The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 174

I ii ti ll 1 V. KT-, SECTION cou Coo Angeles Simes VCCCt WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1995 NTY JiMUilMS Law to Ease Trauma for Disabled Who Testify Ojai Valley Assaults ingly methodical" and said the 38-year-old drifter will not be eligible for parole until 2026. Malone's second victim clapped her hands, exclaimed "All right, all right" and broke into tears at the judge's pronouncement. "Ojai gets hot in the summer and I like to sleep with the windows open," she said. "Now I feel that right has been taken away from me." Malone severely beat the Meiners Oak woman, who was then 61, as she slept on her living room couch in March, 1994.

The woman was able to fight him off during Please see RAPIST, B5 Courts: Measure is inspired by a 1994 Ventura County sexual assault case in which a woman with the capacity of a 10-year-old had to face her alleged attacker. By CARLOS V.LOZANO TIMES STAFF WRITER After being sexually assaulted during a stay at Simi Valley Hospital, the 32-year-old, developmentally disabled woman had to endure yet another emotional trauma: Cross-examination in court by her assailant, who was acting as his own attorney. So upset at having to confront Victor E. Sumner, the victim, who had the mental capacity of an 8- to 10-year-old, suffered a stress-induced seizure the day after taking the stand. A new state law inspired by the 1994 Ventura County case could allow some disabled victims to testify outside the courtroom, possibly through closed-circuit television, to spare them the turmoil of facing their assailant.

Authored by state Sen. Cathie Wright (R-Simi Valley), the new law is similar to one that now offers the same privilege to crime victims under the age of 10. The law, which takes effect Jan. 1, will allow judges the discretion to provide special accommodations for disabled victims who testify, Wright said. Such accommodations include moving trial proceedings to the judge's chambers or rearranging the courtroom to WENDY LAMM L.A.

Tunes Kevin Richard Malone create a more relaxed environment in which the victim testifies; using a victim's videotaped testimony from a preliminary hearing at the trial if further testimony is expected to cause severe emotional or health problems; or allowing testimony by means of two-way closed-circuit television. gives the judge some flexibility," Wright said. Ventura County case, the judge couldn't do victim had to face her attacker because he constitutional right to act as his own attorney." people with disabilities, particularly those Please see LAW, BS THOUSAND OAKS HUMBLE HERO: Scott Rosenfeld, the national Paramedic of the Year, has taken the honor in stride. B5 THOUSAND OAKS CHURCH PLAN: The Seventh-day Ad-ventist Church awaits approval of its plans for a school, retirement facilities and shopping center. B3 FENCE CONTROL: Charles E.

Probst, whose fence was ordered removed by July, has been granted an extension, to the dismay of some. B3 CAMARILLO INTERCHANGE WORK: Some residents south of the Ventura Freeway have concerns over a proposed $7-million interchange revamping. B2 SIMI VALLEY HEARING SET: A hearing is set for Nov. 16 to determine whether a man should be tried on charges of raping a 14-year-old girl. B2 VENTURA STREET COMPROMISE: The City Council agreed to a series of measures to restrict traffic on Beach -mont Street in the Ventura Keys.

B6 MOORPARK SEALED RECORDS: Records of the Scott Montgomery grand jury probe are sealed. That frustrates city officials who want to see transcripts. B4 Man Gets 62 Years for By PAUL ELIAS SPECIAL TO THE TIMES Convicted rapist Kevin Richard Malone was sentenced to more than 62 years in prison Tuesday after three of his four victims tearfully pleaded with a judge to show no mercy with the man who terrified women throughout the Qjai Valley. Malone had earlier pleaded guilty to 10 counts of rape, sexual assault and robbery in connection with a string of sexual assaults during a summer of fear in 1994. Handing down the sentence of 62 years, Superior Court Judge Charles W.

Campbell Jr. called the crimes "sicken- -JIM Vrl I 3 I 1. A 1 tll A 1 1 "This law "In the anything. The had the Wright said JOE PUGLIESE Los Angeles Times Statue usually strikes a dignified pose. Church Members on Mission to Get City's Serra Statue By TRACY WILSON TIMES STAFF WRITER VENTURA As artistic fame goes, Father Junipero Serra has his fair share.

