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Davis Enterprise, The (CA)
Testimony focuses on prison search
Lauren KeeneEnterprise staff writer
Published: March 11, 2007
SACRAMENTO — A former Washington state corrections investigator said
she found something unusual when she searched the prison cell of
accused killer Richard Joseph Hirschfield more than four years ago.
Along
with a series of maps — which Kelly Frates said were frowned upon at
McNeil Island Corrections Center because of the potential for escape —
the prison officer came upon some writings she described as being "a
cross between a journal and a story."It
described an older man and younger people camping in the woods, Frates
recalled, and the writings did not seem to be family-oriented."It
just made me uncomfortable ... based on what I'd been told about his
history," said Frates, who was at the prison when two Sacramento County
sheriff's detectives arrived there to question Hirschfield about DNA evidence linking him to the 1980 murders of a UC Davis couple."There was just too close a similarity," Frates said.Frates faced a barrage of questioning Friday by Hirschfield's
lead attorney, Supervising Assistant Public Defender Linda Parisi,
whose team is challenging the legality of the Nov. 19, 2002, cell
search.
Hirschfield,
58, is charged with two counts of murder with special circumstances in
connection with the kidnapping and murders of John Riggins and Sabrina
Gonsalves.The
18-year-olds were taken from Davis on Dec. 20, 1980, after ushering at
a children's "Nutcracker" performance and were found dead two days
later in a Rancho Cordova-area ravine, their throats cut. Hirschfield
was linked to the case by DNA evidence in the summer of 2002, while he
was serving time for child molest at the Washington prison.If convicted, Hirschfield faces the death penalty. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.The
defendant was at his most animated on Friday, during Frates' 2 1/2
hours of testimony regarding the prison cell search. He took frequent
notes and often whispered to his attorneys, even mumbling out loud on
several occasions.At one point, a frustrated Deputy District Attorney Dawn Bladet complained she could not hear the testimony due to Hirschfield's ongoing commentary.Frates'
testimony was introduced in response to defense attorney Parisi's
motion to suppress evidence she claims was obtained via illegal search
and seizure.The
evidence in question is a series of maps that Frates said she found
during the cell search, both posted on a bulletin board and stored
inside a folder on Hirschfield's desk. Also attached to the bulletin board were numerous strips of paper with names, dates and numbers written on them.Previous
testimony revealed that several of the strips contained words seemingly
connected to this case, including "Davis," "Sacto" and "Sabrina."During
her cross-examination, Parisi drilled Frates on the prison's policies
on cell searches and contraband — items that prisoners are not allowed
to keep inside their cells. Frates admitted she did not photograph the
items as she found them, and that the report she prepared about the
search was later misplaced.Some
of Parisi's questions also explored the potential for inmates to plant
forbidden items inside other inmates' cells. Later, however, she
indicated that Hirschfield obtained the maps after submitting a request to the prison's own library.Among
those taking in Friday's testimony were Sabrina's parents, George and
Kim Gonsalves, who had traveled from Hawaii to Sacramento last week
with the hope of learning whether their daughter's alleged killer would
be ordered to stand trial.Instead,
the preliminary hearing was extended for at least one more day in order
for attorneys to argue additional motions in the case, including
defense challenges to DNA evidence and sex-crime allegations that
authorities say was the underlying motive for the murders. A ruling on
whether to allow the seized maps into evidence also is expected.The hearing is scheduled to resume at 9 a.m. Friday in Sacramento Superior Court.Also on Friday, Judge Trena Burger-Plavan denied a defense motion to exclude portions of a suicide note written by Hirschfield's brother, Joseph Hirschfield,
just before he poisoned himself with carbon monoxide at his rural
Oregon home on Nov. 20, 2002. His death came a day after Sacramento
authorities questioned him about his brother's whereabouts at the time
of the students' murders.In the note, Joseph Hirschfield
— who in 1980 was living in Rancho Cordova — reportedly implicates both
himself and his brother for the teens' murders. Under California law,
however, only those portions of the note pertaining to Joseph Hirschfield can be introduced as evidence since he cannot be cross-examined about the note's contents.— Reach Lauren Keene at lkeene@davisenterprise.net or 747-8048.
Copyright, 2007, The Davis Enterprise. All Rights Reserved.
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