For The People

By Terry White and Kerry White

A memoir that will impact you like no other…

 

Over 30 years in the making, this powerful book recounts the high profile cases taken on by two African American brothers, both prosecutors, who brought justice to the courts of Los Angeles and lived through some of its most iconic and notorious events.

 

Kerry and Terry White were shoved into the spotlight at varying degrees, but despite office politics and public scrutiny, held true to their philosophy of doing what was right, no matter the cost.

 

And at times, the cost was high.

 

Some of their most notable cases include: the OJ Simpson and Rodney King trials, the University of California (Los Angeles) body parts scandal, going up against the power of the drug cartels, and holding law enforcement and even fellow prosecutors accountable for their mistakes, biases, and failures.

 

The decades of experience accumulated between Terry and Kerry White is laid out in this gripping two-part story, which blends a traditional memoir with events of historical significance, set in a Los Angeles that many of us still remember. Readers and listeners of True Crime will particularly enjoy this memoir, which approaches tales of criminal activity from the prosecutor's point of view, leaving us with a sense of hope and encouragement, that there are still good men and women working toward justice, on behalf of The People.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Terry and Kerry White
• Release date: Jul 4, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201920203

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

The journey began in September 1984, when we were sworn in one day apart. Thirty-three years later for me, and thirty-five years for my brother, the journey ended. Mine when I was appointed to the Superior Court, and his when he retired from the Santa Monica City Attorney’s office. Neither of us misses the daily grind, which was mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausting.

As a trial attorney, I worked in the following offices: Bellflower, Compton, and CCB (Criminal Courts building downtown). I handled cases in San Pedro, Hill Street Civil courthouse, Inglewood, Whittier, El Monte, Compton, and Pasadena Juvenile offices. I supervised the Alhambra office, Hardcore Gang Division, Pasadena Juvenile office, Abolish Chronic Truancy (Lynwood office), and Public Integrity. In addition, I was a head deputy over the Complaints Division (now Charge Evaluation Division), Major Fraud (now the White-Collar Crime Division), Justice System Integrity Division, Antelope Valley, Pasadena (twice), Juvenile Division (ten offices), Automobile Insurance Fraud Division, and Central Trials.

My brother worked in West Covina, CCB, Organized Crime where he was cross-designated as an Assistant US attorney, Special Investigation Division, Major Narcotics, Grand Jury Legal Advisor, Public Integrity, TRAP, and the Santa Monica City Attorney, Criminal Division Chief.

During my entire career, I can honestly say I never observed any outward signs of actual bias against any ethnic group by any supervisor or colleague. Were some of their actions motivated by an implicit bias? I cannot say for sure, but if I had to guess, I would probably say yes, maybe not in the charging of the crimes but in the final case resolution.

Although we both had numerous assignments, we were never assigned in many of our branch offices such as Torrance, Long Beach, Pomona, Van Nuys, Norwalk, and San Fernando, despite having cases or trials in those courthouses. During my tenure as a prosecutor, I moved to dismiss cases if I did not believe the evidence was sufficient to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt, and I never received any pushback from a supervisor when I made such a recommendation. If I documented the reason for my conclusion, there was never any further discussion.

Our careers diverged after we were both assigned to Night Court. My brother moved on to Central Trials and then special units as a trial attorney. I left Night Court and went to the same Central Trials unit where my brother had worked, however, after approximately six months I was assigned as a calendar deputy. The Los Angeles Superior Court criminal division is divided into long cause courts, preliminary hearing courts, and calendar courts, which handle felony or misdemeanor cases. Misdemeanor cases are assigned to a particular court based on the last two digits of the case file.

After a felony case is filed, the defendant is sent to an arraignment court, which then assigns the case to a preliminary hearing court. In the downtown court, felony and misdemeanor cases are assigned based on a complicated assignment matrix. For downtown felony cases, a case is assigned to a specific courtroom after the preliminary hearing. Cases in that courtroom which are not assigned to a special unit are handled prior to trial by the calendar deputy, who handles all pretrial motions, post-conviction matters, and plea negotiations. A calendar deputy is basically a supervisor over the cases in that courtroom.

