Prosecutor Says Both Accused in Killing Fired at Officer Verna

Both Raynard Cummings and Kenneth Gay pulled the trigger of the gun that killed policeman Paul Verna in Lake View Terrace almost two years ago, a prosecutor charged Monday at the long-delayed start of the murder trial for the two Pacoima men.

John Watson, deputy district attorney, called the June 2, 1983, slaying a “two-part murder.” Watson told a San Fernando Superior Court jury that witnesses would testify that Cummings, 26, fired the first shot--and possibly the second--that struck Verna during a routine traffic stop. Cummings then handed the gun to Gay, 25, who emptied the remaining bullets into Verna, the prosecutor said.

One of Cummings’ defense attorneys, however, said he would introduce evidence to prove that Cummings could not have fired the first of the six shots that hit Verna, a Los Angeles police officer.

Disputed First Shot

“Believable eyewitness evidence will show that Kenneth Gay shot that police officer, and irrefutable scientific evidence will show that first shot came from the front seat, not the back,” where Cummings was seated when the shooting began, defense attorney Edward Rucker said.

The evidence will be heard by two juries sitting in the same courtroom, the result of an earlier ruling in the case.

The trial of Cummings and Gay, who were also accused of staging a violent string of 14 robberies throughout the San Fernando Valley before Verna’s slaying, has been stalled by a series of defense motions and medical complications since jury selection began Sept. 26.

Four weeks into jury selection, Cummings pleaded guilty to 17 charges in connection with the robberies. The plea meant that the robbery evidence could not be used against Cummings at his murder trial. But the robbery evidence could be used against Gay, prompting Judge Dana Senit Henry to order separate trials for the two men.

The robbery part of Gay’s trial was completed last month before 12 jurors and six alternate jurors. Those jurors are back in court for the murder case, joined now by another panel, which will issue a verdict on the murder case against Cummings.

If convicted of murdering Verna, Cummings and Gay could be sentenced to death.