The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • 21

VALLEY Ileus 3ftmes San Fernando, Concjo, Santa Clarita Simi Valleys 8 Part II Monday. January 25, 1988 jft-W- -jp-gga 1 ,,1 1 "T7 li I a 'A "1uv- i -TS3? A- av I 4tfNP LtW Separate Juries Will Hear Trial of 2 Accused of Slaying Officer By LYNN STEINBERG. Times Staff Writer When testimony begins this week in Van Nuys Superior Court in the trial of two men accused of gunning down a Los Angeles police detective, attorneys and witnesses will be speaking to two juries at the same time one for each defendant. In a cumbersome and fairly uncommon procedure, one panel will be seated in the jury box while the other will be cordoned off in an area normally reserved for spectators. They will change places each week.

One panel will deliberate in the jury room, the other in a lounge behind the cafeteria. Sometimes, testimony intruded for the ears of only one jury will force the other jury to leave the courtroom. Keeping track of which panel hears which testimony creates confusion, say defense attorneys, who requested both juries. But, they say, it is better than having only one jury hear a complicated murder that involves the death penalty especially when one defendant appears more at fault than the other. "There can be guilt by association," said attorney Michael V.

White, who is defending Ruben A. (Tony) Moss, 26, on charges of murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the October, 1985, ambush slaying of Detective Thomas C. Williams. Moss' co-defendant in the trial is Daniel S. Jenkins, 32, who also is charged with murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

A trial will be held later for three other men Duane Moody, 30, Voltaire Williams, 25, and Reecy Cooper, 33 accused in Williams' murder. Prosecutors said they are not seeking the death penalty against those three, who also are charged with murder and conspiracy to commit murder. A sixth man arrested in the Williams murder, David Bentley, was granted immunity for his testimony, prosecutors said. Saves Time, Money Although impaneling two juries for a single trial is not precedent-setting, it is unusual and done primarily in multiple-defendant, death-penalty cases. It saves time and money and allows witnesses needed for both trials to make fewer court appearances, prosecutors and other legal experts said.

"In the last five years, several trials have been conducted this way, but that's from zero to several," UCLA law professor Peter Arenella said. "It's gone from never having been done before to a few judges willing to do it in some judicial districts throughout the country." Last year two juries were impaneled in Los Angeles for a murder trial that stemmed from the 1984 robbery and shoot-out at Jin Hing jewelry store in Chinatown that left one police officer and two robbers dead. That trial is continuing. Sang Nam Chinh and Hau Cheong (Peter) Chan, defendants in the case, could face the death penalty. There also were two San Fernando Superior Court juries in the 1984 murder trial of Manghit Singh Jandu and Kelly Lee Morgan, who were accused of killing real estate broker Ronald Colton in October, 1982.

One jury convicted Morgan of first-degree murder. The second jury split 9 to 3 in favor of acquitting Jandu. Jandu was tried again and convicted of second-degree murder. A third defendant, Herman Parrish, Please see TRIAL, Page 14 JOE VITTI Los Angeles Times San Gabriel Mountains form backdrop for view along Kalisher Street from Kewen Street to Hewitt Street, part of area considered for redevelopment. Suburban Renewal San Fernando in Uproar Over Talk to Revitalize Long-Neglected Latino Neighborhood By STEPHANIE CHAVEZ, Times Staff Writer CURRENT j5fj, oeNT Li ZONE Nfc.

EXPANSION A a yA. A ZONE 'VXX i 'We don't know what the city wants. All they say is that they want to improve the area. I'm concerned that if people are displaced, they won't be able to afford to live Salvador Alcontara resident of proposed redevelopment area A proposal to redevelop an old Latino section of the City of San Fernando has sent shudders through the neighborhood because many fear that they could be forced from their homes. Although the proposal is in its infancy, no other issue in recent years has generated so much controversy in the quiet, 2.4-square-mile town, city officials said.

Usually, only a handful of people show up for City Council meetings, held every two weeks, but two meetings on this issue drew a total of 150. Council members who proposed the plan as a way to revitalize a long-neglected neighborhood say they are surprised by the outcry. They are back-pedaling on the proposal and promise to defer to the recommendations of a newly formed citizens' advisory committee. The issue is particularly sensitive because the proposed redevelopment zone is centered in the barrio, an aging neighborhood of predominantly longtime residents and, in many cases, lifetime ones. "There is a lot of fear out there, especially with the older people who have lived here all their lives," said Evelio Franco, 33, a resident whose parents live a block away.

"All of a sudden, attention has been focused on our little neighborhood and people are panicked." The preliminary plan, unanimously approved by the five-member City Council in October, was virtually unnoticed by residents. Mayor James Hansen said the proposal grew out of a desire to expand the city's downtown mall redevelopment zone to include a neigh houses. The proposal, which authorized the city to begin studying the 55-acre area as a possible redevelopment zone, was approved 4 to 0. Councilman Ray Silva, who lives on one of the 200 pieces of property in the proposed zone, did not vote because of a potential conflict of interest. Cities may designate blighted parcels of land for renewal.

Once parcels are within a redevelopment zone, the city's redevelopment agency generally buys property and then resells it at a discount to developers. This encourages construction in otherwise unattractive areas. The agency can condemn property and force property owners to sell at the market price. This enables the city to assemble large parcels for private developers. The city pays the cost to relocate merchants, homeowners or tenants.