Although many would disagree (particularly criminal defense attorneys), the job of a prosecutor is extremely difficult. Prosecutors cannot withhold evidence from defendants and their attorneys even if that evidence is damaging to the prosecution’s case. The prosecution must disclose to the defense any inducements (promises or deals given) to a prosecution witness and correct any false or misleading testimony by the witness relating to the inducements—even if the witness was unaware of any inducements which were the result of conversations between the prosecution and his or her attorney. Moreover, the prosecution or law enforcement cannot fail to hand over potentially exculpatory evidence because they determine it is not credible. That evidence must be turned over.

Before 1990 in this state, the defense had no obligation to turn over evidence to the prosecution, and even after the law changed there were still defense attorneys seeking to get around that requirement. Before 1990, if the defendant had an alibi to the charged offense, the first time a prosecutor often learned of the alibi was when he or she testified, and many courts were hesitant to grant a short continuance to allow the prosecutor to investigate the potential alibi.

In civil litigation, witnesses are deposed as part of the pretrial process, which includes, for the most part, the named litigants. In a criminal trial, if a defendant who has exercised his constitutional right to remain silent takes the stand and testifies, that might be the first time you have the opportunity to hear his or her version of events.

Most attorneys by nature are very competitive. They want to win. As a prosecutor, you must temper that desire to win convictions with your ethical responsibilities. As much as you may not like the defense attorney or detest the defendant, you cannot let those feelings keep you from following the law. On a couple of well-publicized occasions, there were prosecutors who hid exculpatory evidence from the defense in a zeal to win convictions. That can never happen.

To be an outstanding prosecutor, you must be willing to put in long hours; this is not a nine-to-five job. You must learn the law, read recent court opinions, and build up your own library of pertinent cases. Early in my management career, the younger attorneys were eager to learn from the more experienced attorneys, but in recent years the newer prosecutors have seemed less inclined to listen and learn.

The attitude seems to be just read a file, go to court, and defend the case. Since most of the cases in a misdemeanor court or a preliminary hearing court are continued daily, there is no follow-up on the case between court appearances, so any potential problems are pushed on to the next prosecutor or next court date. I saw one extreme example of that behavior in one of our juvenile offices.

In the Juvenile Division, young prosecutors were assigned for one year. One day during a regular visit to the ten juvenile offices I supervised, the relatively new Deputy-in-Charge (DIC), briefed me on a murder case that had been pending for over one year. The supervisor and the trial deputy wanted permission to dismiss the case because they did not believe the case could be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

After reviewing the case, I agreed with their conclusion. What was most troubling, though, was the fact this case had been pending for a significant time without anyone reviewing the file regarding the strength of the evidence. The charged minor sat in detention for that time on a case which would ultimately be dismissed, not because we lost evidence, or the witnesses refused to come to court, but because the case could not be proven based on the evidence known at the time the case was filed. That is unacceptable. I wish I could say that was an anomaly, but in the offices I worked in or supervised, I saw it occur quite often.

In Los Angeles County, working with law enforcement on cases can be challenging, especially if those cases are not vertically prosecuted (Note—the overwhelming number of filed felony cases are not handled vertically by one prosecutor from filing to trial). There are 88 cities in Los Angeles County and 46 different law enforcement agencies. The largest of course are the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) and the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), which is the police agency for the City of Los Angeles.

In addition, there are 46 other municipal police departments and the California Highway Patrol. In the District Attorney’s office, numerous special divisions handle a specific area of crime, and 20 offices or divisions handle all offenses not handled by a specific unit or division. The quality and nature of each one of these offices can change depending on several factors, e.g., a leadership change at the top of the organization, policy changes within an organization, or a different supervisor in a particular station or division.

In this book, we will discuss notable cases we have worked on and offices we have supervised, along with the issues we navigated through while on those cases. Combined, we worked a total of 69 years as prosecutors. We worked under five different District Attorneys: Robert Philibosian, Ira Reiner, Gil Garcetti, Steve Cooley, and Jackie Lacey.

