Defense rests in David Hill murder trial

By Brent Begin, Bay City News Service

December 2, 2006

SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) - The defense in the murder trial of David Hill called its last witnesses in San Francisco Superior Court on Thursday after four days of testimony that focused on the immediate hours after San Francisco police Officer Isaac Espinoza was killed.

Defense attorney Martin Sabelli questioned inspectors Holly Pera and Joe Toomey regarding an interview that took place in San Francisco General Hospital on the night of April 10, 2004.

The inspectors, along with at least two other investigators, were in the room with Espinoza's partner, Officer Barry Parker, who was nursing a bullet wound to his foot.

Parker said during testimony for the prosecution on Oct. 18 that he was shown a lineup of six men at that time and he identified a man named Reuben Sibley. But discrepancies remain between the recollections of Toomey and Pera.

Pera said she couldn't remember that Sibley was ever a suspect in Espinoza's murder and she said that Parker never made the identification that night. Inspector Toomey, however, said he gave the photo spread to Parker but he also denied any knowledge of Parker's identification, despite Parker's initials and badge number on the physical version of the lineup.

Police later learned after finding Hill's peacoat and the murder weapon that Sibley was not the killer and the manhunt for Hill ensued. It wasn't until almost 48 hours after the killing that inspectors conducted their first official interview.

The defense has done its best to discredit Parker, the sole eyewitness to Espinoza's killing.

Sabelli brought a memory expert to the stand to testify that the longer investigators wait to interview a witness, the less reliable information becomes. Most people who have holes in their memory tend to fill in the gaps using hearsay, media reports and oftentimes "logical inferences,'' according to Dr. Scott Frazier.

The defense also has pointed out several inconsistencies in Parker's story, such as whether his badge was visible as he jumped out of his unmarked police car and whether Espinoza identified himself as a police officer when he attempted to stop Hill.

According to the defense, Hill did not knowingly shoot a San Francisco police officer, but he fired out of instinct at a man he thought was a gang member.

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