The benefits come in the form of the increased property-tax dollars that result from the higher assessed values of the new or improved sites. Taxes above those paid when the zone was created go to the redevelopment agency. That money is used to finance more improvements. A city report says the barrio's buildings are 50 years or older and, in "many cases, maintenance has been lacking, resulting in deterioration andor dilapidation." The neighborhood is troubled by a "high density of population and overcrowding," and many homes have inadequate ventilation, light and sanitation, it says. As part of the redevelop Family of Slain Deputy Quadruples Reward By MICHAEL CONNELLY, Times Staff Writer The family of a slain Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy announced Sunday the first anniversary of the killing that they have raised the reward for information leading to a conviction in the case to $100,000.

"We hope this money will maybe bring the one person out who has the piece of information that detectives will use to solve it," said Trish Hardy, whose brother, Deputy Charles Robert Anderson, was slain Jan. 24, 1987. "There has to be someone out there who can bring this to an end," Hardy said. Anderson, 35, an 11 -year veteran, was off duty when he walked into his Burbank home on a Saturday morning and was shot to death by an intruder. He was carrying his 5-year-old son, who was not injured.

His wife and year-old daughter were in the family's car outside the home in the 1700 block of West Oak Street. Fled to Neighbor's House After hearing gunshots, Anderson's wife, Beth, ran into the home and saw him sprawled in the hallway. She then grabbed their son and fled with both children to a neighbor's house. When police arrived, Anderson was dead and the intruder was gone. Sheriff's Sgt.

Frank Salerno, assigned to a joint investigation with Burbank police, said Sunday that progress on the case has been slow and that the increase in the reward from the $23,000 put up by various police organizations shortly after the slaying Please see DEPUTY, Page 11 Weeds have overrun a parking lot of closed business on Mission Boulevard in San Fernando. boring commercial strip. Council members are concerned because Mission College will vacate 40,000 square feet of downtown storefront space in about two years. The school will move to a new campus in Sylmar: Also, a former supermarket on Mission Boulevard has been vacant for nearly three years. The building and parking lot have become an eyesore, marred with graffiti, weeds and boarded -up windows.

Councilman Jess Margarito moved to enlarge the zone to include the run-down storefronts along Kalisher Street and the adjacent residential neighbor- ment process, the city is required to form a citizens' advisory committee if there is the possibility that homeowners could be displaced through eminent domain. On Dec. 23, the city sent about 200 letters to property owners asking them to participate in the committee. Two sentences set off alarms. One said all property in the "area "is subject to acquisition by purchase or condemnation." The other said assistance would be provided to anyone who was "relocated as a result of such acquisitions." Please see RENEWAL, Page 10 hood, the barrio.

When Margarito was elected in 1984, one of his priorities was to improve housing in this neighborhood, the city's poorest. During Margarita's one-year term as mayor, the council directed the Police Department to crack down on the drug dealing there. "There are not enough resources in the city to stop the deterioration of this community," Margarito said. He said redevelopment would provide resources to finance loans or grants to homeowners to fix up their Panorama City Looks for Signs of Resurgence in Business Community By CLAUDIA PUIG, Times Staff Writer Three decades ago, Panorama City was envisioned as a retail and commercial center of the mid-San Fernando Valley, complete with towering office buildings and a sprawling shopping mall. That was before hard times hit the area.

These days, building facades in the small community of nearly 18,000 are splattered with graffiti, and many stores along main thoroughfares have gone out of business. Nearly all of Panorama City's large office complexes have "for lease" and "office space available" signs posted in front. Even the area's bright spot, the 33-year-old Panorama Mall, can't escape the problems. Across the street, dirt lots and empty storefronts sit like The chamber, about $12,000 in debt, recently closed its doors. It is unclear when or even if it will reopen.

Just before it closed, chamber Treasurer Gloria McCord sent invitations for a fund-raiser to all of the 1,700 businesses in the Panorama City-Sepulveda area. Only six responded. "No one wants to join the chamber," McCord said. "If you don't have support from the community, it's hopeless. Most chambers have problems, but this one seems to have the worst problems." Even when the chamber merged in 1982 with one in Sepulveda, it didn't seem to help.

The chamber's Please see PANORAMA, Page 11 "It was a nice area to live in, the shopping district was quite nice and there were a number of office buildings flourishing there," said City Councilman Hal Bernson, who lived in Panorama City for a year in 1966. George Koutsoubas, who headed the chamber in the late 1960s, said he remembers when "it used to be prestigious to say you worked in Panorama City." "You had quite an impact on politicians in those days," he said. "It's amazing the difference between what it was and what it is now." Just as Panorama City has had problems in recent years attracting and keeping businesses, its chamber has had problems attracting and keeping members. taunting reminders of the way things have gone for much of the business community. Touted by civic leaders in the 1950s and '60s as an up-and-coming business center, Panorama City at first seemed to fulfill its promise.

The business community flourished and, along with it, the Panorama City Chamber of Commerce. The chamber had a healthy bank account, held frequent fund-raisers and wielded clout at City Hall. By 1974, Los Angeles City officials responded to the chamber's persistent lobbying and agreed that the community deserved its place on the map. And, for the first time, Panorama City's name appeared on maps of the San Fernando Valley..