Both Cooley and Lacey were visionaries who made major changes in the criminal justice system. We were present in the office during a tremendous attorney expansion and during an era of many major cases (McMartin, Twilight Zone, Rodney King, Reginald Denny, Night Stalker, OJ Simpson, Latasha Harlins, the Menendez brothers, the jailhouse informant scandal, Rampart scandal, and the Sheriff’s narcotics scandal).

We hope you enjoy this book and in turn begin to understand the challenges a prosecutor faces, and the dynamics of the District Attorney’s office and criminal justice system. While the issues herein occurred in Los Angeles County, the same challenges are undoubtedly present throughout California and the nation. If recent events have provided some insight, it appears there is definite similarity among the controversies in the criminal justice system across the country.

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Kerry L. White

PART I

DDA TERRY L. WHITE

CHAPTER 1

WEST COVINA

After training, we went to the Criminal Courts Building to get our assignments. I remember sitting in Branch and Area Director Billy Webb’s office, getting my assignment. When he said West Covina, I thought to myself, but did not say it out loud, Where the heck is West Covina? Even though I lived in Pasadena, I had only lived there a short time before beginning training. I went to UCLA School of Law, but before that I had never lived in Los Angeles, and while attending law school I had never been east of downtown Los Angeles.

So, I traveled my first day to West Covina, a driving distance of 20 miles on three different freeways. On my first day, I met Mike Brenner, the deputy in charge (DIC). I could not have gone to a better location. Mike knew that this was the first assignment for the deputies, and he had a low-key style. He did not come watch us in court, he reviewed all misdemeanor files, but not once was I ever called into his office and reprimanded in any way—that was not his style.

Mike was great with war stories or just observations about people and life in general. He loved writing letters to people. I remember after actor Stacy Keach was sent to prison for some offense, Mike said he was going to write him because he had time on his hands to reply (that could have been a joke). Most everyone loved Mike. Even though that first year was stressful, we enjoyed each other and had fun.

West Covina was a great assignment because it had many cities in the area, each with its own police department: West Covina, Covina, Azusa, Baldwin Park, and Glendora; we also had LASD cases and there was a CHP office in Baldwin Park. The interstate 10 Freeway was the main thoroughfare through the communities, and West Covina had quite a few bars in the area, so we had a lot of DUI cases. It was the largest stand-alone misdemeanor courthouse in the county.

In my first week or so, I was in court with DDA Jim Wilson who had been in office for 18 months. I was with Jim to learn how to do calendar. This is the process of reviewing the cases that would be in court on any given day—arraignments, pretrials and trials—reading all reports, making disposition offers, and determining which cases were ready for trial. West Covina had eight courtrooms and each court controlled its own calendar. Each court also did their own trials so they did not move from courtroom to courtroom. Attorneys would normally rotate every three to four months through each of the courtrooms and would get exposure to different courtrooms, judges, and staff.

I went on my first ride-a-long with West Covina PD, where I observed a DUI arrest. We also investigated a possible residential burglary which was scary, going around a house with a flashlight looking for a possible entry point. I also went on my first search warrant mission, a search of a series of motel rooms where narcotics were being sold. It was here I learned that you should always go to the scene of the incident of any jury trial you were doing.

We learned to draw our own diagrams and take our own pictures. It is difficult to give a jury a good explanation of an incident if you are not aware of the location. I remember telling a young attorney later when I was a supervisor, if an incident occurred in a home, unless you have pictures, the jurors are going to think about their home or homes with which they are familiar. You need all jurors to be thinking about and understanding the same set of facts.

When I started in late 1984, West Covina was its own judicial district, meaning that when judges stood for re-election, they were only considered within the district, not countywide. Most of the judges had either been appointed by Ronald Reagan or Jerry Brown (some even earlier). Since they only ran in that judicial district, most of the judges had been attorneys in the district and were well known. This was before George Deukmejian became Governor and started appointing prosecutors to the bench.

