Orange County Prosecutor: Killer’s Photos Could be of Additional Victims

Law Offices of William W. Bruzzo — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 00:29:00 GMT

Convicted murder Rodney Alcala has again been sentenced to death for two murders from the 1970’s. The case gained attention outside of Orange County and has been featured in print and television news as Alcala represented himself on his third trial for multiple murders after the prior trials were reversed on appeal. Alcala also defended himself during the penalty phase of his trial where a jury recommended the death penalty. News reports of his death sentence brought attention to the many photos Alcala took during the 1970’s. The Huntington Beach Police Department in Orange County released the photos to the media to see if it generated information from the public regarding the subjects in the photos. According to the Orange County Register prosecutor Matt Murphy expressed a concern that the people depicted in the photos were missing or possible additional victims of Alcala. The police were able to get a search warrant for a storage locker in Seattle and Alcala’s home in Monterrey Park. Authorities explained that they have received calls from people stating that they are the subjects in the pictures. Some photos had addresses and the police have followed up with family members at those locations with no one being identified as missing. The photos can be seen on the Orange County Register website.

Anyone with information can contact Huntington Beach PD Detective Patrick Ellis at 714-375-5066, pellis@hbpd.org or Supervising District Attorney Investigator Ed Berakovich at 714-347-8492.

Criminal Law Updates by the Law Offices of William W. Bruzzo (714) 547-4636

Here is an Associated Press video regarding Alcala and the photos:

Proof of Insanity

Law Offices of William W. Bruzzo — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 04:47:00 GMT

Rodney Alcala has been charged with five murders that allegedly occurred during the 1970’s. One charge is for the murder of Robin Samsoe who was 12 years old at the time of her disappearance from Huntington Beach. The other four murders are out of Los Angeles County and have been combined with the Orange County case. Mr. Alcala denies committing the Orange County murder and is pleading not guilty by reason of insanity to the Los Angeles cases. He has refiled a severance motion that will ask to separate the Los Angeles cases from the Orange County case. For the District Attorney taking care of many cases at once is a matter of efficiency; meanwhile, for the defense having them together hurts the client because it can paint a more heinous picture of the defendant.

To make a case for insanity the defense must prove a mental defect at the time of the crime. According to the Criminal Jury Instructions insanity is a defense when the deficiency has made the defendant unable to distinguish or understand that what he did was legally or morally wrong. Being addicted to drugs or alcohol does not qualify as being insane. Other instances that do not qualify as proof of insanity are adjustment disorders, personality disorders or deviant behavior based on the crimes. The defense attorney must prove during a trial that a defendant was insane at the time of the crime and the jury will decide if the evidence supports the claim of insanity. The insanity phase of a trial occurs after the Defendant has been found guilty of having committed the crime. Accordingly, in a trial with an insanity plea, there are two trials, one on the facts and the other on the question of whether the Defendant was insane at the time of the alleged offense. If a Defendant is found guilty on the facts of the crime but found insane at the time, then he will be in custody until he is declared sane by the state authorities. At no time will the Defendant be released prior to six months elapsing.

rodney-alcala - Law Offices of William W. Bruzzo

Orange County Prosecutor: Killer’s Photos Could be of Additional Victims

Proof of Insanity