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Letters from a death row inmate Kenneth Clair claims heʼs an innocent man sentenced to die By BRITTANY KUHN Daily Titan Staff
Kenneth Clair does not believe in the death penalty, especially not for himself. A death row inmate at San Quentin prison for over 17 years, Clair strongly advocates against the death penalty and for his exoneration. On Nov. 15, 1984, an assailant
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described by child witnesses as white, broke into a Santa Ana home and brutally murdered a resident babysitter named Linda Rodgers. Rodgers was tied up and gagged, stabbed in the neck and back, strangled with clothing and beaten on the head with a pipe. Nearly 20 years later, Clair, a black man, says he is wrongly serving a death row sentence for a crime he did not commit. “I have nothing to hide in me,” said Clair in a letter during correspondence with the Daily Titan. “First and foremost I am an innocent man under
the sentence of death behind the walls of San Quentin prison, on death row for a crime I did not commit. Iʼve been claiming factual innocence for almost 20 years now, fighting against the machine (the state of California) not only for my life, but for my freedom as well.” According to Clairʼs testimony and public court documents, Rodgers was a live-in babysitter who took care of the children of Margaret and Kai Henriksen. The sources indicate that Rodgers expressed fear for her life before she died because Kai Henriksen had a criminal record of
murder and violence, ties to an outlaw motorcycle gang and involvement in drug trafficking. Clair, who was a transient living next door to the Henriksens, had been arrested only three nights before the murder when Kai called the police claiming Clair had burglarized them. There was no evidence found linking Clair to either the burglary or to the murder, for which he was sentenced to death, according to the documents. Since the summer of 1987, when Clair was sentenced, the 45-year-old has been fighting against capital pun-
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Haidl, but before then both defense attorneys and prosecutors for the case will spend time determining how to prevent a second mistrial. “Iʼm not sure they can avoid another mistrial,” said Richard Orozco, a criminal defense attorney not involved in the case. “What the [district attorney] has to do is get the facts in and get them in clean.” Orozco, who once tried a case three times, said itʼs important to make sure the same stories are told each time around. Defense attorneys will probably go through transcripts from the last trial to ensure that the testimony adds up, Orozco said. “The defense will [probably] be better prepared,” he said. Haidl has run into several problems with the law while out on bail. Most recently Haidl caused a traffic accident and tested positive for alcohol consumption. Although Haidlʼs actions while out on bail cannot be brought up in his retrial, Orozco said jurors chosen for the next trial will have already been exposed to that information through the media. “As an observer, I found it inter-
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Greg Haidl defense attorneys aim to avoid another mistrial
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The state capitol is reflected in one of hundreds of ornaments hung on the state Christmas tree outside the capitol building in Sacamento, Calif.
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have been multiple claims that his original trial was littered with jury misconduct, hidden evidence and misrepresentation of the law. Julian Bailey, Clairʼs previous public defender who had no prior experience in death penalty cases, has since admitted that he defended Clair incompetently. He issued a statement on behalf of his inadequate performance to the UC Irvine New University: “The defense I presented at the guilt phase of Mr. Clairʼs trial was
By LAURA GORDON and KELLY
Senior will be first woman in her family to graduate college Serena Lopez, a senior human services major, will be the first female member in her fatherʼs extended family to receive a bachelorʼs degree. Her expected May 2005 graduation is an event that will be a source of major pride for her family. The majority of her aunts and female cousins have not pursued a college education. Many of them had gotten pregnant immediately after graduating from high school. A handful of them attended one or two semesters at a junior college before dropping out and joining the work force in order to raise their young families. “I had a real family-oriented childhood,” Lopez said. “I remember always being happy.” Her parents, Ronald and Irma Lopez, were loving parents who sheltered her from certain traditions, particularly those that did not encourage the pursuit of higher education. “I never really hung out with my cousins,” she said. Now, at 22 years old, she looks at her cousins and recognizes the fact that she does not want to end up like them. Instead, she would learn from their mistakes. Three of her cousins, ages 22 to 24, each have two kids. Lopez has taken on the role of godmother to their children. “I think they feel that they have less in common with me,” she said, referring to her cousinsʼ feelings toward her educational path. Many of her cousins have expressed the desire to return to school. “I always tell them that I would help them with studying or applications,” Lopez said. Unfortunately, they have yet to take up her offer. Lopez grew up in a quiet, middleclass neighborhood in Whittier. It was
