Robber Says Shooting Was Unintentional : Jurisprudence: On trial for murder, Howard Derrick Holt testifies that he knew the risks of his career, but that killing was not among them.

Testifying in his own defense, Howard Derrick Holt told the jury at his murder trial in Van Nuys Superior Court on Monday that he was far too cool and professional an armed robber ever to intentionally shoot any of his victims.

He expanded on the point by explaining to the jury just how he would rob them.

Holt, on trial with co-defendant Claude Davis on a long list of murder, attempted murder and robbery charges, testified Monday that he didn’t mean to shoot Los Angeles Police Officer Dennis Hinman during a botched holdup and hostage-taking incident at the Grandview Chinese restaurant on Jan. 15, 1991.

The .44-caliber revolver accidentally “discharged once or twice,” Holt said, when he was shot in the hand after police “disrupted” the robbery.

And, Holt said, he wasn’t even there when musician Vartan Mouradian was shot to death during an earlier robbery, the holdup at the Grecian Village restaurant in Studio City in November, 1991.

Under cross-examination by Deputy Dist. Atty. Peter S. Berman, Holt seemed happy to discuss his line of work: armed robbery, specializing in “take-down” holdups, in which employees and patrons are ordered at gunpoint to the floor at bars and restaurants.

Holt said he grew up in a high crime area, adding, “All my life I’ve known armed robbers. I’ve been in and out of trouble since I was 7 years old.”

Jurors at times seemed amazed by the 29-year-old Pacoima man’s matter-of-fact testimony about his chosen profession. One shook his head and smiled when Holt assessed the risks: “I knew this job was dangerous when I took it.”

But, Holt said, he’s always been a gentleman bandit. He never takes victims’ wedding rings. He returns their wallets with drivers licenses and other valuable papers--but empty of cash, of course--if they ask.

“I’d feel the same way if I was robbing all of you in this courtroom. I’d do it the same way,’ he said as several stunned jurors’ eyes widened. “I would place you all on the floor. I’d return your wallets if you asked me. . . . I don’t kick people. I don’t assault people. That’s not me.”

As his trial began, Holt pleaded guilty to 19 robbery counts. But he denies participating in several other holdups.

And, he refused to name his crime partners: “I will not disclose that information to you. I have a personal policy with myself. I just feel I’m not what we call a ‘stool pigeon’ in any sense. That’s just not my cup of tea.”

He did mention being involved in other crimes that police and prosecutors know nothing about, but refused to discuss those incidents with Berman.

“I read the papers every day like you do, and I know my work when I see it,” Holt told the prosecutor.

Testimony continues.