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Kelly Soo Park, the alleged murderer of Juliana Redding, the model and actress who was found dead in her Santa Monica, California, apartment in March of 2008, appeared in court yesterday on the 9th floor of the westside court house on South La Cienega Boulevard near Los Angeles International Airport. 

Park was employed by Munir Uwaydah, M.D. at the time of her arrest in June of this year.  It is alleged and currently being investigated that Uwaydah was possibly connected to the murder because of suspicious payments from Dr. Uwaydah to Kelly Soo Park that happened just prior to and after the murder.   Payments of over $300,000 each were discovered from Uwaydah to Park just weeks before and weeks after Juliana Redding was found dead.  Juliana Redding had been a girlfriend of Uwaydah’s and had no ostensible connection to Kelly Soo Park absent Dr. Uwaydah.  Investigations are also underway seeking further information involving the possibility that Uwaydah was involved in medical fraud, including workers’ compensation fraud, and other business and medical practice conflagrations. 

He is now on probation with the California Medical Board for allowing physician assistants to perform surgeries without his presence and supervision, and for not recording vital signs when appropriate and keeping proper medical records.  The latest document spelling out Uwaydah’s probation, dated September 3rd, 2010, which recants how Uwaydah defrauded General Electric Medical Systems Europe by stealing a scanner from them in Saudi Arabia and never paying them nearly one million dollars owed on the scanner, requires that Uwaydah complete an Ethics course as one of the terms of his probation.

Kelly Soo Park sat next to her attorney, Kay Rackauckas, before Judge Schwartz in her oversized bright orange v-necked jail shirt which covered her slim figure.  Her long beautiful black hair fell down to her waist.  She was calm and composed. 

Judge Schwartz opened up the proceeding by stating that the bail continuance issue was not being heard but the discovery issue was being heard, only.  The bail continuance hearing will be held next Tuesday, September 21st, in the same court room. 

Representing the District Attorney’s office were Alan Jackson and Eric Harmon in the court room.  Eric Harmon carried the arguments that his office feels the responsibility to protect the witnesses.  He did not want to turn over the witness list to the defense because, as he expressed, he has a good faith belief that the witnesses do not want their home addresses and other information turned over.  “Because of the nature of the crime,” Harmon argued, “the witnesses don’t want their names, addresses, and phone numbers turned over.”

The defense objected, stating they have a right to independently investigate this case.  The People agreed to make a compromise, and give some of the names, but not their addresses and phone numbers, which the defense responded to by calling it “swiss cheese”. 

Judge Schwartz then engaged the People and the defense with the legal arguments.  The D.A. stuck to his position that he did not have to turn over anything, because the case is in the pre-prelim stages and he’s not bound by the rules of true discovery until 30 days before the trial.  He wants to protect the civilian witnesses.  It was only the civilian witnesses which were in question.  All of the expert witnesses, such as the DNA expert and the police and the investigators, were known by both sides.  The D.A. offered to compromise on the information about the civilian witnesses, but was rebutted by arguments from the defense. 

The judge stated, directing his point to the defense, that with information systems which exist now, anybody can be found.  “I don’t think anybody other than Osama Bin Laden can hide,” he quipped.  He told of the recent event where the police came to his house to talk to him.  He asked, “How do you guys have my home number?”  And they replied that he shouldn’t worry, they have this government agency that gives them all the information. “Yeah, they said it’s a secret database.”  

But Kay Rackauckas argued that she couldn’t find certain "John Smiths", and the debate continued.  Judge Schwartz talks a lot, and he said, “That’s a cop out,” a few times to Rackauckas, and he went on about how it usually only comes up that witnesses want so much protection when it’s a serious gang related case and there are terrorizing threats.  “Public safety is foremost in my mind,” he conceded. 

Clearly, this is one of those cases where the public civilian witnesses feel they need a lot of protection.  Interesting the judge commented that this civilian fear only usually happens when the case involves violent gangs. 

This case is not ordinary because of the massive publicity and the extensive involvement of the media—Dateline, Good Morning America, and other national journalists are providing coverage.  And, of course, www.adjustercom.com is covering this story.  There were two film cameras in the court room being run by technicians in the jury pool box area.  I believe one camera was from CBS and the other from NBC. 

“Does the defense have a right to pre-trial Discovery?” Schwartz asked. “Can any restraints be placed on info pre-prelim?   I personally believe in full discovery.  But, putting that aside, I have to follow the law.” 

He cited code section 1054 and some case law he called “Galindo”.  Schwartz finally said, “All Galindo is saying is it’s a discretionary call by the magistrate.”  Meaning, the judge can decide on a case by case basis if any of the discovery of one side or another can be demanded to be shared based upon the circumstances during the pre-trial phase.  In this case, it’s the pre-Preliminary Hearing phase. 

What Schwartz openly stated he does not want is to come to the end of this case and find discovery issues brought up by the Defense.  “In a case of this magnitude, I don’t want any wiggle room where the Defense can get out of a conviction.” 

So, he decided on his order for that reason and because he wants to get to the Preliminary Hearing.  He ordered the District Attorney’s office to turn over the names and addresses of the witnesses they intend to call for the Preliminary Hearing.  He also ordered them that they cannot tell the witnesses that they don’t have to talk to the defense.  He explained this by vociferously expatiating on the fact that when the investigators first talked to these witnesses, he doubted that they told the witnesses something like: you don’t have to talk to us if you don’t want to.  No police investigator or DA investigator does that.  So he doesn’t want any subliminal suggestion going out that the witnesses don’t have to talk to the defense.

A lot of further argument went on, including the point that Karen Thompson, the Santa Monica Police Investigator, who appeared in the court room along the side and behind the two district attorneys, explained to witnesses that they didn’t have to talk to either her as the Police, the D.A.s or the defense.  She told them their witnessing was voluntary.  So to that the Judge replied that that was okay, fine, he understood that but that now “I can’t unring the bell.” 

As the proceeding was winding down, Kelly Soo Park turned around and mouthed, “I love you,” to a mature woman seated next to a man in the second row of the audience seats.   The court room is small, with only five rows of seats for viewers. 

Readers may write to writer Lonce LaMon at lonce@adjustercom.com