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| | Kelly Soo Park Trial: Opening Statement By The Prosecution Has Courtroom Riveted
By Lonce LaMon - May 15, 2013
Deputy District Attorney Stacey Okun-Wiese stood up to address the jury. She is the third main Deputy DA on this case. Alan Jackson began with the case back in June of 2010. Then Eric Harmon took over. Harmon is now a judge in the Antelope Valley. Now it is up to Stacey to carry the ball into the end zone.
Her modestly cut, tailored suit fit well to her slender body. Her reddish brown—almost maroon hair—was well styled and curled in layers, parted down the middle. She looked fantastic.
Stacey has a very fluid manner of speaking. Her energy abounds. She almost never stammers. She does not stutter. She keeps on speaking like a swiftly flowing river. She was passionate and appropriately dramatic.
When the autopsy photos of Juliana Redding were shown on the overhead screen the courtroom barely breathed in its silence. The deceased Juliana’s thin legs dangled over the end of the bed. Her arms were thrown over her head, her hands claw-like with her mangled and broken acrylic fingernails, her eyes closed, her mouth open with her face in a grimace of agony. Some cries and sobs burst forth from the Redding family, breaking the silence.
Prosecutor Stacey Okun-Wiese spoke:
“Juliana Redding spent the last moments of her life literally fighting to save herself.
“Juliana Redding unsuccessfully tried to fight off a woman, a woman she did not know, a woman who beat and strangled her until she had her last breath of air, a woman who now sits before this 16 of you in this courtroom, and a woman who needs to be held accountable for her actions on March 15th of 2008. And that person, ladies and gentlemen, is the defendant, Kelly Soo Park.
“The defendant is charged in count one of the indictment with a violation of penal code section 187, the crime of murder. She is charged with killing Juliana Redding on March 15th of 2008.
“Murder has two elements. The first element is the defendant committed an act that caused the death of Juliana Redding. Element number two, the defendant acted with malice aforethought.
“Now, as we talked about during jury selection, the court is going to provide you several instructions on the law when you begin your deliberations. And in fact, the court just read to you some of those instructions.
“You will be getting an instruction on what malice aforethought is. However, I wanted you to be presented throughout the case with the two elements that I must prove beyond a reasonable doubt in order for you to find the defendant guilty in this case.
“Over the course of the next couple of weeks you will hear testimony from witnesses. You will also be presented with several items of evidence. You will be presented with cell phone records, numerous photographs, recordings, and then there is the testimony from the witnesses. And it will be through the presentation of witnesses and evidence that you will learn the facts of this case as they occurred on March 15th. And it will also be through the course of that testimony and the presentation of evidence that you will be convinced, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the defendant is guilty of murder.
“This photograph was taken of Juliana on March 15th 2008. This was the last photograph taken of Juliana alive.
“You will learn through the evidence that that evening, March 15th, Juliana went out to dinner with her friend Kelly Duncan, and they went to the Tengu Restaurant. And they were there for approximately two hours, just two friends enjoying each other for dinner.
“You will learn that at approximately 8:15 they parted and went their separate ways. Miss Duncan went home, as did Juliana. And her address is 1527 Centinela Avenue, Number A, in the city of Santa Monica.
“You will learn through the evidence in this case that at approximately 9:52 pm 911 was dialed from Juliana’s cell phone. But what you will also learn through the evidence in this case and the testimony is that that call never made it through.
“You will hear that at 9:53 pm that evening a neighbor of Juliana’s by the name of Lynn Parish heard a commotion, yelling and things being thrown from Juliana’s apartment. And she knows that was the time that she heard the commotion because she looked on her cable box. And her husband subsequently called her, and she advised her husband about what she heard.
“Unfortunately, Ms. Parish did not call the police, and she found out the following day that Juliana had been killed.
“You will learn that on March 16th in the evening, Juliana’s mother contacted the Santa Monica Police Department. She was worried about Juliana. Juliana had a photo shoot that day that she didn’t make it to. She hadn’t heard from Juliana; she hadn’t returned her phone calls.
“And quite frankly, Juliana’s mom was worried. And she called the Santa Monica Police Department to see if they would go to Juliana’s apartment and check on her. And they did.
“And you will hear from Sergeant Hernandez who will tell you that at approximately 6:00 pm he went to Juliana’s house, her apartment. He went to go check on her.
“He got to the location. He checked the front door, which was locked. He checked the windows, which were locked. And he then checked the back door, and that as well was locked.
