Appeal Court Upsets Man’s Murder Conviction

A state appeal court has unanimously overturned the 1981 murder conviction of a Compton man whom the trial judge sentenced to prison after twice indicating from the bench that he believed that the man might be innocent.

“This is the best day I’ve had in five years,” Tony Cooks, 23, said after learning of the decision by the three-judge state Court of Appeal. Cooks, who was tried four times before being convicted, has been free on bail since the 15 years-to-life sentence was imposed in 1983.

“I am delighted with the result,” said Barry Tarlow, the Sunset Strip attorney who, without charge, represented Cooks on his appeal. “I am convinced Tony is innocent and that this case demonstrates both the best and the worst aspects of our legal system.”

Cooks was convicted of killing John Franklin Gould, 42, on the sidewalk outside Gould’s Paramount apartment in January, 1980. As his wife watched in horror, three youths beat, stabbed and shot Gould--who was bent over with arthritis--before running off into the night.

A sheriff’s homicide detective later wrote a report saying that a 14-year-old boy had told him that Gould was picked at random because of his race. The youth later denied making such statements. Gould was white, all three assailants are black.

The appeal court held Tuesday that Superior Court Judge Roosevelt Dorn, who imposed the life sentence, gave three erroneous instructions to the jury that found Cooks guilty.

The court, ruling eight days after hearing oral arguments, said that two of these erroneous instructions “standing alone would not mandate a reversal.” But the court said the third instruction, dealing with whether Cooks intended to aid and abet a murder, was serious enough to warrant reversal.

Cooks, whose story was detailed by The Times on Nov. 27, 1983, has maintained that he was the victim of mistaken identity and said in court that he believes that the real killer may be a neighbor who resembles him. The 14-year-old boy, who the detective claims confessed and identified Cooks as one of the killers, is the neighbor’s half-brother. The neighbor has told The Times that he did not commit the murder.

In his appeal, Cooks also argued that his attorney, Gus Poole of Gardena, had a conflict of interest because he also had represented the neighbor in another criminal matter.

Poole said Wednesday that, in his opinion, no conflict of interest existed “because of the fact that he (the neighbor) had been cleared emphatically by the detectives.”

Vernon Clover, a sheriff’s homicide detective who has since retired on a stress-related pension, told The Times in 1982 that he initially suspected the neighbor. But Clover said he dropped the man as a suspect because he believed that the neighbor had been at work at the time of the murder.

Tarlow’s associate, Brad Battson, in documents filed with the appeals court, said Clover has told him that a few minutes after the murder the neighbor was not at work and in fact was stopped for questioning by sheriff’s deputies near the murder scene. This fact never came out at Cooks’ four trials.

‘Textbook Example’

When Judge Dorn sentenced Cooks, he said that Poole was “totally incompetent” to defend Cooks. Battson told the appeal court, “This is a textbook example of how not to try a case.”

In a footnote to the decision, written by Presiding Justice Arleigh Woods, the appellate court stated: “There appears to be substantial support for the trial court’s observation that in its opinion appellant was denied effective assistance of counsel. It is unnecessary, however, to discuss this issue as appellant will undoubtedly be represented by other counsel on retrial.”

Poole said Wednesday that “I did an excellent job.” He emphasized that the appeal court did not rule on the issue of his competency and that its decision was based on error by the judge.

“I am just happy that the conviction was reversed and Tony will have another day in court,” Poole said. “I have contended from the outset that he was innocent. I will say I did the very best I possibly could.”

Offers Explanation

Poole said Dorn’s remarks may have been motivated by a desire “to ensure that justice may prevail and that, on any grounds possible, that (Cooks) be granted a new trial and if it should require an allegation, a holding of ineffective counsel, in order to ensure an innocent person another day in court, then so be it.”

Before sentencing Cooks in November, 1983, Judge Dorn said that he wanted to put into the record some of the “troubling” issues the case raised, adding that in a fair trial “any jury” would have acquitted Cooks. The judge then outlined his concerns about the conduct of defense attorney Poole, the sheriff’s detective, the prosecutor and the prosecution’s principal eyewitness.

Dorn had reversed Cooks’ conviction in 1980 on what he characterized as a technicality, saying, “I have to be able to sleep at night and I have to be able to look in the mirror.” When an appellate court reinstated the conviction, Dorn said, he was forced to impose sentence. But Dorn assured Cooks that on appeal all of the issues that had not emerged at the four trials would be examined by appellate judges.

The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office did not respond to a request for comment on whether it would seek a fifth trial. Cooks said that what he wants is a formal apology that will clear his name.