ishment and a judicial decision that he claims wrongly imprisoned him for nearly a third of his life. A series of rare federal court hearings were held in August as a last round of appeals that detailed many of the possible errors of the original trial. In light of these recent evidentiary hearings, many claim that Clair is innocent – including prior jury members, close friends, college students, and advocates opposed to the death penalty. Many have since spoken out about the suspicious conditions under which Clair was arrested and there
In the wake of OJ Simpsonʼs 1995 murder trial, public interest in criminal court cases involving celebrities has intensified. More recently, trials of non-celebrities, like the Scott Peterson case, have taken a hold of the publicʼs attention as well. Now, Orange County is focusing in on its own high profile non-celebrity case. The case involves Greg Haidl, the son of former Deputy Sheriff Don Haidl. Haidl is one of three teens accused of gang raping a 16-yearold girl. The case has created buzz throughout Orange County since its start in July 2002. Last June, a judge pronounced a mistrial for the case after the jury deadlocked during its deliberations for a verdict. In January, a new trial begins for
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Students with children face unusual challenges Parents on campus strive to balance school with family
last minute before signing out, and then it is straight to the books. Now, imagine that on the way home you must pick up your children from daycare, help them with their homework, play with them, bathe them and tuck them into bed with their favorite bedtime story. However, your day is not over yet, for once these tasks are complete, you finally begin your homework. A schedule like this might appear far-fetched, but it is a reality to many Cal State Fullerton student-
parents who balance family and school. “Homework was done after the kids were in bed, starting at 11 p.m.,” said 35-year-old Veronica Tagle, a summer 2004 graduate of CSUF whose husband supported her decision to return to school. “You have to decide whatʼs more important: family or school. When school is over, family is all you have, so family comes first.” Still, Tagle said she feels as though her education commitments
took valuable time away from her family. Rene Perez, a CSUF graduate student and father, faces the same challenge. A workweek of 30 to 40 hours and an academic load of 12 to 16 units a semester took over his undergraduate years. “I wish I could have spent more time with my son,” Perez said. While some college students spend their weekends at parties with friends or going out to dinner, some student parents do not have that
luxury. “When friends were going out, I couldnʼt do anything,” Perez said. “It was me and my son.” Some parents like Perez feel that their involvement in CSUF is limited because of their responsibilities as a parent. Although Perez said he was a member of the Geology Club, he also aspired to join the Intercollegiate Committee, but was unable to
If Peter Panʼs Neverland is home to boys who refuse to grow up, then video game composer Tommy Tallaricoʼs Sound Studio is home to a man who refuses to give up his
video games. “My generation grew up on video games,” Tallarico, 36, said. “I mean, I was weaned on Space Invaders, Pac Man, television and Atari.” Video game sound has come a long way since then, largely due to Tallaricoʼs dual passions for music and video games. By approaching video games like movies, worthy of their own soundtracks, he ensured that the bleeps and bloops of the pong ball and its paddle would never
make it onto a sound effects list of any of todayʼs games. “I loved those games,” he said. “[But] I didnʼt want to listen to the ʻdo-do do-dit-dit-do.ʼ It was ridiculous.” Tallarico got his start as a video game sound composer in 1991 while working at The Guitar Center when he ran into a Virgin Interactive Entertainment game designer on his first day. He started with Virgin the next
day and went on to head the music and video division where he was the first to use live guitar in a video game and the first to release a video game music CD worldwide. He was also the first to use 3-D audio in a game. By 1994, Tallaricoʼs reputation as a sound designer had grown so quickly that he went into business for himself. Tommy Tallarico Sound Studio is now the largest audio production house in the industry.
“Itʼs an art in a craft, trying to layer sound upon sound upon sound,” said Larry Ward, a radio-TV-film professor at Cal State Fullerton. Sound is so important, in both video games and movies, that the Radio-TV-Film Department is designing a class called Audio for Film. Over the last 15 years, Tallarico has written music and created realistic sound effects for more than 200
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After hours of intense focusing on mildly interesting professors, you report to that part-time job where $6.75 an hour does not suffice for the frustration. Your weary eyes are glued to the clock for that
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‘Incredible’ designer makes advances in sound Composer Tallarico has created effects for over 200 video games By TIFFANY AMEJKA For the Daily Titan
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