Lawyer for Suspect in Officer’s Slaying Angry at Coverage

WESTMINSTER — As accused murderer John J.C. Stephens appeared in court for the first time Friday on charges that he gunned down a Garden Grove police officer, his attorney complained about widespread media exposure and convinced a judge to bar cameras from the hearing.

Outside court, Senior Deputy Public Defender Alan J. Crivaro chastised investigators in the case for allowing the image of the man accused of killing Officer Howard E. Dallies Jr. to be shown extensively when his arrest was announced at a news conference earlier this week.

“I personally asked police not to release photographs or to parade him in the fashion that they did,” Crivaro said.

Crivaro successfully urged Westminster Municipal Judge Donald S. Macintyre to keep cameras out of the courtroom because of concerns that further widespread display of Stephens’ image in the media could taint potential witnesses.

Crivaro also complained outside court that while the media have detailed law enforcement’s exhaustive investigation spanning more than four years and producing several thousand pieces of paper, he has received only a two-page complaint--and no further details.

“At this particular point, we know more from reading the newspapers or watching television than we do from police reports,” Crivaro said.

Because some potential witnesses in the case are convicted criminals, an investigation must be conducted to determine whether Crivaro has represented any of them in the past, which might constitute a conflict. It is this issue that caused Stephens’ arraignment to be delayed until Aug. 22.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Rick King declined to comment on the strength of the evidence in the case. No weapon has been recovered, many of the people who are prepared to testify against Stephens are convicted criminals, and authorities concede there is virtually no physical evidence.

But the prosecutor said authorities are confident they have the right man, saying there is “reliable and credible evidence” to prove the charges.

“We are ready to meet that challenge and move forward,” King said.

King said his office felt no pressure to file the charges when it did although prosecutors were well aware that Stephens was about to be released from prison, where he was serving time for a December 1993 conviction for assaulting a Westminster man during a residential robbery.

Stephens was booked into the Orange County Jail on Friday, one day after he called his mother and said he feared for his safety in the county facility. The defendant had been held in the Huntington Beach Jail pending his arraignment.

Crivaro said he planned to discuss safety issues with county jail officials.

“I’m always concerned for people’s safety when they are charged with crimes such as these,” he said.

The defense attorney said there is always a possibility that fellow inmates could harm his client, wrongly thinking such an action could somehow give them some sort of legal advantage or enhance their status within the jail.

He said he would also want to “make sure law enforcement remains professional” although he said he has no reason to believe it would not be.

Orange County Sheriff’s Department’s Lt. Tom Garner said Stephens “has not been given any special status but he has been housed in a one-man cell.”