Opinion ID: 782567
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: The Exclusion of Dr. Ray London's Testimony

Text: 65 The trial court also found constitutional error in the exclusion of defense expert Dr. Ray London, a psychologist who would have testified that Crappa had been hypnotically influenced in various interviews with police investigators. We agree that the exclusion of Dr. London's testimony violated Alcala's due process right to a fundamentally fair trial and to present crucial witnesses in his defense. A. Facts 66 Dana Crappa was the prosecution's key witness. In 1979, she was a twenty-year-old firefighter with the United States Forest Service. Her knowledge and memory of the murder continuously evolved. Crappa's Forest Service crew discovered Samsoe's body on July 2, 1979, near Mile Marker 11 on Santa Anita Canyon Road. Crappa volunteered nothing about the crime or the corpse at that time. One month later on August 2, 1979, after being shown photographs of Alcala, Samsoe, and Alcala's Datsun F-10, Crappa told the police that she did not recognize either Alcala or Samsoe. She claimed that she had nearly collided with the Datsun while driving near Mile Marker 11 between 9:30 and 10:00 p.m. on the night that another firefighter had prepared a pizza dinner, either June 7 or June 14. Five days later, she revised her story, asserting that she had seen the vehicle on the evening of June 21. At the preliminary hearing in September 1979, Crappa revised her story a third time, testifying that she saw the Datsun parked on the side of the road around 10:00 or 10:30 p.m. Crappa testified that she did not see anyone in or near the car. 67 Five months later on February 7, 1980, Crappa was introduced to Art Droz, who unbeknownst to her was a police detective trained in hypnosis. Droz claimed that he could help Crappa deal with the incredible stress she was experiencing if she told him her dreams and anxieties. Crappa related a similar story about seeing the Datsun on June 21, 1979, adding that there was a full moon that night and that her dreams were like movies that she saw a little more of each time she awakened. Crappa told Droz that in one of her dreams she saw a man, who may have been wearing Levis and a white shirt, sitting on a wall near the Datsun F-10. She emphasized, however, that she did not know if I really saw it or if I just think I saw it. Crappa also told Droz that on the night of June 29, 1979, she had seen the decomposed body of a child near Mile Marker 11, with clothes strewn about the area, a crusty knife in a hole, and six .22 caliber bullet casings on the ground that she picked up and threw away. During this interview, Crappa was under the misimpression that the police had established the cause of death. 68 Four days later, on February 11, 1980, Crappa again met with Droz, who was accompanied this time by psychologist Larry Blum. Both men encouraged Crappa to discuss her feelings, impressions, and dreams. In doing so, she could not recall seeing a child near the Datsun F-10 or having seen Samsoe and remained unsure about whether she had seen a man next to the car. Crappa confirmed, however, that she saw six .22 shells that were still pretty and not rusted next to the body and a knife in the hole near the body. When Crappa insisted that she could not recall anything further, Blum warned Crappa when you start talking and then say I don't know, I know that's B.S. You understand that, I know that's B.S. Crappa also explained that one of the investigators even assured her of Alcala's guilt, saying that he was a hundred percent sure this guy is guilty, a hundred percent without any doubt. 69 On February 15, 1980, Crappa met with prosecutor Richard Farnell and police officer Craig Robison, both of whom were trained in hypnosis. Although Crappa had told the police that she had not seen the Datsun F-10 prior to June 21, 1979, she revised her story a fifth time. In the recorded portion of the interview, 5 Crappa claimed that on June 20, the day before she almost collided with the Datsun, she saw the same car parked on the side of the road and a man nearby pushing or steering a young blond-haired girl into the ravine. She stated that the man was wearing a white t-shirt and Levis and that she thought he was the same guy that's... suspected of killing the little kid. Crappa claimed that she never told anyone about this incident because she just felt guilty like [she'd] done something wrong. Crappa also reiterated that she had gone to the murder scene on the night of June 29, 1979, and had seen a knife and children's clothes near the corpse. 70 Eleven days later on February 26, 1980, Crappa met with Robison again, revising her story a sixth time. Crappa had told investigators that she never saw Samsoe's corpse before June 29, 1979, but Robison told her that he found this contention implausible. Because Crappa could not account for her activities on the evening of June 25, 1979, Robison suggested that she visited the scene that night; he proceeded to paint a hypothetical picture of what the scene would have looked like at that time, suggesting that the body would have smelled foul and been easy to find. Crappa denied having visited the scene on June 25 the first few times Robison asked her about it, but eventually stated that, Well, it's a real possibility that she visited the corpse prior to June 29 as well. 71 Crappa continued to talk to investigators before trial. On March 19, 1980, at Alcala's first trial, Crappa testified that she saw a man forcefully steering a girl with long blond hair towards the ravine. He was wearing a white t-shirt and Levis and was near a vehicle that resembled Alcala's car. Crappa further testified that she saw that same vehicle parked nearby at the side of the road on June 21. This time she claimed that she saw the Datsun between 8:00 and 8:30 p.m. and that her earlier estimate of 10:00 or 10:30 p.m. had been mistaken. According to Crappa, there was a man standing near the vehicle, again wearing Levis and a white t-shirt that appeared to be sort of dirty or have a stain. 72 Crappa also repeated her story that she visited Samsoe's corpse on the night of June 29, 1979. Unlike in her previous versions of this event, Crappa denied seeing a knife near the corpse, although she repeated her earlier statement that she picked up six .22 shells and discarded them. She said that this visit took place around 7:00 p.m. Crappa also testified for the first time at trial that she had made another nocturnal visit to the murder scene on June 25, 1979, that it smelled pretty foul, and that she saw a child's tennis shoe and some clothing near the body. She also testified that she saw Samsoe's corpse and that it was cut up pretty bad. 73 On April 30, 1986, the prosecution called Crappa as a witness in Alcala's second trial. Four days earlier, however, Crappa had told the prosecutor that she could no longer remember any of the facts or circumstances relating to Samsoe's murder. She had told them she could not even recall testifying at the first trial. The prosecutor advised the trial court: 74 Miss Crappa, who would be the People's next witness, is present outside in the hallway ready to testify under subpoena. However, she has essentially informed me that she ... is not going to testify because she doesn't have any recollection about the events in this case, essentially. 75