an unmarked police vehicle. According to Latimer, defendant liked to drive his car to Hollywood and scare street prostitutes into thinking they were being watched by the vice squad. Sometime in fall 1994, defendant began dating codefendant Lee, a married coworker who knew many of the same people as defendant and Sonia. Lee moved into the apartment defendant shared with his mother, Doris, and decided to divorce her husband. Meanwhile, Sonia obtained a court order directing defendant to pay her $375 in monthly child support and requiring the money to be deducted from his wages. To facilitate this process, defendant and Sonia both signed a letter, dated December 1, 1994, asking the Bank to deduct one-half of the amount defendant owed Sonia from each of his two monthly paychecks, and to place the money in her checking account. This arrangement, which the couple's letter referred to as garnishment, took effect immediately. Over the next few months, defendant experienced mounting financial strain. He earned a gross salary of $1,886 a month, or $22,632 a year. After deductions, including child support, his net pay totaled $960 a month. On May 8, 1995, six days before the crime, he had $271 in his checking account and $265 in his savings account. At the same time, defendant owed over $21,000 in consumer debt. In addition, defendant and Lee jointly obtained a Household Finance loan in late 1994. The original balance of $10,000 remained unpaid in May 1995. Defendant resented Sonia as a result of the wage garnishment. One of his supervisors, Lydia Moreno, testified that defendant said he could not pay his bills because of child support payments, that creditors called him at work, and that he was fucked for the next seven years, because he was going to have to file bankruptcy. Osiow overheard defendant say he wished Sonia were dead to avoid giving her half [his] stuff. Defendant told Latimer many times that Sonia was a bitch and a whore because of the money deducted from his paycheck. At some point before February 1995, while confiding in Dana Shafer, one of his managers, defendant asked if the Bank made legal referrals to help answer child custody and support questions. In late March or early April 1995, defendant discussed whether to declare bankruptcy with an attorney, Rene Lopez de Arenosa. Codefendant Lee was present during this meeting. Defendant and Lee were both upset with Sonia about parenting issues. Coworker Deborah Trudeau testified that Lee became agitated when she once saw Sonia with defendant's son, Michael, at work. Both Lee and defendant complained to Trudeau, Osiow, and others that Sonia was impeding visitation with Michael. According to his friend Mora, defendant said, Fuck that bitch. She won't get away with taking my kid. I'll get her one day. Defendant told his manager, Shafer, that Sonia wasn't going to be around to challenge custody. In April 1995, relations further deteriorated between defendant and Lee on the one hand and Sonia and Doris, on the other hand. The events were relayed at trial by supervisors and coworkers (e.g., Dominguez, Moreno, and Trudeau) who learned about them from Sonia, Lee, or defendant. Following an argument, Doris ordered defendant and Lee out of her apartment. They moved to a unit across the hall in the same building. The incident triggered heart problems in Doris, who was briefly hospitalized. Afterwards, over the Easter weekend, Sonia stayed in Doris's apartment and cared for her. Defendant approached Sonia on Easter Sunday, April 16, 1995, and asked her to take a drive with him. He then disclosed his sexual relationship with Lee. Sonia became upset and backhanded defendant. When they returned to the apartment complex, defendant acted like he was having a seizure and was helped to his apartment by two bystanders. When Doris tried to see defendant, Lee would not let her inside the door, and the two women physically fought one another. Defendant subsequently talked about getting a restraining order against Doris. On May 5, 1995, Sonia and Michael moved into Doris's apartment, planning to stay one week. According to Sonia's family, she and Doris were considering leaving North Hollywood and relocating together, with Michael, in either Whittier or San Francisco. The next day, May 6, 1995, which was about a week before the murders, defendant and Lee were seen walking with one another at Universal by two Bank managers, Adrienne Gavura and Shafer, who went there together with friends. Gavura testified that defendant and Lee seemed shocked by the encounter. Shafer testified that defendant and Lee looked guilty. The same week, another coworker overheard Lee say she was going to do something stupid for which she would go to prison. Both defendant and Lee had scheduled one week's vacation from work beginning Monday, May 15, 1995. On Sunday May 14, 1995, defendant took Sonia, Doris, and Michael to the Country Star restaurant at Universal. When they entered the garage at 8:51 p.m., ample parking was available in areas much closer to the restaurant than the rooftop on which the car was later found. Their waitress commented to a coworker that defendant was acting strange. At trial, she recalled that he ordered the strongest drink on the menu (a seven-liquor ice cream treat) before dinner. Also, he was patient with his fidgety son and brusque toward the women. They left the restaurant around 10:45 p.m. Meanwhile, codefendant Lee drove to Universal that night, entering the garage at 9:57 p.m. A few minutes earlier, at 9:49 p.m., a brief call was made from a pay phone located inside the Country Star restaurant to defendant's cell phone, and was charged to his home phone number. The same cell phone was found in Lee's car later that night, as discussed below. The hostess at Tony Roma's restaurant, which is located between the Country Star restaurant and the parking garage, testified that she twice saw Lee walking fast toward the garage that night with a grave expression on her face.