‘I wish someone would tell me what went on in that house, because I sure don’t know.’--Prosecutor George J. Knoke : Convicted Killer’s Brother Acquitted

Last February, a Superior Court jury convicted Cedric Wayne Scott of four counts of first-degree murder for what is believed to have been a drug-related quadruple slaying in a South Los Angeles home.

Much of the case against Scott was based on the testimony of the only person to survive the April 30, 1984, attack, since the prosecution had no physical evidence--no guns or fingerprints, for example--to present to the jury.

Earlier this week, however, after listening to similar testimony in a separate trial, another Los Angeles Superior Court jury acquitted Scott’s older brother, Albert Egger Scott, of all four murder counts. Again, the key witness against him was the survivor, Marcia Cook, a waitress.

Unless a defense motion for a new trial is granted, Cedric Scott, 20, may spend the rest of his life in prison without possibility of parole--the sentence recommended by the jury.

Because 12 other people reached a different conclusion on Monday, Albert Scott, 21, is already a free man. A third defendant, William James Butler, was acquitted.

Lawyers on both sides said they believe jurors in Albert Scott’s trial were troubled by inconsistencies in Cook’s statements to authorities.

“Basically, this was a one-witness case,” Deputy Dist. Atty. George J. Knoke, the prosecutor in all three trials, said Tuesday. “That witness was not able to articulate consistently the facts or her identifications. I’m not saying she’s unreliable--just that she is inconsistent.”

“There were just too many conflicts in the testimony,” said Robert H. McNeill, principal attorney for Albert Scott. “The police detectives had not properly investigated the case. The D.A. did not present enough credible evidence.”

Gerald D. Lenoir, one of Cedric Scott’s attorneys, declined comment.

Even Knoke concedes that not much is known about the events leading up to the deaths of Rebecca Hood, 45; her son, Derrick, 20; her husband, Travis Clark, 49, and family friend, Larry Simmons, 37. The four were shot to death after three men invaded the home they shared in the 4500 block of 4th Avenue.

“I wish someone would tell me what went on in that house, because I sure don’t know,” Knoke said.

Cook, a friend of the victims, testified that she had answered the door on the night of the murders. While two men rushed into the house, Cedric Scott grabbed her, telling her he had a gun, she said, but she managed to escape.

The waitress recognized Albert Scott, known as “Pete,” Knoke said, because he had been a frequent visitor to the house.

“There is evidence that Travis Clark was selling drugs and that one of his salesmen had been Pete,” the prosecutor said.

Earlier that evening, the Scott brothers had visited the home because Pete wanted to sell Clark a gun, Knoke said, adding, “He didn’t have it with him, but he said he would go get it and bring it back.”

Knoke noted that Cook picked out Cedric Scott’s picture from a mug book of photographs and also identified him in a police lineup. Since she knew Albert Scott, police thought “it would be a wasted effort” for her to go through the same identification procedure, the prosecutor said.

To the prosecution’s surprise--and the defense’s advantage--the waitress was unable to identify a photo of Albert Scott during the preliminary hearing.

In addition, both Knoke and McNeill said, there were inconsistencies between Cook’s testimony and that of a neighbor who claimed to have seen the Scott brothers on the night of the murders. For example, one said the getaway car was brown, while the other testified it was blue and white.

Judge Henry P. Nelson set Cedric Scott’s sentencing hearing for May 9.