Legal News

Alcala delivers opening statement on his own behalf

By Richard Binder

The Orange County Register continues its coverage of the Rodney Alcala trial today.

This morning, Alcala, who is defending himself against five murder charges, delivered an hour-long opening speech the OC Register called "rambling," in which he insisted he was at Knott's Berry Farm at the time Robin Samsoe was abducted in June of 1970.  He went on to say that earrings found in in his rented storage locker in Seattle after his arrest in 1979 were his and not Samsoe's.

Alcala admitted that he had been taking pictures of bikini-clad girls on Sunset Beach earlier on the day Samsoe was kidnapped, but he was not the photographer who approached Samsoe and her friend, in spite of the identification made by Jackie Young.

He did not mention the four other cases, which authorities linked to Alcala through DNA and other forensic evidence.

Full story here.

The Register is unimpressed with Alcala's performance.

Full post as published by Legal Pad | LA on February 02, 2010 (boomark / email).