Discovery Continues Over Numerous Investigators In Kelly Soo Park's Murder For Hire Prosecution By Lonce LaMon - August 22, 2012
Just this last Friday, August 17th, Kelly Soo Park, accused of the March 15th 2008 Santa Monica, California, murder of aspiring actress and model Juliana Redding, and business associate to workers’ compensation fraudster Dr. Munir Uwaydah, appeared in court starting at 8:30 am along with her usual and customary entourage.
Department 109 at Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center was icy cold and felt wonderful in contrast to the hellish heat that was already making its way to 100 degrees Fahrenheit outside even though it wasn’t even 9 am yet. Eric Harmon, the deputy district attorney, walked in wearing a yellow tie and immediately complained of the cold, which had to be because he’s quite thin. Very slender people like him always get cold. He mentioned more than once that he was cold. I can’t relate.
Kelly Soo’s defense attorneys, Mark Kassabian and George Buehler, appeared in their dark suits. They left the court room through the back door and went ostensibly into the judge’s chambers for an informal meeting with the district attorneys. Another attorney from the DA’s office with long dark red and wavy hair named Stacey, partnered with Eric Harmon.
While the attorneys met, Kelly Soo Park sat on the third bench next to her significant other, Tom Chronister, who is a recently retired, veteran Watch Commander from the Oxnard Police Department. Tom sports a mustache and a chin beard along with a bald and shaved head. He was wearing a half sleeved cerulean blue shirt. Kelly Soo twisted her long loose black hair.
Kelly Soo had her Aunt Pam on her left with Tom on her right as she drank tea from a paper cup with a lid on it that had the tea bag string hanging down the side. She was wearing small single pearl earrings, a dark grey and white striped shirt, and her usual and customary black pants with stiletto black high heels. She took a small bottle of eye drops out of her purse and put drops in her eyes.
Judge Kathleen Kennedy came out after the lawyers returned to the court room looking good with her chin length hair and long bangs, wearing light red lipstick on her thin lips. As always, she had her robe wide open and not at all buttoned up in front. She likes that casual look.
George Buehler points the way to his partner Mark Kassabian after court last Friday morning. Buehler and Kassabian are Kelly Soo Park's third set of attorneys since her arrest in June of 2010. Photo by Lonce LaMon. All rights reserved.
She asked the lawyers to state their appearances, and after they did, Eric Harmon spoke first.
Harmon spoke very courteously as he expressed that with the court’s indulgence he was trying to get this case to trial. He implicitly implied that discovery in this case is excessively difficult because there is an independent investigation going on with lots of investigators, which means lots of documents, lots of investigators, and other district attorneys. Clearly documents from numerous investigators were coming in from everywhere, and Harmon was trying to get through it all and answer to discovery from the defense.
Video by Lonce LaMon. All rights reserved.
All this writer could think of is that the insurance fraud investigators, the FBI, the Secret Service, and so many other investigative agencies are all over the issues of fraud concomitant to the murder.
Tom Chronister has a good laugh as he holds Kelly Soo Park's hand to get her across No. Broadway after court. Kelly Soo's mother is the small woman with the long sleeved black sweat-shirt with the hood in the forefront. Photo by Lonce LaMon. All rights reserved.
This day Judge Kennedy neither got mad nor impatient, as she has during past court proceedings. She listened attentively and agreed to the lawyers’ requests to reappear again on October 2nd.
In conclusion, she did say with just a slight hint of exasperation: “I’d really like to see this case get to trial in the foreseeable future.”
But for now, the pre-trial phase will continue on Tuesday morning, October 2nd 2012.