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Man’s third murder trial set to resume
Case centers on credibility of witness
| Sunday, Mar 23 2008 9:39 PM
Last Updated: Monday, Mar 24 2008 7:16 AM
It was five years ago this month when Glenn Maurice Johnson was first convicted of murder in the shooting death of Lamar Rufus.
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Glenn Maurice Johnson in Kern Country Superior Court at his third trial for the murder of Lamar Antawon Rufus in 2002.
Glenn Maurice Johnson is pictured in this file photo.
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But that conviction was tossed in 2004 because an appeals court found the jury did not receive proper instructions on the law.
The following year, Johnson was again convicted of the same crime — driving the getaway car in support of a gun killing in south Bakersfield.
But once again, his conviction of second-degree murder was reversed by the 5th District Court of Appeal, this time because the court found the prosecution withheld key evidence from the defense.
Will the third time be a charm — or will this be strike three — for the prosecution?
Testimony is expected to resume today in the second retrial of the 30-year-old defendant, who was 25 at his first trial.
In their opening statements last week, Deputy District Attorney Arthur Norris and defense attorney Michael Lukehart laid out road maps of a sort — showing where they hope to lead the jury.
“On Sept. 20, 2002, Lamar Rufus and Curtis Rufus suffered a nightmare,” Norris told the jury Thursday.
“Curtis ... saw the cousin that he loved, murdered,” Norris continued. “Curtis will tell you what he saw. Curtis will tell you who he saw.”
Curtis Rufus is, in essence, the centerpiece of the prosecution’s case. Both previous trials depended on his statements as an eyewitness to convict Johnson.
But this time around, Curtis’ testimony may be cast in a more negative light by the defense.
At the last trial, Norris argued that Curtis Rufus had no reason to lie and no gang ties.
But an appeals court determined that evidence was withheld by the prosecution during the last trial, including information detailing Curtis Rufus’ alleged involvement in a gang-related shooting.
On March 7, 2004, Curtis Rufus was identified on a security video at a convenience store on Brundage Lane pulling a pistol out from under his shirt and passing it to a known gang member just before a gunfight started outside the store, Lukehart told jurors.
When investigators questioned Curtis about the incident, he initially lied about it, Lukehart said.
“I expect when you get to the end of this case,” Lukehart told the jury, “you will see things a little differently.”