From Majorca to Mexico, giant statues of the short Franciscan priest grace numerous plazas and parks. But in San Buenaventura the city where Serra established his last mission in 1782 an artistic brouhaha is brewing. Six years after the community raised enough money to have a group of artisans painstakingly carve Serra's likeness into a nine-foot wooden statue, a proposal is afoot to move the icon from a room inside City Hall to a church in another city. Members of the Padre Serra Parish in Camarillo want to give the replica of their namesake a new home, and the county's museum director intends to soon ask city leaders to consider such a move. But merely the suggestion of relocating one of the city's several Serra statues has outraged some residents and city leaders.

ELECTIONS VENTURA INITIATIVES Foes Say Land Issues Costly for Police By MIGUEL BUSTILLO TIMES STAFF WRITER VENTURA Opponents of two ballot measures to limit development of farmland leveled new charges Tuesday, claiming that the proposals would drain money from the city's crime-fighting efforts. The campaign brochures, arriving in voters' mailboxes a week before the city's election, were immediately criticized by proponents of measures I and J. "They'll stoop this low," said former Ventura Mayor Richard L. Francis, who drafted the initiatives. "I think some people will believe it.

Others will be angered by it." Sponsored by Venturans for a Quality Community, a group formed by business people opposing the measures, the flyer states: "After cutting six police officers, Ventura is more violent than Oxnard. Measures I will only make it worse." An open letter to voters on the mailer's flip side suggests that the measures would force the city to spend tax dollars fighting farmers who would sue" to defend their property rights. Opponents have said previously that the measures very likely would be challenged in court. Supporters, however, say that Measure I is modeled closely after a Napa County law that has withstood legal challenge. Please see LAND, B6 Nonprofit Builder in National Push for Rural Housing By FRED ALVAREZ TIMES STAFF WRITER Ventura County's largest private developer of low -income housing is one of 68 groups nationwide selected for an unprecedented campaign to aid long-neglected rural communities.

Having beaten out about 200 developers vying for the program, the Cabrillo Economic Development Corp. of Saticoy is now in line to receive hundreds of thousands of dollars and potentially millions from a newly created pool of loans and grants to plan, build and manage housing for the poor. "This is the first national rural effort in this country of this scale, and we're humbled to be a part of it," said Cabrillo Executive Director Rodney Fernandez, who is in Washington, D.C., for today's campaign launch. "I think this is a recognition of the success we have had over the years." The housing program organized by the Local Initiatives Support the nation's largest supporter of community development corporations will pump $302 million in public and private funds into rural Please aee CABRILLO, B5 I iHj STEVE OSM AN Lo Angeles Timei Statue is draped with Halloween garb resembling a grass skirt and Hawaiian lei. "The people here don't want it to request is expected to reach city leaders leave the city of Ventura," said Council- later this week, man Jim Monahan.

"There is no reason "We are working on a nice orderly for it to leave City Hall." bureaucratic procedure to see if the city No formal proposal is on the table, city would like to give us the statue and we, officials said Tuesday. Though such a Please see SERRA, B4 Tonight' Jack-vt: $20 million Time: Sales close at p.m. For Tuesday, Oct. 31 FANTASY 5 Winning Numbers: 24-25-31-32-38 "-T" DECCO Winning Cards: Hearts: 7 Clubs: 7 0 Diamonds: 3 4 Spades: Queen DAILY 3 Winning Numbers: 6-5-4 TlmesUne (818)808-8463 Ventura County Focus B2.B3 Weather B7 Classifieds B6 L.A. County News B8 Air Quality B3.B7 Editorials BIO rT i i.

i i i i -i Street's Residents Say Hill of Dirt Is Heap of Trouble S. By JEFF McDONALD SPECIAL TO THE TIMES THOUSAND OAKS-Clare Resnick doesn't let her little girl play out back anymore. The constant drumming of earthmovers and oversized tractors kicks up too much dirt, and the mouse infestation keeps getting worse. "Those huge tractors drive within five feet of my back fence," the Blackwood Street resident said Tuesday. "It's filthy." Resnick is among a dozen or more residents fed up with the 10-hour-a-day construction work going on behind their back fences, the latest venture in the Dos Vientos subdivision.

Nestled in the folds of the Santa Monica Mountains, Blackwood Street abuts Dos Vientos, a huge residential project being developed by the Operating Engineers Please see DIRT, B4 On the Record "There's nothing more permanent than temporary solutions. I'm kind of concerned that the stockpile will stay there forever." Frederic Doucedame discusses a pile of construction dirt in his Newbury Park neighborhood. Bl SPENCER WEINER Lm Angelea Timet Earthmover rolls past massive dirt pile that troubles nearby residents..