So at the time, judges in smaller judicial districts pretty much ran the courthouse and were leaders in the community. This was also before the Alternate Public Defenders office or its predecessor, which meant anytime the Public Defender’s Office declared a conflict, private attorneys were appointed to represent indigent defendants.

Christmas time was always interesting because the local defense attorneys would lavish gifts on the judges, grateful for their appointments on cases. As prosecutors who were only there for one to two years, it was a clear home field advantage for the defense bar. Cases would be continued for as long as defense counsel wanted. One continuance we would always hear was a continuance for Mr. Green, which meant they were still waiting to get paid. In all fairness, cases would also sometimes get continued by prosecutors who did not want to try a difficult case; better to leave it for the next poor soul assigned to the courtroom.

After one week, I was assigned to Judge John Nichols’ courtroom, Division 4. Judge Nichols’ family had a large lumber company in West Covina. On my first day, he had me do a court trial on a speeding ticket. It surprised me because in training we did not talk about infractions, so I literally had no idea what to ask the officer. I think he did it to make me feel comfortable but it had the opposite effect. I did not get to talk to the officer beforehand, so it was basically a series of what happened next questions.

I did my first jury trial in Division 4, a DUI trial where the defendant took the stand and practically admitted everything he had to drink. The strangest thing happened, however, in closing argument. The judge had counsel use a lectern when addressing the jury, and while I was at the lectern, defense counsel came over and stood at the bar separating the audience from counsel table.

He stood about three feet away from me during my entire argument. When he walked over, I looked at him but the judge did not say a thing, so I went on with the argument. The judge later told me that the defense counsel was trying to intimidate me and since I didn’t say anything, he didn’t either. While I had thought it was odd, it was my first trial and I did not know what was strange or inappropriate.

My next assignment was Division 8, Judge Mike Rutberg, the odd man out in West Covina. Most of the judges had been there quite a while, but Judge Rutberg had been appointed later. Most judges socialized with each other at lunch, but Judge Rutberg did not. The greatest difference was that Judge Rutberg was known to go long each evening and to generally run his courtroom a little differently than anyone else.

Going long meant you got back to the office around 5:00 p.m., which meant everyone was gone and you either needed to come in early the next day or stay later to review the next day’s calendar. I volunteered for Judge Rutberg’s court only because I knew I was eventually going to get the assignment, so I thought I might as well get it over with ASAP.

In Judge Rutberg’s court, I did my first murder preliminary hearing which scared the daylights out of me. I went to UCLA School of Law, and our first-year criminal law course did not really discuss crimes per se. So, when I had to do a murder preliminary hearing, I had to go to the CALJIC jury instructions and figure out the elements. In training, we had learned the various stipulations we needed for chemical analysis and for the coroner, so that was not a problem. However, I had no clue about murder and did not want to screw the hearing up.

A trial that was a little unusual occurred in Judge Rutberg’s courtroom too, though it was not the nature of the charge which was odd. I don’t even remember the charge, but we once approached side bar on some issue in the afternoon and Judge Rutberg proceeded to give us a general description on his recent colonoscopy exam. I specifically remember one homophobic statement he made, something to the effect of him not knowing how gay men could do it. But this was West Covina, so I took it in my stride.

I received my first commendation for a jury trial I handled in Division 8. A father had gone to his child’s elementary school for children with disabilities and had caused a scene regarding something he felt the school had done wrong to his child. The scene escalated to the point where the police had to be called. What was odd was that the principal and teacher were so meek and soft-spoken, and the father was out of control. After the trial, the principal wrote a nice letter to the office that was placed in my personnel file.

One thing about the bench officers in West Covina was that some of them had issues with alcohol; you could see their watery eyes after lunch and hear the slurred speech. Some of them are deceased now, but it was obvious to anyone that worked there at the time that two of the biggest offenders were Judge Young and Judge Felix. Another judge, Judge Baxley, was also known to be part of that lunch group. It amazed me that no one said anything. It was common knowledge that the group went to a restaurant at lunch called The Great Wall and would come back inebriated. Today, you could not get away with that type of conduct.

