The Region : Detective Denies Withholding Evidence

Manhattan Beach Police Detective Jane Hoag, the original investigator in the McMartin Pre-School molestation case, testified in Los Angeles Superior Court that she had not withheld, nor been told by anyone in the district attorney’s office to withhold, any evidence other than reports relating to uncharged suspects who were still under investigation. She said she marked such documents with notes saying “do not copy” or “confidential information not to be released” for her colleagues’ guidance pending hearings in 1984 before the preliminary hearing judge. Prosecutors claimed the detective’s testimony, which had been delayed for many weeks because she was ill, “clears up” any notion that the district attorney acted improperly. The defense said it was disappointed by Hoag’s inability to recall details about the early stages of the case. “There is a mystery here,” said defense lawyer Dean Gits, “and it seems like the truth will have to come out by circumstantial evidence.”