Opinion ID: 1127477
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Davenport I

Text: Because this retrial involves only the penalty phase, we briefly review the evidence presented at the guilt phase, which was fully described in Davenport I, supra, 41 Cal.3d at pages 256-260. Gayle Lingle, the victim, spent the evening of March 26, 1980, at the Sit 'N Bull Bar in Tustin. Between approximately midnight and 1 a.m., she and defendant left the bar. The victim's body was found the next morning lying in a large, uncultivated field south of the I-5 freeway near Tustin. There were motorcycle tracks in the area. The victim, nude except for a sweater draped over her upper torso, suffered numerous and extensive stabbing and slashing wounds about her neck, chin and jaw as well as defensive wounds to her hands and forearms. Her carotid artery had been severed, and her breasts were bitten and bruised. A 52-inch nail-embedded wooden stake had been driven into her rectum, through her body, injuring various internal organs and tissues, and up to her right armpit. The autopsy pathologist, Dr. Walter Fischer, testified that the cause of death was the loss of blood from the severed carotid artery, and that the victim's impalement by the wooden stake was a contributing factor. In Fischer's opinion, the victim was alive when she was impaled by the wooden stake. Dr. Renee Modglin, a pathologist called by the defense, opined that the stake had probably entered the victim's body after her death. Defendant owned a 350 cc Honda motorcycle, and his nickname was Honda Dave. The prosecution produced three eyewitnesses who placed a motorcycle similar to one owned by defendant at the murder scene between 12:30 and 1:30 a.m. on March 27. Three expert witnesses testified to facts that connected defendant's motorcycle to the crime. Bonnie Driver, a criminalist employed by the Orange County Sheriff's Department, testified that she had examined vegetable matter taken from defendant's motorcycle and compared it with vegetation taken from the area where the victim's body was found. Driver found the gross morphology of the plants in both samples to be consistent with each other. A forensic microscopist, Skip Pallinick, examined and compared the heavy mineral content of soil samples taken from defendant's bike with samples taken at the murder scene. He testified that the samples were generally consistent with each other. One of the samples from the motorcycle contained sufficient similarity to the murder scene samples that the witness concluded they were virtually indistinguishable. Both of these witnesses admitted they had not compared the samples taken from defendant's bike with samples taken from other parts of Orange County. Dr. Stephen Dana, a geologist retained by defendant, examined the same soil samples and found similarities and differences in all of them. Based on his knowledge of the geology of the area, Dana opined that the samples could have come from anywhere in Orange County. Jack Leonard, the production manager for the International Sport and Rally Division of Dunlop Tire Company, testified that the tracks of the rear tire at the crime scene had the same highly unique and distinctive characteristics as the rear tire of the motorcycle. Both were Dunlop brand motorcycle tires, size 4.00-18 with a K-70 tread pattern, and both were characterized by a rare defect in a portion of the tread pattern known as the cross-slot. The degree of wear of defendant's tire was consistent with the tracks at the scene. The track of the front motorcycle tire at the scene showed a tread pattern which he recognized as a Bridgestone tire, similar to the front tire on defendant's motorcycle. The prosecution also called as a witness John Farmer, who testified to incriminating admissions defendant made to him while both were in a holding cell at the Orange County Superior Court at various times between September 8, 1980, and December 19, 1980. Defendant testified and relied on an alibi defense.