David Charles Zanon
July 30, 2010
Defendant's intent called key in trial over CHP officer's highway death
Defense lawyer Mark D. Millard opened the capital murder defense of David Zanon on Tuesday by telling a jury in Placerville he couldn't deny his client had run over and killed CHP Officer Scott Russell in 2007.
"This case, as (District Attorney Vern) Pierson said, is a terrible tragedy and there is no question that David Zanon is responsible for that tragedy," Millard told jurors, as the defendant sat quietly at the defense table.
Zanon's trial in El Dorado Superior Court, however, is not about whether his actions led to Russell's death, his attorney argued.
"The issue is not whether he did the act of killing … " Millard said. "The issue is what was his intent."
Intent will make all the difference in this trial.
Police say Zanon was discovered burglarizing a Rancho Cordova business on July 31, 2007. He then led officers from several jurisdictions on a high-speed chase deep into El Dorado County.
Near the Ponderosa Road exit, officials say, he coldly steered his getaway car off the freeway onto the median and ran down Russell, who had attempted to lay a spike strip to stop Zanon's car.
Pierson's office has charged Zanon with six counts, including murder. They also allege he killed to avoid arrest and intentionally killed a law enforcement officer.
Those circumstances, if proved, would make Zanon eligible for the death penalty.
Pierson opened the trial Tuesday by laying out a brief chronology of events.
Minutes after leaving the Rancho Cordova site with deputies in pursuit, Zanon swerved toward another deputy's vehicle responding to the scene, Pierson said.
The district attorney compared Zanon's action to a "game of chicken."
On Highway 50 in El Dorado Hills, Pierson recounted, Zanon swerved toward another CHP officer attempting to lay a spike strip.
Along the way, he threw things out of his vehicle into the path of those pursuing him and called his friends, Pierson said.
"He's crying and saying goodbye," Pierson told the jury.
All this, Pierson indicated, suggests Zanon knew what he was doing and intentionally aimed at Russell, intending to kill him.
In Millard's opening for the defense, however, he alluded to a frighteningly bad childhood for Zanon, and a history of mental disabilities, including attention deficit syndrome, post-traumatic stress and bipolar disorder, and a history of drug and alcohol abuse.
He countered that Zanon's state of mind was disordered.
"This is David Zanon taken shortly after he was arrested," Millard said, showing a photo of an emaciated, tattooed and bandaged Zanon with a vacant look in his eyes.
"The evidence will not show he intended to kill those officers," Millard said.
An important part of that evidence, he said, will show Zanon drove onto the median to get around the tack strips, and accidentally hit Russell as the officer tried to take cover.
After opening statements by prosecution and defense, Judge James R. Wagoner moved the court directly into presentation of witnesses.
The trial is expected to last several weeks, which will take it beyond the July 31 anniversary of Russell's killing.
http://www.sacbee.com/2010/07/07/287...#ixzz0t08VzvJz
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