“He looked in the windows and could not see anything inside.
“Because he could not get in, he called for back-up and he specifically called for another officer who he knew was trained in picking locks.
“Several other officers arrived at the location. And they were able to enter through the rear door. They got in through the window in the door and also by picking the bottom lock.
“Now you will hear through the evidence in this case that the officers, when they opened the window to the door, they smelled gas. Sergeant A. Hernandez immediately contacted the Santa Monica Fire Department. And they responded.
“You will hear from firefighter Gary Marshall who will tell you that when he entered the location he, as well, smelled gas, and he found the source of that gas. The right front stove knob was turned to the “on” position. And he turned it off and opened up the window.
“Here is a diagram of the inside of Juliana’s apartment. And you will hear through the testimony that her apartment was very small.
“The officers initially entered through the kitchen, and they then went into the living room. And this photograph depicts the right stove know that firefighter Gary Marshall turned off.
“The officers entered the living room, and they observed the front door which not only had the bottom lock in the locked position, but as well, the top lock. The dead bolt was locked from the inside.
“The officers walked into the living room, and they saw what appeared to them to be evidence of a struggle.
“You will hear testimony that there was a plate hidden behind the TV stand. You will hear that there was liquid spilled on the table. You will hear evidence that the table leg was twisted.
“You will hear evidence that they found a chain that was ripped in pieces. One piece was located on the table in a tray; the second piece was located on the floor underneath the broken leg.
“You will hear testimony that there was—one of the pillow cushions, the cover had been taken off. All the other pillow covers were accounted for except for this one.
“You will hear that the lamp was unplugged and in an awkward position and that the computer was unplugged from the wall, sitting on the couch.
“And lastly, you will hear that there was a lit candle in this room. And you will hear testimony from firefighter Gary Marshall who will tell you that the combination of the gas being on and the lit candle could have caused an explosion in that apartment.
“The officers then moved on to the bedroom where they found Juliana lying lifeless in her bed. They observed her injuries, her bruises, her abrasions, all over her body.
“When Sergeant Hernandez found Juliana lifeless in her bed, he made the phone calls. He called the homicide detectives; he called the coroner’s department, and he called for his crime scene investigation people to arrive to gather evidence.
“All three of those individuals showed up. We have personnel from the coroner’s office, personnel from Santa Monica Police Department Homicide Detectives, and there was also the forensic team that showed up.
“And you will learn a lot about forensics in this case, and you will learn that those forensic technicians recovered several items of evidence including Juliana’s blackberry cell phone that was on her table in her bedroom. They collected fingerprints and they took hundreds of photographs.
“In addition, you will learn that they took DNA swabs for comparison. And the reason they did that was in hope of trying to find out who killed Juliana.
“They lifted fingerprints. And one of those fingerprints was lifted from a plate that was inside of Juliana’s kitchen, inside of the sink.
“All of these items were collected, and they were submitted to the Orange County Crime Lab. And again, they were sent to the Orange County Crime Lab to determine if any DNA could be extracted from the items; and if so, who did that DNA belong to?
“The items were sent to the crime lab, and numerous items were tested. Numerous reference samples from different individuals were sent to the crime lab in hopes of determining a match.
“And you will hear a lot of testimony in this case regarding DNA, what it is, how people leave it on items, how it is tested, and how profiles are created.
“You will hear all of that from the criminalist from the Orange County Crime Lab who will talk to you extensively about that.
“What you will also hear through the course of this testimony is that six items—there was DNA extracted from these six items: from Juliana’s cell phone, from Juliana’s neck, from Juliana’s tank top, from the right front knob of the stove, from the interior door of Juliana’s apartment, and from the fingerprint that was lifted.
“And what you will hear through the course of the testimony is that there were two profiles, a major contributor and a minor contributor. Sometimes in these items Juliana was the major contributor; and sometimes she was the minor contributor. But what the criminalist found out was that the other contributor was a female, and that female contributor was the same for each one of these items.
“You will hear that after testing those items, that there was the fingerprint that was lifted. You are going to hear from forensic specialist Kapala. And she is going to tell you that she took this fingerprint out of the locker and observed what she believed to be a spot of blood. And because of that, she had it as well sent to the Orange County Crime Lab to be tested to see if, in fact, it was blood. It in fact was blood. And that blood came back to a single source. Not a mixture like the other items; this was a single source, and it belonged to a female. Not only was it a single source belonging to one person and one person only; but that single source person was the same person that the criminalist match the other six items that I just showed you.
