This
morning the defense resumed their case with the testimony of Albert Cowings, Moloi’s maternal grandfather. Mr. Cowings
testified that his grandson had come to
The
next witness to take the stand was Alosi Moloi – the
defendant’s paternal grandfather. His
questioning went along the same lines as Cowings
(came for the party, no injuries seen on Moloi, gave pocket money to grandson,
etc.). One bizarre accusation was made
during Alosi’s cross-examination, though: Alosi claimed that Sergeant Kazakos
was passing himself off as Detective Duran, and that he & two other
detectives searched his home on the 23rd – against his will; he also
stated that the police lied to him about why they were looking for his
grandson. Alosi
later admitted that the detectives had been invited into the home, and “the
search” was a look-around to see who might be in the house – besides Alosi himself; personal possessions weren’t rifled through,
and when asked to leave, the officers did so.
The
next and final witness for the defense came as major shock; the defendant
himself took the stand. Normally a defendant
does not take the stand, and for very good reason, but I guess the asshole saw
what direction his case was going and decided to roll the dice.
Moloi
of course denied everything. He had not
come out to
Mr.
Gundy began his cross-examination of Moloi by asking about school. He asked how many units of class work Moloi
had been enrolled in; it was not a full-time load. Gundy asked when the last time was he
attended any of the classes; it was September 25, 2002 – a whole month before
the murders. Moloi said that the class
instructors viewed attendance at their lectures as optional, but could not name
any of these instructors. Moloi was then
asked about CSUSB students that said Moloi owed them money; Moloi said they
were lying. Moloi was also asked about a
student who stated she gave him a ride into
Moloi
was asked about the shoes he was wearing that night. If they were Nikes like he said, could he
produce them? He said they were in
storage somewhere. If they were in
storage, why hadn’t he produced them in the four years he had been incarcerated? Moloi gave some answer about not expecting to
be in jail so long; Gundy reminded Moloi that he had been denied bail early on,
and that it had been made clear to him that the crimes he was charged with were
robbery, and murder with special circumstances (which has minimum sentence of
life, and the possibility of death).
Moloi then gave some reply about not trusting the Anaheim Police.
Moloi
was asked what the names and address were of the other two people he visited on
the 22nd; he could only remember their first names for certain, and
was unable to give their addresses.
Besides, it turns out the people he “visited” weren’t home anyway. Moloi was given ample time to explain his
where abouts on the evening of the 22nd,
and even allowed to draw a diagram for the jury. However, when the times given at each place
and the distances covered were added up, there were still hours unaccounted
for. Also, no one can confirm Moloi’s
story of when he returned to the Alosi residence.
Moloi
was also asked about his injuries to his legs.
He was asked to explain how he was able to injure those particular parts
of his body on the fence. He tried, but
again, things just did not add up. He
was also asked to describe where he injured himself, on his body, but when
compared to the photos taken by police, his account did not match. He was also asked why, if he new he bled on
the cider bottle, why didn’t he clean up after himself; Moloi did not have an
answer.
Moloi
once again stated that the document presented by Troy Jones the other day was
not written by him. Moloi did confirm,
though, that the letters used (by the police handwriting expert) for comparison
purposes were his.
Other
questions followed this same pattern.
Either Moloi’s story just didn’t add up or everybody was wrong or lying
(accept for Moloi, of course).
Probably
the best part of the cross examination by Gundy was at the end, when a letter
was brought into evidence – in Moloi’s handwriting. It was to another former inmate of the
There
was a little bit of redirect from the defense attorney, but Moloi was pretty
much done (God willing, in more ways than one).
The
defense rested; Gundy was given a chance at rebuttal. Officers Duran, Palmer and Kazakos were called to the stand. Duran testified that he was the officer that
had initiated contact with Alosi on the 23rd
of October, and had left his business card.
He also stated that he had Alosi’s permission
to enter the home, and look for other people there; Duran did not disclose,
though, that Moloi was a potential suspect in a murder. Palmer testified that he had accompanied
Duran to the Alosi residence; he did not leave a business
card since Duran already had (a photo was displayed that showed Palmer with a
thick mustache, he had at the time, that looks similar to Kazakos’). Palmer was also asked about the park Moloi
described hurting himself at; Palmer placed the park on a different street than
Moloi, and in the middle of a block, not at a corner (he could not remember,
though, if there was a large chain link fence there, at the time). Kazakos then took the stand, and testified
that he had not met Alosi until
Aside
from a stipulation being read to the jury, that someone had used
Final
arguments begin at