Youth a Thief, Not a Killer, His Attorney Tells Jurors

The defense attorney for Genaro Villanueva argued Thursday that the prosecution failed to prove that his client is a murderer, and he asked the jury to convict the 17-year-old youngster for what he is--a thief.

Villanueva is charged in the slaying of actor David Oliver Huffman in Balboa Park on Feb. 27. Huffman, 39, had gone to the aid of a Canadian couple who surprised Villanueva as the teen-ager attempted to burglarize their motor home. Huffman chased Villanueva into a canyon where, the youth has since admitted, he stabbed Huffman with a screwdriver during a struggle.

In his closing argument to the jury, Deputy Public Defender Allan Williams argued that finding Villanueva guilty of first-degree, or premeditated, murder would be an injustice. He reminded jurors of their obligation to acquit Villanueva of that charge as long as some reasonable doubt exists about his guilt.

Williams argued that Villanueva acted in self-defense.

“An injustice in this case will not bring David Huffman back. I want to remind you of your role before you brand him a murderer. I’m going to give you Genaro now. Bring him back the way I gave him to you . . . a thief,” said Williams.

Earlier, Williams had told jurors that the youth, a Mexican national living in the United States illegally, had admitted to being a thief. “There’s no doubt about it,” he said.

The closing arguments by both sides took up most of the day Thursday. The jury is expected to begin deliberating today, after receiving instructions from Superior Court Judge Norbert Ehrenfreund.

According to testimony at the trial, Villanueva was captured while committing at least two other auto burglaries before his fatal encounter with Huffman. One burglary occurred only hours before the killing.

In the earlier incident, a group of people, who say they saw Villanueva breaking into a parked van, chased him around the block to the front of the state Department of Corrections office at 1608 India St., where he was handcuffed by two state parole agents.

Villanueva was taken to police headquarters, where he was questioned, fingerprinted and photographed. The police then drove him to San Diego High School, where he was handed over to school officials.

But instead of going to class, the teen-ager said, he left the campus after picking up a screwdriver that he had hidden in a bush on the school grounds. He later admitted using the screwdriver to stab Huffman.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Harry Elias presented a detailed summation to the jury and asked the jurors to find Villanueva guilty of first-degree murder. In a lengthy final argument, Elias scoffed at the youth’s self-defense argument and said “there is no reasonable, excusable justification for the taking of (Huffman’s) life.”

The prosecutor noted that on the two previous occasions when Villanueva was caught burglarizing cars, the teen-ager put up a struggle each time. Elias said that Villanueva stabbed Huffman because “his primary purpose was not to get caught again, and he would do whatever he could to avoid that.”

Elias noted that Huffman portrayed a prosecutor in the movie “The Onion Field”--a true story about the murder of a Los Angeles policeman--and said that he had developed “a special kinship” with Huffman.

During his final argument, Williams asked the jurors to put themselves in his client’s shoes and think about how they would react if they had been arrested in Mexico for murder. Williams said that Villanueva admitted in court and to police investigators that he killed Huffman.

But he argued that Villanueva is poorly educated and that police and Elias used leading questions to give the impression that he is guilty of first-degree murder.

Elias asked the jury to reject Williams’ argument about his client’s lack of sophistication and said it is unfair to compare the U.S. and Mexican judicial systems.

“Do you think that in Mexico we’d be here today (having a jury trial)?” he said.