In Judge Young’s courtroom, I did a .47 blood alcohol content DUI trial where the defendant was conscious when the police arrived, sitting on the curb, in a stupor. Of course, the defense said it was impossible to have that high a blood alcohol level and remain conscious. They argued this even though the test in this case was a blood test, not urine or breath. They were still using urine tests on DUI cases at the time, which years later were disallowed.

The thing that made West Covina into a great assignment in addition to Mike Brenner were the other attorneys. This was the first assignment for everyone, and we all enjoyed each other’s company. We would all go out to lunch (La Posada, just across the street) as well as other places, and we would workout at lunch since most of the courtrooms were closed between noon and 2:00 p.m.

We would go jogging, play tennis, and I even played racquetball. There were indoor courts a couple of exits east of the courthouse down the freeway. There, I met a member of the family that started an In-N-Out burger, and we enjoyed a friendly rivalry. Every Friday, late in the afternoon, we would drink alcohol in the office, and since I was not much of a drinker, I would have a small cup of wine. In the early 1980s, this was not unusual. Everyone knew it was happening, it was not hidden.

The one negative experience I had in West Covina was with Commissioner Leo LaRue who was in Division 1. One day, Commissioner LaRue called Sandy Perliss and me into his chambers to give us a little lecture. I believe he thought Sandy and I were a little too uppity, not showing the proper deference to which he believed he was entitled. Sandy (who was Jewish) and I went to his chambers, and he started laying into us. At one point he pointed his finger at Sandy and said, You little J… (he did not get the entire word out), but it was obvious what he was going to say. I could only imagine what was going to come next. At the time, I was the only black male attorney there, and Sandy was the only Jewish one. Very few minorities came through the court system in West Covina; it was largely a white community.

I learned a lot in West Covina—from the losses, and the wins. Although the first few months were quite stressful, I cherished my time there, both the people and everything about the experience.

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NIGHT COURT

While in West Covina, an office-wide memo came out announcing Night Court. The hours would be 2:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. The great thing was that you could immediately go into felony trials. At that time in the office, you spent about two years in misdemeanor court, two years or so next in juvenile court, which was your first experience in felonies, but the trials were non-jury trials. This was a chance to bypass juvenile court and go straight to felony jury trials. The added treat was that my brother Kerry was also selected.

We were set up to share offices on the 18th floor of CCB. There were six preliminary hearing deputies, all young prosecutors, and three senior calendar deputies along with Head Deputy Gerald Haney. I shared an office with Christine Johnston, a senior Central Trials attorney who had done the McMartin preliminary hearing a couple of years back. My desk was placed in a corner against the wall; I did not blame Christine, I am sure she did not want me in her office, but she was pleasant and helpful to me.

Judge Paul Turner ran Night Court, and he made sure everything proceeded as it should. This was a big experiment, because even the judges shared chambers. The superior courts were on the 11th floor and the Municipal Court, where we did preliminary hearings, was on the fifth floor. Our offices were on the 18th floor. So began my long love affair with CCB elevators, the second worst elevators in the county.

Long Beach and Compton were tied for the worst—too few elevators in Compton for the large caseloads, and Long Beach was just a very old building that needed to be replaced. I was assigned to Commissioner Florence Marie Cooper’s court (she was later elevated to Superior Court) and was an excellent bench officer. Florence was eventually named a U.S. district court judge by President Clinton.

The first few weeks in Night Court were rocky, to say the least. Jerry Haney was a stickler for files being filled out correctly, so there were a lot of see me notes about those issues. In my previous Municipal Court assignment, the files went straight to the Pomona office after the preliminary hearing and there were generally no complaints of how the felony files were filled in. Secondly, the judges in West Covina took the misdemeanor pleas in most cases, and in DUI’s, written waivers were used. In felony land, it was up to the prosecutors to take the pleas, and my first attempt, even with a