“So we have one person for the spot of blood and also for the six items including the cell phone, the tank top and the neck swab from Juliana.
“You will learn through the course of this investigation that went on for two years several reference samples were taken from different subjects.
“And you will learn that samples can come from a DNA swab coming from your mouth, or it could come from a cigarette; it could come from a wine glass; it could come from feminine products.
“All of these items were submitted to the crime lab in hopes of finding out who this other DNA prfile belonged to.
“And you will learn that through the course of the two –year investigation, 42 women were eliminated. And these were women that were associated with Juliana or associated with someone else who knew Juliana.
“You will learn that Detective Thompson started interviewing people in this case about Juliana and about her friends and about people who she associated with.
“And what you are going to hear is that there is an individual by the name of Munir Uwaydah. And Juliana dated him and started dating him in July of 2007. And not only did she date him, but she introduced him to her father, Greg Redding, who at the time lived in Arizona and was a pharmacist in Arizona.
“What you will also learn is that Munir Uwaydah was a doctor. And he wanted to go into business with Greg who was a pharmacist.
“Uwaydah wanted to create a pain cream, and he wanted Greg to actually make the pain cream and then sell it at his pharmacy in Ventura County.
“You will hear testimony that Greg and Uwaydah met several times, and they had these conversations about going into business together. And there was actually a contract created, and they were negotiating back and forth.
“Well, what you are also going to hear is that Greg, being a father, started checking into Uwaydah. And he found some things about Uwaydah that he did not like such as Uwaydah was married; such as Uwaydah has kids; such as Uwaydah wasn’t being truthful about his age.
“And Greg told his daughter. He said, “I don’t think he is being truthful with you. I found out he is married. I found out he has kids. I don’t think he is being truthful about his age.”
“So, what happens? Juliana ends up getting into an argument with Uwaydah, and she breaks it off with him.
“Time goes on, and Greg starts up negotiations again about the business. He asked Juliana, “Are you okay with me going into business with Uwaydah? I will be moving to L.A. I will be closer with you.” And Juliana says yes.
“So, Greg is going through this contract negotiation with Uwaydah. And again he starts doing some research. He is uncomfortable with what he finds, and he decides he doesn’t want to go into business with Uwaydah.
“And he sends, through his attorney, a letter to Uwaydah stating, “I have learned some things I am not comfortable with, and I am going to back out of the contract.”
“And Uwaydah sends a letter back saying, ‘That’s fine. We are on good ground. We haven’t done anything wrong. We wish you all the success.’”
“This letter was sent on March 10th, five days before Juliana was killed.”
“Now, Detective Thompson learns about Uwaydah, and she starts looking into females that are associated with Uwaydah. Because you will learn through the testimony of the criminalist, Annette McCall, that the DNA profile that was recovered from all of the items in Juliana’s apartment belonged to a female.
“So Detective Thompson starts looking at Uwaydah’s business associates, people that work for him, people that are associated with him. And she obtains five samples, five reference samples through cigarettes, through swabs. And she submits those to the crime lab.
“And guess what? All of those samples are eliminated except for one person, the defendant.
“And you will hear that a reference sample was obtained from the defendant in this case. And it was matched to the samples from Juliana’s tank top, from the sample obtained from the cell phone, from the sample obtained from the fingerprint blood which was a single source only, and from a sample that was taken from the interior door of Juliana’s apartment.
“And you will hear the numbers of those matchings through Annette McCall who will come into this court and testify.
“You will learn that the defendant was then arrested on June 18th of 2010. And she was arrested; her fingerprints were taken, and they were submitted into the fingerprints database. And you will learn that there was a match to the fingerprint found in Juliana Redding’s apartment.
“Based upon that information, two forensic specialists of the Santa Monica Police Department manually compared the defendant’s fingerprint with the fingerprint lifted from Juliana’s apartment on March 15th.
“It was a match.
“Now ladies and gentlemen, that is the evidence in this case in a nutshell. You will be getting all of the evidence through the witnesses that come into court.
“And at this point, the only thing I can ask of you is for you to listen and for your full attention.
“At the conclusion of the case both Mr. Buehler and myself will have an opportunity to go through all the evidence presented to you, and we will have an opportunity to argue the case to you.
“And at that point I will be asking you to find the defendant guilty.
“But at this point, the only thing I can and will ask of you is for your full attention in this matter.
“Thank you.”
Follow me on Twitter: @loncelamon
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