Rapper’s Lawyers Assail Evidence Loss

Attempting to discredit the murder case against rapper Snoop Doggy Dogg, attorneys for the popular singer hammered the district attorney’s lead investigator Friday, repeatedly asking how bloody clothing and shell casings associated with the killing were recently lost.

Defense attorneys were hoping to get charges dropped or sanctions leveled against the prosecution for what they said was malicious intent on the part of police officers investigating the case. However, the officer responsible for the error testified that the loss of evidence was simply a computer-generated mistake.

The rapper, whose real name is Calvin Broadus, is one of three men charged with murdering Philip Woldemariam in a Westside park in 1993.

In a special evidence hearing, Broadus’ attorney, David Kenner, questioned Detective Patrick Aguiano about how the Los Angeles Police Department’s new automated evidence system authorized destruction of a bloody shirt worn by Woldemariam and casings found at the site. No date for the trial has been scheduled; Superior Court Judge Paul G. Flynn continued Friday’s hearing for May 5.

Prosecutors downplayed the significance of the loss of evidence, saying their case is based largely on witnesses’ accounts of how Broadus’ bodyguard shot and killed Woldemariam.

“It’s a big deal in that things like this shouldn’t happen,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Edward Nison. “But as far as our case is concerned, it’s not very important.”

Defense attorneys have maintained that the lost 9-millimeter casings might have been useful to match bullets found in Woldemariam’s body. They also said the bloody shirt was crucial in determining if the victim was shot at close range or might have been twisting when he was shot. Defense attorneys contend that Woldemariam was reaching into his waistband for a gun when he was shot.

“It might have been a singular mistake,” said defense lawyer Kenner. “But still it’s very suspicious.”

Aguiano said evidence in the cases he handles is supposed to be destroyed only with his permission. In this case, he said, the property disposition coordinator at the Pacific Division, Sterling Gordon, made a mistake by issuing the wrong computer command. Gordon, in his testimony, agreed.

“I don’t remember disposing of it, but apparently I did,” he said.

Broadus, who has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Woldemariam, is accused of driving the car from which his bodyguard, McKinley Lee, allegedly shot and killed Woldemariam on Aug. 25, 1993. A third defendant, Shawn Abrams, was riding in the car.