Juror falls asleep during arguments

Sitting in a wooden chair in jeans and a khaki blazer with his long, wavy gray hair framing his face, Rodney James Alcala read his closing arguments from a piece of paper to the jury for nearly three hours.

Alcala picked out minute details of the prosecution’s defense, identifying inconsistencies.

While the suspected serial killer read his closing arguments Monday in a soft, monotonous voice, a juror and several audience members fell asleep.

Alcala’s third death penalty trial for the murder and kidnapping of a 12-year-old Huntington Beach girl is coming to a close as he is expected to finish his final arguments Tuesday morning.

The 66-year-old was twice sentenced to death for the murder of Robin Samsoe, but the convictions were overturned in appeal. He is being tried for the murder of Robin and four Los Angeles women in the 1970s. He is charged with a series of murder and kidnapping charges and a number of enhancements for rape and torture.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Matt Murphy detailed the evidence against Alcala with pictures of his alleged victims and graphic photographs of their bodies from the crime scene, but it was Robin that Alcala focused on for nearly three hours.

Robin was last seen June 20, 1979, on her way to ballet class. Right before her disappearance, Robin and a friend were approached and photographed by a strange man, who witnesses later identified as Alcala, prosecutors argued.

“This is the case he wants to fight. This is the case he wants a break on,” Murphy said. “He wants to get away with this murder. He’s living to get away with this murder.”

Alcala argued that witness statements contradicted one another and attributed characteristics to the man who photographed the two on the beach that don’t fit him.

“The point I want to make is people’s recollection’s aren’t always accurate,” Alcala said.

Alcala will finish his arguments and Murphy will have one final rebuttal, before the jury deliberates. Closing arguments are expected to begin at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday in Courtroom C-45 at the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana.